The best road cycling routes around Princethorpe

This charming duck pond is nestled in the picturesque village of Willoughby. A nearby bench offers a perfect place to rest and recharge, and just a short stroll away is The Rose Inn, a lovely village pub.

Encompassing a stretch of 3 kilometers along the northern bank of the River Leam, this nature reserve features a diverse range of habitats including woodlands, grasslands, marshes, and ponds. The ecological significance of this area lies in its capacity to support various bird species, butterflies, dragonflies, and a vibrant array of wildflowers. Apart from this, the reserve also has amenities such as a skateboard park, an adventure playground, and a dedicated area for children's play. These facilities have been strategically situated at a distance to ensure minimal disruption to the local wildlife.

Decent surface & good link to the greenway

Draycote Water is an artificial reservoir (23 million m3), which was completed in 1969. In addition to its function as a water reserve, it is a leisure park u.a. for anglers, sailors, hikers. The rich bird life invites also to observations. Swimming is not allowed in the lake.

Excellent 8km cycling with great views and rest areas.

A fine example of a Warwickshire town. Lovely old town centre with plenty of options for refreshments.

Very open flat fast lane through stunning farm fields to really give the legs a burst.

The church of ST. ESPRIT is situated on the west side of the Southam-Coventry road at the junction of the River Leam with the Itchen and stands in a small churchyard near the centre of the village. It was almost entirely rebuilt in the gothic style in 1871 and all that remains of the earlier church is the lower stage of the tower and the south arcade, both of the mid-14th century, together with an early-13th-century south doorway. The present church consists of a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, west tower, organ-chamber, and south porch. It is built of squared and coursed limestone with sandstone dressings and all the roofs are tiled. The lower part of the east wall of the chancel still retains some of the earlier walling of roughly coursed rubble with red sandstone dressings. It is lighted on the east by a pointed tracery window of three ogee trefoil lights and by a two-light on the south, both with hood-moulds. The east wall of the south aisle has a single trefoil light; the south side a three-light and a single light with trefoil heads; the west a similar window, but with two lights. The porch has a pointed entrance arch, the mouldings continued down to splayed stops. The 13th-century doorway has a pointed arch of two orders, the inner a splay and the outer a large roll-moulding, supported on detached shafts with moulded capitals and splayed impost, the outer jamb is chamfered, with a moulded stop below the impost moulding. The tower is in three stages without buttresses and it diminishes with a splayed offset to the second stage. From half way up the second stage it has been entirely rebuilt in a light-coloured sandstone ashlar. The original walls are built of coursed limestone rubble with red sandstone dressings and, except on the north side, bands of red sandstone in the middle of the first stage and again at the base of the second stage. The west face has a narrow trefoil ogee-headed window in the first stage, and in the second a narrow lancet to the ringing-chamber. The belfry has windows with pointed arches on each face, of two trefoil lights, labels with head-stops, and a string-course at the sill level. Above is a plain battlemented parapet on a moulded string-course. A modern lobby has been built at the junction of the tower with the south aisle to give an external entrance to the tower. The chancel (18 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft.) has a tiled floor, a collar-beam roof, plastered walls, and two steps to the altar. The east window has a pointed moulded rear-arch supported on shafts with moulded capitals and bases and a hood-mould with foliated stops. On the north side there is an arched opening into the organchamber. The nave (31 ft. 7 in. by 19 ft. 6 in.) has a hammerbeam roof and a tiled floor. The 14th-century arcade has two bays of pointed arches of two splayed orders supported on octagonal pillars with moulded capitals and bases, the responds repeat the arch splays and have similar moulded capitals and bases. The north arcade is a copy of the south but with more elaborately moulded capitals. Above the apex of each arch there is a pointed two-light clearstory window with widely splayed jambs and sills. The tower arch has been replaced with a modern low segmental one of two splayed orders. The chancel arch is pointed, of three splayed orders supported on three attached shafts with foliated capitals and splayed bases. The north and south aisles (31 ft. 10 in. by 8 ft. 6 in.) have lean-to roofs, tiled floors, and windows with reararches of three trefoils supported on shafts with moulded capitals and bases. At the eastern end of the south wall a badly mutilated 14th-century piscina has been built in. The tower (10 ft. 9 in. by 7 ft.) has been strengthened by increasing the thickness of the north and south walls and carrying over a segmental vault. The pulpit, placed on the south side of the chancel arch, is octagonal, of stone and coloured marble with open traceried panels. The font is also of stone with an octagonal basin, sunk trefoil panels, and stands on an octagonal coloured marble stem moulded at the base. The communion plate is modern except for one large and one small silver paten with hall mark 1773. There are three bells (fn. 47) by Hugh Watts, dated 1616, 1623, and 1624. The registers begin in 1660.