The Staffordshire Way : Day 1 Mow Cop to Rudyard Lake

Walking the Length of One of England's Most Underrated Counties

Like Barcelona, this is and its subsequent companion posts are a Covid lockdown project. The walk actually took place in 2005/6.

Introducing the Staffordshire Way

Staffordshire

The Staffordshire Way is a 92 mile route from Mow Cop in the north of the county to Kinver Edge on the boundary with Worcestershire in the south. The route uses existing rights of way and was opened between 1977 and 1983.

Staffordshire is perhaps the most underrated of English counties. True, the M6 runs through it from North to South, and Stoke on Trent could not be mistaken for Bath or York in any known light, - but that apart it is, to quote the Staffordshire Way Official Guide a beautiful rural county of scenic contrast. It has rugged gritstone hills, deep wooded valleys and an abundance of 18th century landscaped parkland. It also has a chunk of the Peak District National Park (not on this walk) and all of the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The walk is divided into 3 sections.

Part 1: Gritstone Country and the Churnet Valley

Part 1: Mow Cop to Rudyard

12/11/2005 Day 1 Mow Cop to Rudyard Lake

The Participants gather at Mow Cop, l to r Francis, Alison C, Mike, Alison T, Brian

Francis, Alison C, Mike and I (behind camera) would walk all seven legs. Brian, who like Francis and myself had previously completed the Staffordshire Way, walked on four of the seven days, Alison T was a welcome guest on Day 1 only.

Mow Cop

The village of Mow Cop (Mow, pronounced like the Chinese Chairman, not cutting grass) sits on a low hill on the Cheshire/Staffordshire boundary 6 miles north of Stoke-on-Trent. Open air prayer meetings held here by Hugh Bourne and William Clowes developed into the Primitive Methodist Movement which split from the Wesleyans in 1810. They reunited in 1932.

Mow Cop Castle was built in 1754 by Randle Wilbraham, a man with more money than sense. Designed to resemble the ruin of a medieval fortress with a round tower it was used as a summerhouse. (it features in a 2013 post entitled Chocolate Teapots)

Mow Cop Castle in late autumn sunshine

Although we were walking the Staffordshire Way north to south, we set off walking north along the ridge that forms the county boundary.

The Old Man of Mow

Just north of the castle, the 20m high Old Man of Mow is a pillar of gritstone left standing after the stone around it had been quarried away.

The Old Man of Mow

Continuing along the ridge in bright, if not particularly warm November sunshine we could see the town of Congleton in Cheshire to our left.

Congleton

Congleton Edge is a continuation of the 250m high ridge but there is a marked dip to its south known as Nick i’ the Hills.

Congleton Edge beyond Nick i' the Hills

Nick i’ the Hills to the Summit of The Cloud

Here we turned right, dropping off the ridge and descending through the woods to the line of the Biddulph Valley Railway. Built in the 1850s from Stoke on Trent to Congleton, it at first carried freight, adding passenger trains in 1864. By the 1920s it was failing to attract enough customers and the stations closed in 1927. Freight, mainly coal, continued to be carried but the line closed in stages between 1963 and 1977. The section we were on is now the Biddulph Valley Way a footpath managed by the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and, further on, Cheshire East Council.

The Former Biddulph Valley Railway

We walked 2.3km along the disused railway, half that distance in Cheshire. Turning right we followed a less than arrow-straight route through another 3.2km of Cheshire climbing 250m to the summit of The Cloud.

[I bought my first digital camera in 2005, and this was my first day’s walk with a camera permanently in my hand, a situation that would become second nature over the next 15 years. I was a beginner then and missed several photo ops. In May 2012, Cowpat Walk 4, Biddulph the Cloud and Rushton Spencer followed part of this route – along the railway, over the Cloud and down to Rushton Spencer - so I have borrowed a few (more summery) pictures.]

Formed by the passage of ice around its flanks in successive ice ages, The Cloud is a lump of Mudstone topped with Chatsworth Gritstone. Its southern aspect is hardly impressive.

The Cloud from the south (May 2012)

The ascent from the south is gentle….

