The lovely sundappled track running down into Dimmingsdale from the side of the B&B.

 

Lovely dappled sun coming through the beech trees

One of the lakes on the walk down Dimmingsdale.

 

Again I had done this part of the walk all the way to Alton on the recent GOC walk, but it is certainly a pleasant walk so not a problem to do it again!!! After descending into the mouth of Rakes Dale the descent up the other side through Toothill Wood is another one of those inadequately described ‘steeps’ that the guidebook is becoming notorious for!! The view from Toothill Rocks makes it all worthwhile though and I sat up there recovering for a while and admiring the view up and down the Churnet Valley and across at the far valleyside and the woods surrounding Alton Towers.

 

The view Back up the Churnet Valley from the perch of Toothill Rocks.

 

And the way ahead down the Churnet Valley past Alton.

 

Rested and watered, I set off again down a track between stone walls and into the pleasant village of Alton. I crossed the main road and up a path by the side of a pub and between the church and the Roman Catholic school in the old castle perched high on the Churnet Valley side. Following the lane around a corner I came to a stile into a field of horses, and anyone who knows me will know that these days I am pretty afraid of the creatures. I plucked up the courage to cross and they all came racing inquisitively towards me so I decided maybe I would go around, and so a small detour ensued until I rejoined the official Staffs Way again on the old Saltersford Lane. I’d walked along here on the recent GOC walk again, but at its end there are nice views out over the valley towards the Weavers Hills on the edge of Derbyshire.

 

As I reach the end of Saltersford Lane I get my
last nearish glimpse of the Weavers Hills
across the Churnet Valley.

 

I made a mistake when I descended into the valley bottom again, and instead aof walkign along the valley bottom I went up the far valleyside a short way to the road in Denstone… it was a very minor detour and I soon rejoined the official Way again on the road to Quixhill turning right off this just after crossing over the river bridge. The walk to Rocester was a pleasant enough walk through fields of cows with the river meandering its way off to my right. I climbed up onto high ground above the river on the final approaches, which gave good views over the valley and at the JCB plant with its large lake and fountain and over towards Denston College on the far valley top.

 

The pub where I stopped for lunch in Rocester.

I left after my lunch and two pints and made my way down Mill Lane. Tutbury Mill was a pleasant enough structure for such a functional building, and its plaque on the roadside proudly proclaimed its association with the famous Awkwright of milling fame!! It was then onwards past the football ground on my left and then over the nice red sandstone bridge over the River Dove. the next few miles of the walk were pleasant, first walking beneath the grounds of Abbotsholme School, then across its playing fields and thence through meadowland on the banks of the Dove off to my right.

Looking back at The Mill in Rocester from the River Dove.

 

And following the Dove's banks for a while afterwards.

At Sedsall Farm, which was a scandalously ruinous collection of red brick buildings at the base of the river bluff here, I turned right along a stone track and then at Eaton Dovedale Farm bore right to turn left along another stoney track all the way to Eaton Hall Farm. This is now a country sports club, which seemd to me to mainly mean clay pigeon shooting range. The red flag was a flying by the gate as I entered the farm area and the shotgun bangs throughout my approach confirmed that they were shooting today so I had to keep ‘strictly’ to the official footpaths. This was not a difficult task as the footpath was in fact a track which climbed by the club house and then diagonally up the hill of the bluff. The book had said I would get good views from here, but I think I missed them with my head down trudging up and up and up because by the time I looked around at the top just after going under the archway sign for the club the trees linign the top of the ridge were obscuring my view! Grrr! I walked along behind the treeline all the way to the end of the bluff. Before descending to Dove Bridge near Uttoxeter I stopped for a drink and a rest and some wine gums that I’d bought before leaving Rocester from the Spar…( I got out before any thugs descended on the place thank goodness?)

The lovely Dove Bridge near the A50 by Uttoxeter.

Dove Bridge was pretty, but inevitably the thunderous modern A50 right next to it was not? I had a quick look, then crossed underneath the bridges of both carriageways of the A50 and along a cycle track alongside for a short distance before angling across very thistle infested grass fields ( .. ouch in my shorts!!!) to the edge of Uttoxeter.

Before setting off this morning I’d had no idea whether I was going to end at Uttoxeter and get my parents to pick me up from there, or carry on to Abbots Bromley. I’d made my mind up throughout the morning to carry on past Uttoxeter and had let mum know by phone that that was my plan. I was really tired by this point, but I saw no reason why I would want to hang around in Uttoxeter until about 7.30pm which would be the earliest I could be picked up either. It was now only 4pm so I trudged onwards, taking my time.

Uttoxeter was a bit of a shock to the system, busy traffic and lots of houses.. the Staffordshire Way up to this point had been surprisingly rural and tranquil. I entered the town between an industrial estate and the railway station along Brookside Road. The brook on my left looked dingy and polluted with no plant growth, but there were plenty of shoals of what looked to be roach swimming about in the shallow water. At the end of the road I turned left, over the red brick bridge over the railway and then straight over at an island to follow a footpath through at first old narrow streets of tranquil terraces and then more modern housing developments. Eventually after the last very new looking houses I emerged in fields again, gradually climbing so that views back over Uttoxeter revealed the distant Weaver Hills and my walk of the morning. After Field Head Farm I joined a green track angling in from my right and then crossed a lane just before Knightsfields Farm. This part of the walk was pretty repetitive really, walking through small fields of long grass, which made walking more tiring than I felt able to cope with often. I had quite long rests throughout this section. The only moment of excitement was being chased by a heard of rather playful bullocks in one field, which was worrying for a moment, but I managed to make it to the gate before they decided to do a full scale charge? Phew!

I eventually reached Hobb Lane, the next natural break in the guidebook and walked along this for a short distance before turning off left down the drive to Marlpit House Farm. Again this was a gradual climb all the way and beyond the farm I climbed ever upwards under some hissing and crackling power pylons before levelling out at the top in Bagot’s Park. This was a very different landscape. No more patchwork of small fields here! Instead large praries of arable crops. Despite it being quite sterile in terms of wildlife it was actually rather a pleasant change and the stands of trees dotted about served to break up the monotony of it all to a certain extent. Being quite high, the distant views were pleasant as well. I could see the TV masts at Hopwas and Sutton Coldfield and the spires of Lichfield Cathedral at several places from up here. All through this section I was on the tail of three walkers that I had spied shortly after reaching the park. This was helpful, because when I could have been flagging they were an added spur to keep up a good pace. I eventually caught up with them near Cockshutt Close ( an arm of Bagot Forest) and they were actually doing the Staffordshire Way as well which was good to hear. They had come from Rocester that morning and were doing it in daytrips.

It started to spit with rain around here as well… the sky was quite overcast by this point and had made the landscape gloomy, but it never looked like being a heavy downpour so I trudged onwards, leaving my fellow walkers behind. At last I joined Hobfield Lane and this lead to a proper tarmac road from which I could see the edges of Abbots Bromley across a small valley. I had soon crossed the intervening fields and was in the village itself by the Butter Cross by about 7.30pm. I had made it!!! 18 or more miles in one day… a very LONG day for me, as I’m normally only comfortable walking up to 15 in one stint! I didn’t have to wait long for my parents to turn up and we had a nice meal in the timber framed Goats Head Inn near the butter cross.