Like the Barcelona posts, this is and its companions are a Covid lockdown project. The walk actually took place in 2005/6.
For an introduction to the Staffordshire
Way, see Day
1.
Day 4 Saturday 25/02/2006
Across Farmland and Parkland to a Stately Home on the Edge of Cannock Chase
Participants: Francis, Mike, Alison C & Myself
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| Staffordshire |
On a very flat fourth day we all but reached the end of the shorter Section 2: The Eastern Valleys and Cannock Chase. We started in Uttoxeter on as good a February day as could be reasonably expected and walked south over flat farmland to the Bagot Estate. Beyond the Estate more field paths took us to a lunch stop in Abbots Bromley. Continuing south past the dam of Blithfield Reservoir, through Stockwell Heath and Colton we reached the Trent and Mersey Canal. We followed the canal to the Essex Bridge, crossed the Shugborough Estate and finished in one of the Cannock Chase car parks.
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| The Staffordshire Way Part 2, Uttoxeter to Cannock Chase |
Uttoxeter to the Bagot Estate
Day 4 started from the very same crack in the Uttoxeter pavement as Day 3 finished. Of course it did.
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| Boots on in Uttoxeter while Francis checks the cracks in the pavement, ensuring this is the right spot |
A stroll through Uttoxeter’s southern residential districts took us to field paths and a muddy track to Field Head Farm.
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| A muddy track to Field Head Farm |
There was little of interest beyond a welcome touch of blue in the sky and the skeletons of winter trees.
Another 250m brought us to Timber Lane which starts as a residential road in Uttoxeter but becomes a green lane once it has left the
town. There must be some history to a lane like this, but the internet doesn’t
know or won’t tell. It heads towards the once huge Needwood Forest, so that
may be a clue, or maybe not.
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| Timber Lane, near Uttoxeter |
Timber lane ends at a minor road which we crossed and returned to field paths. Not all the stiles were in good repair so Mike was able to demonstrate his hurdling technique.
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| A broken stile, elegantly dealt with |
For the best part of 3km we crossed scruffy winter meadows and a couple of minor roads…
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| Scruffy winter meadows between Uttoxeter and Abbots Bromley |
…before reaching Hobb Lane. Another interesting name, it might refer to a hobgoblin (how prevalent they are locally is a matter of debate), or to someone called ‘Robert’ or have another derivation entirely..
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| Hobb Lane |
We hardly walked 100m of Hobb Lane before taking a track down to Bagot’s Park where we paused for coffee near the entrance. Nice to
see Alison looking happy, but why are Francis and Mike so miserable?
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| Coffee on the edge of Bagot Park |
According to the Staffordshire Way Guide (pub 1996) the 815 acre park is divided in 100 acre blocks farmed on a eight year rotation. Six
years of winter cereals, oil seed rape and beans followed by two years ley of
grassland. The grass supports a flock of 700 ewes with lambs. With no sheep
in sight, Bagot’s Park in winter looked a desolate place.
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| Bagot Park's, looking a little desolate |
The guide also says that 150 years ago the park employed 40 men permanently and another 50 seasonal workers, mainly women while in 2006 the work was done by a manager, a shepherd and two tractor operators.
We dutifully followed the well-signed public footpath which traverses a small copse. In the 13th century the royal Needwood Forest stretched from Abbots Bromley to Burton. Bagot Forest - a section of which can be seen straight ahead - is its largest remaining block of woodland.
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| Copse on Bagot Park with a Bagot Wood on the skyline |
The path zigs and zags and then turns sharp left to follow the Story Brook.
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| Silver Birch by Story Brook, Bagot's Park |
Abbots Bromley
Once out of the park, more field paths now over very gently rolling countryside, took us into Abbots Bromley.
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| From Bagot's Park to Abbots Bromley |
The village is the population centre of a civil parish of just under 2,000 people. First appearing in a written record in 942, it became
the property of Burton Abbey on the death of Wulfric, Earl of Mercia in 1010ish.
His will (dated 1004) recording gifts of land to the Abbey is held in the
Staffordshire County Records Office. A facsimile on Staffordshire
Past Track is easily readable – for those who can read hand-written
medieval Latin (so not me, and probably not you either).
The village remained in the hands of the abbey until the Dissolution when Henry VIII gave the land to the Paget family and it became
Paget’s Bromley. Well before the interesting demise of the Staffordshire Pagets
(see the 2018 post Cannock
Chase, Venturing Further East) the village reverted to its previous name. (my use of apostrophes – omitted from Abbotts,
included in Paget’s and Bagot’s Park – follows that of the OS maps.)
Abbots Bromley has a remarkable 60 listed buildings, but the one that interested us was the 16th century Goats Head Inn. Formerly
the Town Hall (maybe) and a schoolhouse, but now, very definitely a pub.
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| The Goats Head, Abbots Bromley (no apostrophes anywhere) |
Where we refreshed ourselves with the same joy as at our coffee break.
