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A view from Futher up the hill

Maxstoke Hill Challenge The Maxstoke Hill Challenge is a cycling time trial measured from the bottom of Maxstoke Hill (where the road does a 90-degree turn) to the very top of the hill (past the water works – first lay by on the left). The long-standing record held by Mr N Wiggin was beaten by Mr J House on his return to the United Kingdom in April 2012. The record now stands at 4 minutes 37 seconds. From Wikipedia

The old priory was established in 1331 it was expanded several times over the next 100 or so years and then disbanded in 1536. Since then the buildings have fallen into ruin except what was once the inner gate house and is now a B&B. The village church is the same age as the priory.

Shustoke Reservoir is managed by Severn Trent. The reservoir was completed in 1884 to provide water for Birmingham. Nowerdays the reservoir supplies Nuneaton and the surrounding area.

A nice little hill ,stay on it for a challenge or turn right at the nice little church.

The history of Shustoke Why were the reservoirs created here?  In 1870 the Industrial Revolution was in full swing, as was the birthrate and the need for clean water was becoming more pressing.  The Birmingham Water Works Company therefore applied to Parliament for  permission for water to be taken from the Rivers Bourne and Blythe, whose gathering grounds in rural areas to the East of Birmingham were declared to be away from pollution, and to impound the water from the Bourne in a reservoir which was built at Shustoke.   A pumping station, filter beds and another small reservoir was also constructed at Whitacre. What was here before? Before the reservoir was built, the land was occupied by Whitacre Lodge which was part of the Hams Estate. This was sold by Lord Norton in 1879, for the building of Shustoke Reservoir.       How long did it take to build the Reservoirs? The time-scale granted for this work was 10 years and although most of the work at Whitacre was completed in the time scheduled, an extension of five years was applied for in 1879 as the reservoir at Shustoke had hardly been started; the eventual completion was around 1884.         What is the Reservoirs role in the water supply network? When the reservoirs were built they were to supply water to the nearby Whitacre Treatment Works, which was to provide 28 million litres of water daily to Birmingham. As the city grew this soon became inadequate and with the completion of the Elan Valley scheme in 1904 Whitacre was relegated to standby duty. In 1908 Whitacre was recommissioned to supply water to Coventry to supplement the local borehole supplies. In the 1050’s Whitacre also started to supply Nuneaton and now about 10% of the water from Shustoke supplies Coventry with the rest going to Nuneaton and the surrounding districts of Bedworth and Atherstone. Where does the water come from? The water is gravity fed by the nearby River Bourne which runs along the north of the two reservoirs. How deep and big are the reservoirs? The reservoirs consist of a settling pool of 7.8 acres and a storage reservoir of 92 acres.  Combined they have a capacity of around 460,000,000  gallons.

Shustoke Reservoir is a peaceful stretch of water that you can stroll all the way around. It is a great place for birdwatching. Species recorded include: gull, black-necked grebe, guillemot, common scoter, common crane, Arctic tern, plus more.

A nice country pub on the North Warwickshire Cycleway