Tag: Stepping Stones

October 16th – Still, one can’t deny the beauty of the season. A far more positive ride out over the Chase, into that open, cinematic landscape where it’s hard not to feel utterly connected to the surroundings. The leaves and bracken are turning and it really is beautiful out there. 

The chilliness of the day also kept a lot of folk at home and it was a lot more peaceful than during the summer. That’s the first time I’ve seen Stepping Stones deserted for ages.

I came back over the Shugborough Estate and noted that while it’s changing custodians from Staffordshire County Council to the National Trust, there’s an awful end-of-days, deserted, unloved feel to the place. Sad, really, as autumn is the best time of year to see it.

The heron, fishing in the river by the Packhorse Bridge seemed oblivious, though…

August 13th – A good summer afternoon on the Chase was just the thing my weary bones needed. Tired from the day before, I didn’t go far and stopped lots. From Pye Green to Milford, back to Seven Springs, then Abrahams and Birches Valley. Lots of wildlife to watch, except, oddly, the two things I went to spot – rabbits and deer, which were strangely elusive.

My return through Chasewater was met with a pleasant sunset, too.

I love the Chase and the best time to go is of an evening when it’s not busy.

June 2nd – Another sunny day, another journey to Cannock Chase. I’m really into the offroad stuff right now, and with new, strong wheels I’m a bit more adventurous. I cut over the Hednesford Hills to Marquis Drive, then over to Springslade for tea and cake. Hitting the wilds again, I stopped to reflect at the Katyn Memorial, and the thousands executed in woodlands like this in Poland on Stalin’s orders.

From there, I hopped across country to the Glacial Boulder near Chase Road, then down into Sherbrook Valley to Stepping Stones, then back to Dick Slee’s Cave and Rifle Range Corner. A great afternoon of empty trails, dust, sharp descent and breathtaking scenery. How I  love Cannock Chase.

October 9th – Today was one of those headache-grey autumnal Sundays when evening falls quickly and everything seems kind of dead. I hate days like this. Escaping at 5pm, I took a spin around the common in Brownhills in a desperate attempt to brighten my mood. On Friday, I’d commented that the water level in the new pool in Clayhanger was very low, and that perhaps it was low enough for the stepping stones – laid to reach the central island when the pond was created in 1986 – to be usable again. A tootle round the pond confirmed this to be the case. The stones were laid out of large lumps of masonry the workers had to hand – mostly coping stones from the parapet of the old railway bridge that used to cross the canal nearby. Others lie dotted about in the undergrowth.