Ascending The Cloud from the south (My 2012)

…and finishes across the tilted, heather covered gritstone cap.

Following Francis and Mike across The Cloud's heather covered gritstone cap (May2012)

The summit at 343m (1,125 ft) is shared by Staffordshire and Cheshire and is the northernmost point of the Staffordshire Way - though not quite of Staffordshire. The northern scarp provides good views in all directions, except the way we had come.

The Summit of The Cloud

The first time I walked the Staffordshire Way in the late 90s, I did this section on my own. I had the The Cloud to myself; that same day, 50 people reached the summit of Mount Everest. Sometimes you do not have to go as far as you think to escape the crowds.

Bosley Reservoir and the Dane Valley from the top of The Cloud

The Cloud to Rushton Spencer

From the south we had walked straight up the hill, descending on the much steeper east side is easier across the slope. The Cloud looks more impressive from this side.

Looking back at The Cloud

Continuing east we dropped down to Ravenscloud Brook and followed the stream as it makes its way to the River Dane which here marks the Staffordshire/Cheshire boundary.

The Ravenscloud Brook (down to the right) has dug itself a ravine through the Ravenscloud forest (May 2012)

Reaching the floodplain we turned south for the first time on the walk and met up with the second disused railway of the day,

Approaching our second disused railway of the morning (May 2012)

The North Staffordshire Railway’s Churnet Valley branch line once ran from Uttoxeter to the village of North Rode in Cheshire to join the main the main Stoke to Macclesfield line. Opened in 1849, this northern section closed in 1964 and the track was lifted. It is now a footpath.

The old railway south to Rushton Spencer (May 2012)

We soon reached the village of Rushton Spencer and after 4 hours walking I was ready for a rest and a latish lunch at the Knot Inn.

Francis and Alison C outside the Knot Inn, Rushton Spencer

Rushton means an estate or settlement among rushes – still a fairly accurate description. In the 12th century the manor (like a dozen or so others around the country) was held by the immensely wealthy Sir Hugh le Despenser, hence the ‘Spencer’.

Rudyard Lake

We followed the railway south for a further 1.5km. The path first crosses and then runs parallel to the feeder stream from the River Dane which keeps Rudyard Lake topped up. The lake was constructed in 1831 to supply water to the Caldon Canal 2 miles to the south. The locks on busy canals shift water downhill, and that needs to be replenished at the high point of the canal.

South from Rushton Spencer of the former Churnet Valley Railway

At Rudyard lake the path continues down the eastern shore, but we cut across the northern end, recrossing the feeder stream to walk through the woods on the western side.

The north end of Rudyard Lake (and the feeder stream from the River Dane)

Functional as its origin may have been, the lake and its wooded slopes possess a tranquil beauty and have long attracted those who wish to sail, fish or just enjoy the paths among the trees.

Brian and Alison T lead us into the depths of Reacliffe Wood beside Rudyard Lake

John Lockwood Kipling, an art teacher, illustrator and museum curator working in Burslem in the 1860s, met and courted Alice Macdonald. Some, evidently significant, parts of their courtship featured trips to Rudyard Lake. In 1865 he was appointed professor of architectural sculpture in the J J School of Art in Bombay (see the 2019 post Mumbai, The Posh End). He and Alice married in March and set out for India together. Their first child was born on the 30th of December 1865 and was christened Rudyard after the lake.

The lake is some 3km long and the November light was beginning to fade as we reached Rudyard village at the southern end. The redundant station on the Churnet Valley line still exists – as does its car park. As we had the foresight to leave a car or two here earlier in the day this was the end of Day 1.

Distance Completed: 20km

Staffordshire Way, Day 1

The Staffordshire Way

Day 1: Mow Cop to Rudyard Lake
Day 2: Rudyard to Hawksmoor
Day 3: Hawksmoor to Uttoxeter
Day 4: Uttoxeter to Shugborough
Day 5: Cannock Chase, Penkridge and Lapley
Day 6: Lapley to Seisdon
Day 7: Seisdon to Kinver Edge

THE END