Tag: Tixall

#365daysofbiking Medicinal

Saturday March 20th 2021 – I wasn’t feeling so good and headed out with a friend onto Cannock Chase. I was down in the dumps and not feeling the love.

I was expecting the Chase to be crowded and the paths to be terrible, like they currently are at Chasewater, but to my delight it was very quiet and the trails were no different to normal.

I found myself cheered by the cinematic, wide landscape and open skies, despite the dull day, and found what I usually do – the best cure for the blues is a damn good ride.

Coming off the Chase at Milford, we rode through Tixall at dusk, Haywood and around by Blithfield and Admaston home.

Of course, the highly medicinal burger from Milford’s legendary Wimpy helped too…

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#365daysofbiking It’s about time

March 17th – Finally a day with a more manageable wind, although it was still hard work, and an afternoon mostly without rain, although it caught me on my evening return. But a good ride, none the less.

Rapidly going stir crazy, I was pleased to note a more temperate day – although it was cold the sun shone frequently and the rain was mostly short sharp showers.

I headed up to Cannock Chase for a decent 45 miler, Pye Green and Brocton Field, the dropped into Sherbrooke Valley and on to Milford. From there, up to Tixall, a place I’ve not been in far too long a time. The architecture and atmosphere of this gorgeous place cannot be overstated, yet it’s mostly missed as it exists in the shadow of tourist magnet Shugborough, just down the road.

I continued to Hixon and skirted Blithfield Reservoir via Newton and Admaston, and passed back through Rugeley and Longone as darkness and rain fell.

Spring is really coming on a pace now, with plump spring lambs in the fields and green evident on the hedges, woods and fields; and on Brownhills Common the deer were clearly currently entering the moult and will soon look like threadbare old rugs that nobody cares for, despite being in excellent condition otherwise.

I’d love to know what a solar loo is though…

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June 24th – This week, I passed through Tixall, which is something I tend not to do much now Shugborough’s gates are open more. Tixall really is an odd little place with a lost village feel to it: From the gazebo overlooking the river and canal valley, to the lost avenue, ridiculous but gorgeous gatehouse and the bottle lodge.

You can’t fail to adore this place really.

July 2nd – A ride out to Brockton, Milford and Tixall marred by mechanical problems, a headwind and tiredness, but a good trip all the same. Tixall is as beautifully incongruous as I remember, and the Chase was as gorgeous.

The waterfowl of Chasewater were also on good form as I passed through. I’m wondering just how much the swan numbers can increase to – gorgeous birds, but so many of them now. Interesting to watch.

September 25th – From Tixall, a stop for tea and cake, and then back home along the canal from there to Handsacre – a fair trip. This stretch, which runs limpid at the rear of the Shugborough estate and shadows the Trent for much of the way is captivating and tranquil. Even as it passes Colwich and the busy rail junction there it seems miles from anywhere.

All the time I was in a gorgeous, but chilly golden hour. 

A wonderful ride that perked up a dreadful day no end.

September 25th – Tixall, the supporting village for the Shugborough Estate, lives in the shadow of its stately brother. But the little hamlet – not much more that a set of converted farm buildings, a huge, folly gatehouse, pepper pot lodge and chapel is beautiful, mores at this time of year.

The grand avenue – stretching across the lane – is still gorgeous, with a sense of sad, melancholy Ichabod as cows browse over the once neatly cut fields around the stone gazebo. 

The pepper pot lodge – designed to mimic the towers on the gatehouse – is a lovely, peculiar curiosity.

I haven’t been here for ages. I forgot how lovely it is.

October 6th – From Milford, I headed out via Tixall and all it’s remarkable architecture and hit the canal at Hoo Mill. Returning along it to Rugeley rewarded me with a great golden hour and some lovely toadstools I’d not seen before. This was a great ride on what surely must be one of the last warm, sunny days of the year. I’m glad I was out and able to enjoy it.

December 28th – I hadn’t been up Haywood Warren for a very long time. The steep collection of ridges sit between the Sherbrook and Abraham Valleys, and offer splendid views of Tixall and Shugborough to the north. At dusk, it was haunting. Total peace apart from bird calls and the territorial hooting of an owl somewhere in the woodland behind me. This is a completely different spot with every season. I must return here more often.

October 23rd – Also on my haphazard itinerary today was Tixall. I adore Tixall, and not many folk seem to know it, existing as it does in the shadow of Shugboriugh Hall and it’s large estate. There were other noble families in these parts other than the earls of Lichfield, and the Aston family built Tixall Hall, gatehouse, church and stables. The hall has long been lost, but the gatehouse – now rented as a holiday let – is a splendid architectural wonder. It’s prominent towers are replicated further up the road to Great Haywood in a tiny lodge-house, the purpose of which I’ve always wondered. The stables have been converted into luxury homes, but the air of noble history parades the village and it’s odd little follies.

June 19th – Rolling up from Milford, over the River Trent, one comes to the delightful village of Tixall. There are several great architectural features here, the Gatehouse, Stables, Pepperpot lodge, church and more than one beautiful home. I like the avenue best; a long, straight, tree-lined lane terminating in a lovely little observatory overlooking the Trent Valley and Shugborough Estate.

England doesn’t get much better than this.