Long Itchington Quarry pits.

These are 2 old clay pits that used to be some kind of filter or overpill spills for the quarry. One is mainly filled with a few feet of water, the other is full of thick creamy clay. The quarry videos of my youtube channel were taken here.

Acess is via Stockton Road from either the A426 or A423 just outside Southam in Warwickshire. Where Stockton Road crosses the canal, you can park in the pub carpark. Turn right out of the pub walk to the old railway brigde(only a few yards up the road). Just past the bridge wall, there is gap in the bushes to get down to the path below on the right hand side. Walk down the path to the quarry site. The main site is on the left, but on the right you can see parts of the 2 pits. Walk past the metal fences and continue down the path a little way further, on the right you will see a path cutting through a fence and up an embankment. Go up this, the first pool is on your right, walk into the little woods in front and turn right and walk to the end. This puts you out of sight behind the 2 pools. Its a good place to leave your stuff and change if needed. You can also access this site from the other end of the track which is part of the Lias Line cycle path. In this case, you will likely miss the path up the embankment and will have to back track about 50 meters or so. You then climb down the small bank into the pit. There is solid ground all around the edge of the pit to walk on, but the clay gets very deep quickly, and its not predictable where the deep spots are. Its is beautifully smooth and creamy, but it is VERY hard to move in, you can not walk at all and you have to crawl through it. Deepest I found is waist deep, but may be deeper elsewhere. Points of caution.

The main site is still active, and occaisionally work is being done on these pits. Also, there is a CCTV camera that can see you as you approach, but you are out of sight of it in the pit. I have not had security give me trouble but bear it in mind. You can be seen from the main path is someone looks hard, but its a very quiet path and you can stay out of sight if you dont go the very middle of the pit. Cleanup is harder, the clay stick to you and doesnt come off easily. The pit with the water is in plain view of the CCTV so I have tried using it. I normally wait in the little wood to dry off slightly, then the clay comes off easier. I have only ever bumped into a dog walker once who was walking round, but I was just finishing up so managed to dodge him.