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| Did I forget to say 'smile for the camera?' again |
To show I am not a Philistine, here is a listed building that does not sell beer (though it is opposite the pub). Croft’s House is mid-18th
century and so exciting that even the ‘forecourt wall and railings’ are listed.
It is pleasing, but I find what British Listed Buildings calls the five blind openings, those to right, left and centre
containing painted stone balusters a bit of a cheat.
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| Croft's House, Abbots Bromley (one apostrophe!) |
Abbots Bromley to the Trent and Mersey Canal
South of Abbots Bromley we descended into the valley of the River Blithe. It is not a big descent, but then it is not a big river,
flowing for 29km from the hills east of Stoke-on-Trent to the River Trent some
5km south of where we were about to cross it.
In defiance of the apparent topography, a dam built in the early 1950s created the largest body of water in Staffordshire, admittedly not a county renowned for its lakes. Blithfield Reservoir covers just over 300ha, but if the Churnet can have a Rhineland, Blithfield is Lake Constance. It provides drinking water for
most of South Staffordshire.
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| Blithfield Reservoir |
Our path took us below the dam…
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| Below the dam, Blithfield Reservoir |
…and up the other side of the shallow valley where, for a brief but welcome moment the currant bun broke through the clouds and shone with all the warmth a February sun can muster.
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| A brief attack of sunshine |
Just over the top of the gentle rise is Stockwell Heath, a village so small it has no Wikipedia entry, which has, perhaps, become the
definition of a hamlet.
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| Stockwell Heath.I took a rather dull photo in 2006, this one comes from a walk on a fine January day in 2010 |
Nearby Colton, with 671 citizens (2011 census) and an overlong Wikipedia entry, is by comparison a megalopolis. An elongated J-shaped linear village,
we walked parallel to the upstroke for what fell like ages – a dull slog
towards the distant hump of Cannock Chase.
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| Round Colton, heading for Cannock Chase |
Fortunately, a local resident assisted Francis with the map reading, so we reached and crossed the village on the hook
of the J just where we intended.
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| Francis is grateful for the map-reading advice |
From Colton we completed the almost imperceptible descent into the wide Trent valley and crossed the Trent and Mersey Canal. Construction
of the 150km long canal was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1766 and the
first sod was cut by Josiah Wedgwood in the same year. Canal transport would,
he calculated, result in many fewer breakages to his pottery than haulage over
the rough roads of the age. The work was completed in 10 years with James Brindley
as chief engineer. It connects with the Mersey via the Bridgewater Canal and
enters the Trent at Derwent Mouth on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire boundary.
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| The Trent and Mersey Canal |
Alongside the Trent and Mersey Canal to Shugborough
We turned north east and followed the tow path for almost 6km towards Stafford...
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| Approaching Colwich on the Trent and Mersey Canal. |
…. passing Colwich and its lock. Although envisaged as part of Brindley’s ‘Grand Cross’ linking all four of England’s major rivers,
for most of its length the Trent and Mersey was built with locks capable of accommodating
only one narrow boat at a time.
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| Colwich Lock, Trent and Mersey Canal, photo from a walk in January 2011 |
The Essex Bridge
We left the canal at Shugborough, walked the short distance to the River Trent which had been shadowing the canal all the way (or
vice versa), and crossed it on the Essex Bridge, pausing for a breather in the middle.
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| Mike, Francis and Alison take a breather on the Essex bridge |
The Essex Bridge was built as a packhorse bridge in the late 16th century by the Earl of Essex who held Chartley Castle, some 6km to the north, which
seems a long way from Essex. Only 14 of the original 40 spans remain but that
still makes it the longest extant packhorse bridge in England.
Just above the bridge is the confluence of the River Sow (left) the river that flows through Stafford, and the Trent, the third longest
river in England, but here looking small than the Sow.
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| The confluence of the Rivers Sow and Trent, photo Jan 2010 |
Shugborough
The bridge gives access to the Shugborough Estate. Owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was
purchased in 1624 by a lawyer called William Anson. The original manor house
was demolished by Anson’s grandson (also called William) who then built the
central part of the current house. His son Thomas, added the flanking pavilions.
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| Shugborough Hall |
The family worked their way steadily up the ranks of the aristocracy, becoming Barons, then Viscounts and in 1831 Thomas Anson was
created Earl of Lichfield. The Anson’s hung on to the house until the death of
the 4th Earl in 1960, when it was donated to the National Trust in lieu of
death duties. The 5th Earl, the photographer Patrick Lichfield, retained an apartment
until his death in 2005.
The public footbath goes past the house and up what feels, at the end of a long day’s walk, a ludicrously extended drive – it is
over a kilometre from the house to the main road. Once we had reached the A513,
500m along the main road brought us to one of the many car parks lining the
perimeter of Cannock Chase. Having thoughtfully left a car there earlier, that was
the end of Day 4.
Today's distance: 27km, a long day but flat and easy walking
Total distance completed: 88km
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| The Staffordshire Way, Day 4 |
The Staffordshire Way
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
