Talking to some local residents, it surprised us how many people live in Dorridge and do not take advantage of the marvellous countryside on our doorstep. We have written our own guide together with "can't go wrong" photgraphs for the feint-hearted! For browsing on the web, we have pages with small, medium or large pictures, but the best results are got by selecting the PDF files.
Dorridge is well located for walks in the countryside. Solihull Council have published an excellent series of walks: 12 Country Walks and 12 More Country Walks, sadly no longer in print, but copies are available from Solihull Connect in Touchwood. As a sample of these, why not try the walk around Temple Balsall though the Council book has another variation?
You can see the walks in GoogleEarth by opening this file:'http://dorridge.org.uk/walks/DDRAWalks.kmz' or click on the "View Larger Map" on the map below to explore in GoogleMaps if you haven't got GoogleEarth to play with.
For two walks that need no transport to start them, try the walk that starts at Dorridge Park or the two walks from Grove Road - to the Black Boyor Knowle along the canal.
For a walk of surprising contrasts, the walk from the centre of Dorridge out across the M42 to the Blythe Valley Business Park is packed with interest: hidden pathsways around Dorridge, fields and streams next to the motorway, a nature reserve with a rich mixture of wildlife of all varieties.
If you are after a longer walk, then there is a nice walk between Lapworth and Packwood House and back. On it you will discover an incredible flight of locks on the Stratford-upon-Avon canal, along with a lot of quiet countryside.
Of course, being on the edge of (some would claim, in) Warwickshire, we have easy access to walks further afield. There are several walks around Henley in Arden, so as an introduction, here is one that starts at Claverdon - 10 to 15 minutes drive away. Also there is a walk from Henley to the north.
Finally, our current favourite walk is one from Baddesley Clinton. It is quite long, about 5 miles or two hours, but has no styles (perhaps one!) and goes through some marvelous countryside.
For cyclists, the lanes towards Packwood and Lapworth are generally quiet and motorists are generally used to the large number of cyclists around. Cycle Solihull www.cyclesolihull.org.uk have produced some local guides for cycle rides of around 10 miles or so. Solihull also have a booklet of longer cycle rides Twelve Leisure Cycle Rides in Solihull, ISBN 0 9523393 23, though at the moment we are not sure that it is still in print.