Staffordshire Way Day 5

The White Hart Inn at Penkridge.

Crossing over the River Penk.

Flat, recently harvested, arable fields all around.

After a good distance I climbed very gently to crest a rise and join a pretty little lane flanked, once again, by dairy fields. At the T junction at its end I turned left crossing over Church Eaton Brook that was clogged and choked with weed and rushes, to the tiny hamlet of Mitton. I was through it and out the other side before I could blink and took to a gently rising path across arable fields again. This eventually descended again to Whiston Brook and over the footbridge I entered Bickford Nature Reserve, which was very boggy to begin with and I walked across it on a raised wooden walkway. The vegetation was profuse and the path pretty overgrown.

Crossing the weed choked Church Eaton Brook in Mitton.

Approaching the squat church tower of Lapley.

The low rise of Cannock Chase becoming more distant off to my left on the approach to Lapley.

Emerging from the other side of the nature reserve I follwed the course of Longnor Brook for a while and then cut across fields to approach the lovely village of Lapley. Cannock Chase could be seen off to my left, becoming more distant, as I approached the squat tower of the church in Lapley. The present church is of Norman origin and owes its existence to the pilgrimage of Aldred, Archbishop of York to Rome in 1061. Among the young Saxon nobles that accompanied him was Burchard, youngest son of Algar, Earl of Mercia and grandson of Lady Godiva. On his return journey Burchard became mortally ill at Rheims and was cared for by the monks of the Abbey of St.Remy. Before he died he asked that he should be buried in the abbey and in return, promised land from his estates, a promise which was honoured by his father. So around 1063, Benedictine monks from St. Remy formed an alien cell at Lapley and began building a church and priory.

I had some lunch in The Vaughan Arms, which I realised I’d actually been in before on a GOC walk several years ago. I had scampi and chips and it didn’t take long to arrive which was good as I’d set off this morning hoping to complete 19.5 miles, all the way to Seisdon, though it wasn’t too important if I got tired before then as I was ringing my parents to let them know where to come and pick me up again.

Having eaten I had a wander around the pleasant and sleepy little village, with some interesting large buildings including a castle though this was a brick and stucco affair which was a bit disappointing? Having looked around I walked back towards the church and then cut down the field boundary to emerge on a main road, cutting across this and carrying on down a farm driveway.

The church in Lapley.

The Vaughan Arms where I ate lunch.

The Shropshire Union Canal beyond Lapley.

Walking through the farmyard I emerged on a bridge over the Shropshire Union Canal. This canal has a very different feel to it than the previous ones that this footpath has made use of. It was constructed later than Brindley’s canals and is in fact the work of Thomas Telford. The older canals meandered across the landscape, following contours to reduce the amount of locks embankments and cuttings. The Shropshire Union, like other later canals cuts across the landscape in uncompromising straight lines, necessitating the digging of huge cuttings and building of huge embankments – an impressive fete of engineering. The first section of the canal was in a fairly deep and now wooded cutting and was very straight, so in terms of walking it was of minimal interest. I must have been walking fairly quickly as a narrowboat behind me hadn’t gained on me much by the time I reached the famous Thomas Telford Aqueduct which takes the canal over the busy A5.

I carried on for about a mile after this and then left the canal at Brewood stopping for a pint in The Bridge Inn. In fact I bought a pint of soda water with lime and a pint of lager. I only drank half the lager but the soda water was wonderful on such a hot day.

Thomas Telford Aqueduct over the busy A5.

The Bridge in at Brewood.. a welcome stop!

I set off along the road into the centre of Brewood which was quite pleasant with numerous old buildings of interest. Especially of interest, on the northern side of the old Market place is the 18th Century Speedwell Castle, a folly built out of the preceeds of betting on ‘Speedwell’, the Duke of Bolton’s horse. The interior apparently has one elaborate plaster ceilign and a Chinese – Chippendale staircase.

I left the town walking by the church and down an alleyway to then cross fields and rejoin the Shropshire Union Canal.

Left: Speedwell Castle in Breward

Above: Looking back at Brewood as
I near the canal again.

Looking up the Eastern driveway of Chillington Hall
towards the hall itself.

Climbing behind parkland from Codsall up to Oaken.

The old army camp for Dutch troops built in 1941.

The sunken bridal way of Toadsnest Lane.

Lots of pylons and power lines this close to Wolverhampton and the Birmingham Conurbation.

The sun is sinking as I approach Trescott....

