I managed to get hold of the secretary for my consultant's NHS practise. Three months ago the consultant recommended arthroscopy to treat a meniscus tear, stating that I should be given priority due to the eighteen months that the condition had gone undiagnosed. The secretary could not give me a date for the 'op, but told me that there were no free slots in the surgeon's existing schedule until 2015. That was a bit of a blow and once again I considered paying the three grand plus for the surgery myself. However, as I am now getting some use out of the knee, I am more inclined to wait a little longer.
I have done a couple of easy going twenty mile walks without incident recently, so my thoughts turned to something a little more demanding. The LDWA Staffordshire Moorlands Challenge seemed to fit the bill at just over twenty miles with around 3000' of ascent and moorland terrain. There are plenty of road crossings which, I thought, made the route safer for me with my present doubtful physical reliability. It was a misty old morning when I arrived at the car park in Oakamoor, the forecast was 'changeable'. I pulled on a thin sweater and wind proof and was on my way at a few minutes past nine. I was soon warm enough to remove the extra layers and was comfy in a short sleeve 'T' for the rest of the day.
The walk up through woods to Hawksmoor Cottage then down through woods to East Wall Farm was straightforward and uneventful. At the farm the waymarked path departs from the right of way. I took the waymarked path to 'be polite'. Unfortunately I missed the stile to take me back onto the Staffordshire Way and continued East for a while before alarm bells started to ring. I retraced my path and found the stile without too much trouble. The extra distance covered and the time lost was not great, but as it turned out, a theme for the day was starting to develop.
I enjoyed the next section, from the farm to Kingsley Holt, enormously. The route follows the Churnet for about three quarters of a mile before heading uphill through fields. There was enough fog to give everything a romantic look without reducing visibility so much that it was a nuisance.
Navigation out of Kingsley Holt was straightforward until after the woods at Banktop. There, the path was not always evident on the ground. I tried to head downward where I could and eventually ended in a field with a ford in front of me. I looked about and found Whiston Bridge a little further left.
The level crossing on the old railway, between the bridge and the steep and overgrown 'path' up to and through Ochre Wood.
There was no clear path on the ground up to and through Ochre Wood and the overgrown section (shown as open ground on the map) was anything but straightforward. There were a number of ways that had some wear, however they often dwindled into nothing, came to a halt at a fence or ended up veering off in another direction. After several retries I managed to stitch together a route through and was glad to leave the steep overgrown area behind for a gentler slope through fields to the road.
Leaving the road behind to head northwest for Froghall Wharf, the route surprises by going right underneath part of a bunch of quaint stone built cottages, fortunately there was a waymark here.
Quaint stone built houses on the route out of Leys, the path goes right past the doorsteps and under the arch.
There is a very steep slope immediately behind the cottages and it is hard not to fall down it. The surface is little more than leaf mould on mud anyway and even this has been mangled by 4 X 4s. This hazard out of the way, a sharp bend in the road is skirted and the path then continues down to Froghall Wharf.
Still some mist and a weird light at Froghall Wharf, a little less than five miles behind me.
The wharf is around five miles into the walk and so, as I headed away towards Harston Rock, I decided it was time for a sandwich. I was dismayed to find that it had taken me two and a half hours to get this far. This was an hour behind what I thought was a conservative estimate of one and a half hours. I had not been slacking when moving, so the time had been lost in navigational dithering and path finding. As there were many navigational decisions yet to come I picked up the pace to compensate as I did not want to be out after dark.
I grew quite wistful as I passed Harston Rock, I never did climb 'DNA'. I think I may have made a navigational error after exiting the woods due to my inadequate way marking of the map. This would not have lost me any time, it was just an alternative path. I was unaware of any error until I looked at the route (drawn solid rather than way marked) at home afterwards.
The way from Cotton to Hoften's Cross required care to link a web of paths, a lot of time was spent looking at and orientating the map and taking care not to miss a junction. Some stiles were difficult to see due to vegetation and paths were sometimes invisible on the ground. Despite this, this section went fairly smoothly. I failed to take a photo of the tumulus above
Hoften's Cross, I thought I would get a better angle as I walked up the road. In fact the tumulus became progressively more hidden and I missed my chance, I did see some good donkeys though.
Gorgeous donkeys on the short section along the A52 at Cauldon Lowe.
