Allesley

Yes. It's the one fairly close to the Staircase Lane crossing. I'll look up some circular walks online to see what they have. Thanks for the tip, Anne.

I think it was built for farm access. I have seen cows being herded over in the past. There is no public footpath over the bridge, but Coundon Wedge seems to be "open access" and even the signed footpaths don't appear on the council's definitive map. The boundary between public access and farm fields can get a bit blurred. I'll try and wander that way next week and see if there are any gates/"keep out" signs. There doesn't seem to be any direct access to Staircase Lane so the bridge is not on a direct route to anywhere.

Now Peter mentions it, I think I have seen cattle going over it, so as he suggests it's probably farm-use only.

I walked there yesterday and tried to reach the bridge but I just couldn't find any footpath that went directly to it. It probably is on private land only.

Go down Northbrook Lane, past Coundon School to the bottom, take a left along the tarmac footpath, cross over the Wedge Road (CARE - speeding traffic). Carry on up Staircase Lane, until it levels out. There is an iron gate on the left. In the field you will see an old shed / small barn on the right. Climb the gate and go straight forward with the barn on your right. You come to the bridge after about 50 yards. I presume the field belongs to Church Farm on the same side as the gate (set back further along Staircase Lane). For a long period, the pupils from Coundon Court School used this path as a short cut to school from Allesley. On the other side of the bridge is an expanse of grassland, criss crossed with footpaths and a few benches. Follow the bottom path and arrive at the Coundon Social Club carpark. On the right is a pleasant wood you can walk around. Lots of dog walkers, so beware of where you tread.

Thanks for that, Harrier. I tried to reach it from Church Walk and down the field but I was stumped when I saw signs saying, 'Private Land'. I'll try the route you suggested now.

I went for a walk over the bridge this morning. I went from Church Walk, Allesley down to the Sherbourne and over the old brick bridge. Google maps shows a well worn path through the field between Church Farm, and Coundon Wedge Road. At the narrow point, the path has been blocked with wooden boards across the gap in the fence and barbed wire on top which looked relatively new. I crossed the road and walked up to the bridge on the Coundon side with no problem. There was an open gate at one end of the bridge which looks like it would disintegrate if you tried to close it. Once across you have access to the field boarding Staircase Lane and you can walk south to the opposite side of the blocked gap in the fence. No signs saying private, but they are obviously trying to dissuade people from doing circular walks.

Thanks, Peter. I went onto the bridge too and I climbed over the gate on Staircase Lane from the directions Harrier described. The field appeared to be private but there was no actual sign advising walkers to keep out. I saw a man with three dobermans (or similar) and they gave me a firm looking over. The owner greeted me even though he seemed slightly suspicious of my presence there. I suspect he was the land owner but I don't know for sure. I didn't walk all the way to the Coundon Club exit but I want to do the walk again from that side. At least I now know how to reach the bridge as it's something that's been bugging me for a while! Thanks to all of you that helped me find out! I also walked to the Ellys Road railway bridge and that's somewhere I haven't been to since Autumn 1986. But that's a different topic and likely on a different thread!

Great pic of what is now the A45 at Allesley - pretty sure this is looking east near where the Coventry Hill hotel (or whatever it's called now) is. This is pre-village bypass so before the slip roads down to the island were put in, so that's what is now Allesley Park ahead/to the left, what would become Allesley Green to the right.

And of course you can clearly see the cycle path which I often used before deterioration set in - to the path, not me The City Council are now spending a fortune of our money on creating cycle routes around the city and here is one that stretches from Allesley all the way to the Memorial Park, admittedly needing a bit of an upgrade, and extreme care needs to be taken at the various junctions. In years gone by, in the snowy winters, the salty spray from the traffic melted the snow and ice quickly after a snowfall and I was able to do long runs from Allesley to Toll Bar island and back home. Boring as hell but it meant I was never forced to miss a training session because of adverse weather conditions!!!!

Allesley bypass under construction in 1967 or 1968. The culvert before it was covered over and the footbridge being built. Both photos are near the Holyhead Rd and the Allesley Old Rd roundabout.

Last home on the left, at the top where the road bends round into Barnfield Ave, was the home of the Duckhams. The father was a teacher at Coundon Primary School and the eldest son was David Duckham who played Rugby for England in the 70's

I was in the choir at Allesley church from 1960 to about 1964. Choir practice was on a Friday evening and one of my jobs was to go to the verger's house (a small cottage on the right of the lane, just past the boys in the photo) to see if we were booked for any weddings on the Saturday. It was pitch black in winter, running through the graveyard was bad enough. Thank goodness I had never heard of this ghost!!!!! Meatloaf's "Bat out of Hell" was written especially for me on those Friday evenings.

I remember well the wooden stile my family and I used climb over at the back of the church after having walked through the graveyard. We spent hours picking the blackberries but not enough to take home. I was married from Allesley Church in October 28th 1961 and we had the choir on the Saturday. Memories are made of this. I wonder if the stile is still there, I would like to think so.