Still not as dark as it looks on the previous photo though!

It was looking like another scorcher.. cloudless sky and already warm when I got up early to do the next day of Staffordshire Way. I set off to Penkridge at about 9.15am and made it in about an hour. It was, of course, church time, as is usual when I seem to walk these days, so I had to find a car parking spot away from the church and parked in the Market Place of the village. The village is of Saxon origin and owes its existence to the convenient crossing point of the River Penk (one of England’s few north-flowing rivers), where the low marshy river is at its narrowest. I set off and after taking a photo of the White Hart Inn and walked along the busy main road (A449) to cross the River Penk. Turning right I walked along the lane under the railway and then out along an increasingly remote dead end lane intially through dairy fields that I couldn’t see well because of the high hedges on either side, and then through hot fields of recently harvested arable crops.
The White Hart Inn at Penkridge.	Crossing over the River Penk.
Flat, recently harvested, arable fields all around.
After a good distance I climbed very gently to crest a rise and join a pretty little lane flanked, once again, by dairy fields. At the T junction at its end I turned left crossing over Church Eaton Brook that was clogged and choked with weed and rushes, to the tiny hamlet of Mitton. I was through it and out the other side before I could blink and took to a gently rising path across arable fields again. This eventually descended again to Whiston Brook and over the footbridge I entered Bickford Nature Reserve, which was very boggy to begin with and I walked across it on a raised wooden walkway. The vegetation was profuse and the path pretty overgrown.
Crossing the weed choked Church Eaton Brook in Mitton.	Approaching the squat church tower of Lapley.
The low rise of Cannock Chase becoming more distant off to my left on the approach to Lapley.
Emerging from the other side of the nature reserve I follwed the course of Longnor Brook for a while and then cut across fields to approach the lovely village of Lapley. Cannock Chase could be seen off to my left, becoming more distant, as I approached the squat tower of the church in Lapley. The present church is of Norman origin and owes its existence to the pilgrimage of Aldred, Archbishop of York to Rome in 1061. Among the young Saxon nobles that accompanied him was Burchard, youngest son of Algar, Earl of Mercia and grandson of Lady Godiva. On his return journey Burchard became mortally ill at Rheims and was cared for by the monks of the Abbey of St.Remy. Before he died he asked that he should be buried in the abbey and in return, promised land from his estates, a promise which was honoured by his father. So around 1063, Benedictine monks from St. Remy formed an alien cell at Lapley and began building a church and priory. I had some lunch in The Vaughan Arms, which I realised I’d actually been in before on a GOC walk several years ago. I had scampi and chips and it didn’t take long to arrive which was good as I’d set off this morning hoping to complete 19.5 miles, all the way to Seisdon, though it wasn’t too important if I got tired before then as I was ringing my parents to let them know where to come and pick me up again. Having eaten I had a wander around the pleasant and sleepy little village, with some interesting large buildings including a castle though this was a brick and stucco affair which was a bit disappointing? Having looked around I walked back towards the church and then cut down the field boundary to emerge on a main road, cutting across this and carrying on down a farm driveway.
The church in Lapley.	The Vaughan Arms where I ate lunch.
Lapley Castle.	The Shropshire Union Canal beyond Lapley.
Walking through the farmyard I emerged on a bridge over the Shropshire Union Canal. This canal has a very different feel to it than the previous ones that this footpath has made use of. It was constructed later than Brindley’s canals and is in fact the work of Thomas Telford. The older canals meandered across the landscape, following contours to reduce the amount of locks embankments and cuttings. The Shropshire Union, like other later canals cuts across the landscape in uncompromising straight lines, necessitating the digging of huge cuttings and building of huge embankments – an impressive fete of engineering. The first section of the canal was in a fairly deep and now wooded cutting and was very straight, so in terms of walking it was of minimal interest. I must have been walking fairly quickly as a narrowboat behind me hadn’t gained on me much by the time I reached the famous Thomas Telford Aqueduct which takes the canal over the busy A5. I carried on for about a mile after this and then left the canal at Brewood stopping for a pint in The Bridge Inn. In fact I bought a pint of soda water with lime and a pint of lager. I only drank half the lager but the soda water was wonderful on such a hot day.
Thomas Telford Aqueduct over the busy A5.	The Bridge in at Brewood.. a welcome stop!
