Waterside WARWICKSHIRE

Canals, historic halls and a Norman castle make an unexpected trip to Kingsbury Water Park a worthwhile stay for Elaine and Joe Ormerod

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We'd booked a week's trip to the Camping and Caravanning Club's Derwentwater site for early in the year, but then I broke my arm, so we had to revise our plans. To avoid losing any money, we transferred our booking to the club's Kingsbury Water Park site for October to coincide with The Motorhome and Caravan Show at the NEC.

It’s a site we've stayed at countless times, usually for two or three nights in order to visit the show, but this time we were staying for a week. How would we fill the remaining days?

Fast forward to October and as we drew up at the barrier to Kingsbury Water Park, the answer came in the form of a warden who asked us if we liked walking. Receiving an enthusiastic “Yes!” from both of us, she handed over a leaflet of five walks, all starting from the campsite. After setting up, I read the leaflet, finding that the shortest walk goes along the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal to the Dog and Doublet Inn, a great place for food. That reminded me that we wanted to have a meal there when chef Peter cooks Chinese, Malaysian and Thai food. Checking online, the two days were Friday and Saturday. As this was Friday, we quickly booked a table, and the food didn’t disappoint.

Water park

The next day, we chose to walk to Kingsbury Village, realising that we’d never been there. We followed the detailed instructions, walking down leafy woodland trails, admiring the foliage and the fungi sprouting up from dead tree wood, when a deer hurtled across the path in front of us, much to our delight. Originally, where gravel and sand pits were dug, the area has been transformed into Kingsbury Water Park, a leisure destination where people come to walk, cycle, fish, sail model boats and full-size yachts. Opened in May 1975, other facilities include a visitor centre, a café, picnic areas and two play areas. It covers a large area and there’s something for everyone to enjoy.