Stafford to Leek, following some of the Two Saints Way

Well, here we are back in Stafford where I've decided to walk from here to Buxton via Leek, where I will then meet my family before going up to the Lake District for a week. 

Stayed at my old school friend's house once more, (many thanks!) and departed really early for Leek as it was a 25-26 mile journey I was to be undertaking! The Two Saints Way (Two Saints Way website) is a recently established route from Lichfield to Chester via Stafford, taking in a number of places including Stone, Tittensor and the Trent & Mersey Canal.

Waymarker for the Two Saints Way

View down to Stafford

Can see the Wrekin from here...

After trekking pass Beacon Farm and taking in the views, we take a footpath directly down through some woods and fields to the pretty village of Hopton. Next step is through some more woods with an ill-defined path (I actually strayed from it by half a mile...) and we eventually come to the village of Salt with the Sandon Hall estate in the distance with its acorn-shaped folly!

Hopton flowers

path to Salt

The Hollybush Inn, Salt

Sandon Hall in the distance

After Salt, we reached the Trent & Mersey canal which was followed most of the way to Stoke-on-Trent. It's a pretty canal, with various places coming off it, the first of which was Burston. After Burston, it's a short walk across a boggy nature reserve and some large fields to the village of Aston and its Hall, now a home for retired priests! I swear I could hear a "Feck, Arse, Girls, DRINK..!" coming from there... 

Bridge on Trent & Mersey Canal

Lock

St Rufin's Church, Burston

Peaceful

Pond at Burston

St Saviour's, Aston

After Aston, we head back on the canal and it is just a short walk into Stone where I have some lunch and a pint at the local Wetherspoons. Stone is a pretty little town but I have little time to explore as it's a long trek today! The trail thus far had been reasonably way marked but it was about to take a turn for the worse...

St Mary & St Wulfad's Church, Stone.

After Stone, we follow the canal for a while, climbing a flight of locks and turning off onto a field before reaching the busy A34. Followed that for a while, crossed the Trent (How many of the major rivers in England have I crossed or followed now?) and then head uphill for a half mile up the A51 until crossing to go over a very small, overgrown stile and into some Forestry Commission lands. After this, it all goes to pot. All the way markers seem to have been smashed or moved due to logging or farmers not seeming to want people crossing the lands. Also, the trail, what I found of it, was overgrown with brambles, nettles and other thorny bushes, leaving me with a lot of cuts and bites! I appreciate that it is a new route, but it does need to be sorted! 

This meant however that after Tittensor, I just decided to follow the A34 past Trentham and then it was just suburbia until I found the route to Leek, the A53. So, what started as a promising walk,turned into a sullen march, meaning no pictures and no real enjoyment, especially as it was a hard slog on mostly pavements (thank god!) uphill.

Still, once in Leek, I found my B&B and what a fantastic place it was for a solo traveller! A nice BIG double bed with a separate toilet and bathroom! Heaven! Tomorrow will be a 14 mile hike up to Buxton for an overnight stay with the family before we head up to the Lake District! 

All Quiet on the South-Eastern Front...

Morning guys,

Sorry it's been a while since I last blogged, but life has a way of getting in the way of things! I've been working on completing my back garden, attended a few interviews (all unsuccessful I'm afraid...) and generally just dealing with family life! 

Garden

Obviously, the end2end is always in the back of my mind and I know I want to get to Edale before the year's out. I'm heading to the Lake District this summer so I know I can do a couple of days walking before heading up to Bowness. 

So. Stafford to Buxton. Looks to be hairy, with no real routes off-road. I reckon I'll be able to do the 36 miles over 2 days, and I think the best route this time would be to do a long trek from Stafford to Leek, stay overnight there, and then head to Buxton on a short trek through the Dales. Anybody out there know of any other routes it might be better to take?

On a secondary note, I'm looking forwards to some Fell walking and also climbing Scafell Pike! 

TTFN!

Stafford and the calf that went PING! (14th April 2014)

Woke up, had a shower and waited for my friend to come home before heading out and on the road to Uttoxeter, where I'd be catching the train home in the evening. Left my friend at her workplace and 2 miles up the road, my calf decides its had enough and goes ping! Ouch...

So, I have to take the decision to call it quits and head on back into Stafford and see if I can catch an earlier train home. In a way, it's probably worked out for the best. When I return back to the trail, it would be easier to come back to Stafford the night before, stay with my friend and then head out up to Edale via Uttoxeter, Leek and Buxton.

This trip has been very hard going, primarily because I tried to pack in too many miles. Over the course of the last 6 days, I have done nearly 140 miles! I have to justify this because I've so little money/time, that I have to do as much as I can in the time I have. The further I go North, the more expensive train journeys become, etc. 

But I'm nearly at Edale now, and there the next phase of this end2end I'm doing will begin...

Way of the Millennium - Ironbridge to Stafford: 13th April 2014

Today opened onto a beautiful day, blue skies, not a cloud to be seen! Had breakfast early and headed out towards Telford on the main road out of Ironbridge, knowing that today's hike is the last long-distance march of this trip. First up is a long slog up the valley wall's hill on the road to Telford! Saw seven magpies as I left Ironbridge, but there are no stories never to be told on this blog! 

View down into Ironbridge

Soon I found the Silkin Way, walking through woods, passing a very nice hotel and then onto Telford's large park walks, which emerges onto Telford's very large shopping centre! Stopped for a coffee and a biscuit, stocked up on liquids and a choccy bar and then headed onwards to Newport, where I would find the Way of the Millennium trail, which would then take me all the way to Stafford.

The Silkin Way

The route to Newport was all main roads and grass verges, 8 miles of mind-numbing tedium! So much so, I didn't realise I'd passed Lilleshall, one of the National Sports Centres and where England sometimes train. Camera ran low on charge again, so plugged it into phone's spare battery charger for an hour, just so I can take a few pictures later on. Plod on and finally arrive in Newport.

Selfie

Don't ask why this pic turned out weird! Near Lilleshall village.

St Nicholas Church, Newport

Stopped for some refreshments, had a quick look around and found that the Way of the Millennium starts some miles outside of Newport, off the busy A518. While we're talking of main roads, I really hate people who park their cars on pavements. Not drives, or just two wheels, I'm talking the WHOLE damned car, forcing pedestrians onto the road. No. Just. No. Next time I'll be less forgiving...

Eventually after a hairy hour on the A518, I find the beginnings of the Way of the Millennium. This route will take me all the way to Stafford where I will be staying with an old school friend. First though is the matter of 13 miles...

I'm going to have to count up all the counties I've walked through!

A518 - hairy!

Turn off, another half a mile to the Way

Up onto the old railway bridge and there the Way starts! 

The Way of the Millennium is based on old railway lines, a Roman road and woods, meaning for the most part, it is almost dead straight, a boon for a marcher like me and I make very good time through Gnossall, past Haughton and Derrington, before I get a message just before I go under the M6. It tells me to come off the way and to head for Stafford Castle! Just as I come off the Way though, my left calf decides to throw a bit of a tantrum, becoming very sore...

Getting to the castle is a bit of a faff, trying to work out which fields are safe to walk on and hopping along on my injured calf! But eventually I work my way up the steep hill and there in the shade of the castle is my welcoming committee! 

Stafford Castle

Showing my appreciation! 

It's been a long, hard slog today! It can get very lonely while walking so it's lovely to be greeted by two beaming smiles! It's also very nice to be fed and waited on! ;o)

Tomorrow I head home, but not until after I've done a 12-miler to Uttoxeter...