I set off along the road into the centre of Brewood which was quite pleasant with numerous old buildings of interest. Especially of interest, on the northern side of the old Market place is the 18th Century Speedwell Castle, a folly built out of the preceeds of betting on ‘Speedwell’, the Duke of Bolton’s horse. The interior apparently has one elaborate plaster ceilign and a Chinese – Chippendale staircase. I left the town walking by the church and down an alleyway to then cross fields and rejoin the Shropshire Union Canal.
	Left: Speedwell Castle in Breward Above: Looking back at Brewood as I near the canal again.
I crossed straight over this and walked downa farm track and then into the estate lands of Chillington Hall. This is the family seat of the Giffards. Three Giffard brothers came across from Normandy with William the Conqueror, one of them Walter, being Count of Longueville. At Domesday, Chillington belonged to the Corbesun family and passed to the Giffards by marriage in 1186. Thus began an unbroken association between land and family of 800 years!
Looking up the Eastern driveway of Chillington Hall towards the hall itself.	During the civil war the Giffards fought for the King. One of them, Charles Giffard, guided Charles II after his defeat at Worcester in 1651, to Whiteladies and Boscobel, which are just over the Shropshire border. It was at Boscobel that William Careless, assisted by the Pendrell family, hid Charles II in the Oak Tree. I got a glimpse of Chillington Hall itself when I crossed the beautiful mile long avenue of oak trees which provides the Eastern approach to the house, but then it was lost to view behind the stands of trees and avenues of the surrounding parkland, landscaped by Capability Brown and James Pain.
I eventually joined a lane and then turned right along another one to join Gunstone Lane on the left. This lane gradually descended to the roar of the M54 which I crossed before climbing gently again to enter the oldest parts of Codsall. It was actually quite a pleasant place, considering its proximity to Wolverhampton, and the whole place had a semi rural suburb feel to it. I walked down from the church to the main area of shops, and there were surprisingly many of them including several small branches of banks. I didn’t stop and carried on down to the station going under the railway line and then turning right up a small track heading uphill and around a recreation park which had a very ‘stately home parkland’ feel to it. At the top of the hill was the small settlement of Oaken, which again was sleepy and suburban.
The noisy M54.	Climbing behind parkland from Codsall up to Oaken.
Turning along Shop Lane I walked down to the A41 and crossed it to follow field boundaries and then through a narrow belt of trees to emerge on a golf course in the grounds of Wrottesley Hall. It was a prosperous Manor before the Conquest, and for many centuries was held by the Wrottesely Family, until the estate was sold and fragmented in the 1960s.
The next part of the walk was pretty flat and unrewarding across large and featureless arable fields, with glimpses of the tower blocks of Wolverhampton constantly off to the left. Near Cranmmor Lodge Farm I came across the remains of lots of concrete and brick buildings. These had been built as a hutted army camp for Dutch troops in 1941 and later in 1950 had been converted to dwellings by Seisdon Rural District Council. They were occupied until 1962.	The old army camp for Dutch troops built in 1941.
The sunken bridal way of Toadsnest Lane.	A short climb over a rise from these abandoned buildings and I arrived at the golf course near Nurton, having to walk right around the edge until I reached the Wolverhampton Road. Nurton was one of the places where I’d said that I might ring for a lift from. I was really tired by this point, but it was only about 6.30pm and mum wasn’t leaving home to fetch me until after church. It would be a long wait here, especially as there was no pub and so I decided to carry on the next 3.2 miles to Seisdon. So I crossed the Wolverhampton Road and descended quite steeply down a sunken bridleway called Toadsnest Lane. Local legend has it that this was part of Charles’ escape route after the Battle of Worcester.
At the bottom I followed the edge of a small area of woodland and stopped for a rest at a small fishing lake and then crossed fields to the main Bridgenorth Road at Trescott. I crossed over this and took to the fields again walking under crackling power lines and eventually made it to Post Office Lane in Seisdon. It seemed a pleasant little sleepy place on my walk around to The Seven Stars pub.
Lots of pylons and power lines this close to Wolverhampton and the Birmingham Conurbation.
The sun is sinking as I approach Trescott....	Still not as dark as it looks on the previous photo though!
The pub was nice too and of a very strange design. I sat outside the front on an area of decking surrounded by a large rope fence with ginger beers and waited until my parents came to pick me up and take me all the way back to Penkridge! I was very pleased that I’d managed to complete the whole 19.5 miles that I’d set out to do. I have done the whole of Staffordshire Way in much larger chunks than I’m used to walking! There is only 11.7 miles to go from here to Kinver though, so that’ll seem like a pleasant stroll to finish on!