The route from Hoften's Cross, past Wardlow Quarry and Weaver Hills was straightforward, although I could really crack on here the distance was not great enough to make up a lot of time. The trig point of 'The Walk' making ninety degrees with the path marked ten miles, time for a sandwich and time check. I was still making poor time but had completed the last five miles in two hours so was in with a chance of getting back before dark if I could keep it up.
The next section, to Stanton, was again characterised by some overgrown stiles and few traces of paths on the ground. While navigation was not difficult, it was necessary to keep the map orientated and 'follow your thumb' most of the time. I almost walked into a drystone wall whilst trying to carry on walking and study the map for the next turn. I did have to make a detour to avoid cows with calves in one very long and very inescapable field. Typically, the detour would have added nothing had I taken it in the first place rather than having to walk back to pick it up.
Saint Mary's church signals one's arrival into Stanton.
The minor road is followed out of Stanton before peeling off south east to follow Ordley Brook. There is a finger post from the road so despite the very overgrown start to the track it is not too hard to find. The route follows the valley bottom so I could at last just follow my feet for a couple of miles. This was especially welcome as I was off the edge of my map for a while. After the overgrown start, the going was not too bad and I ran pretty much all of this section. The sound of shotguns in the poorly lit woods added urgency to my footsteps!
Top of the path running down to Ordley Brook. There were many such obstacles to progress during the day. At least this overgrown path had a finger post. The physical effect on progress was minor compared to the wearing nature of the constant challenge to navigational confidence.
I was soon on Guisley Lane, then on a short section of footpath to Upper Ellastone with its Balwen Mountain Sheep (black and white sheep that look like sheep dogs), Grade II listed (St Peter's) church and lychgate. Ellastone is about three quarters of the way round the route so it was time for another sandwich. I had lost more time on the way to Stanton, but had more than made up for it from Stanton to Ellastone. I was now on course to finish in about eight and a quarter hours, well behind my original estimate of six hours, but good enough to quell worries about darkness falling. I allowed myself a short break while I ate, the only break of the day.
Above - The Grade II listed St. Peter's Church in Upper Ellastone. Below - The St. Peter's lychgate.
I headed out of Ellastone, it was not long before I was walking along Prestwood Lane and off the bottom of my printed map. I had pencilled a few notes "follow to Quixhill Lane then take path and head NNE for Churnet Valley". This had seemed adequate when my memory of the complete map was still fresh. I did remember the general lay of the land, but Prestwood Lane seemed longer than I expected and my confidence started to waver. I kept going and the sharp bend in the lane with an obvious path to the right eventually appeared, phew. I also dithered a little in the valley when I got there as I could not remember how much ground I had to cover before I walked back onto the map. In the end I remembered that it did not really matter, I only had to follow the river.
I relocated myself at 'The Sprink' the first feature at the bottom of my map. The challenge route follows the river rather than the railway path and I think this is probably the more pleasant way to go. This valley section allowed quick progress to Alton and another line of notes at my map's margin. I found the route without problems despite feeling a bit of a panic that my notes would not be enough. Further on though, I regretted not taking more care when I failed to pick up the path again after coming down to the road. This resulted in a mile more tarmac than was necessary on the way back to Oakamoor.
Oakamoor and the road home (photo' taken in the morning, not on my return in the evening).
Despite the early fog and later haze obscuring the more distant views this was a pleasant walk. Tree lined valleys can be lovely, but can get boring if not broken up, this walk provides the necessary variety (in the last Churnet section, the valley is broad enough to see more than just the next tree anyway).
I was eight hours and forty five minutes on this route. I took comparatively few photographs, nearly all the time over my six hour estimate was used up navigating and path finding. Navigation was not particularly difficult, there was just so much of it to be done. Those who do not have to change/don spectacles every time they need to look at a map closely, then change/remove them again to see ahead, may have an easier time of it. Some stiles and paths took quite a bit of dithering to find, many were overgrown/not evident on the ground. I get the impression that I may have been the only person to use some of these paths in quite a while.
There were a good few fields with cattle. I stuck to the periphery of these fields to allow escape (excepting one noted earlier), this would also have lengthened the route somewhat. As it happened, at no time did any cattle show much interest in me which made a pleasant change. I get the feeling that cattle are less curious about/threatened by walkers than runners.
In retrospect I would have left more time to enjoy this route as well as to navigate it. There are views that are best enjoyed by stopping and turning round (particularly the extensive views north from the Weaver Hills). I suppose investing in an extra sheet of A4 wouldn't have been a bad idea either, but the route so 'almost' fit one double sided print!
