Nearly 30 miles

Saturday 28th April
Distance: 45.45 km (28.24 mi)
Time: 10 hours 12
Average speed: 4.46 km/h (2.77 mph)

This was the last scheduled training walk before the Keswick to Barrow on the 12th of May, reusing last year's 30 mile route.  I was out the house early and heading up the old railway line to Beaconside and Beacon Hill.  It was cold, but dry.  As it turned out, it was the driest it had been for weeks in terms of rainfall, but the ground was still muddy.  I wore my new lighter waterproof jacket not for its protection from water, but from the wind.

At Beacon Hill I got a good view of the County Showground and all the traffic tailing back in both directions.  Not a day to use that route out of Stafford.  I continued on to Hopton Pools then on to the road.  I was planning to use the footpath past the Battle monument so I checked my GPS to confirm where it was and found it was still showing me back home, with an hourglass running.  A bit of cursing and exiting/restart later and it was working, although it had lost the track up to that point.  Thus the time information above is a guess, taken from last year's effort over the same route.

I'd found the footpath on the other side of the road before fixing the GPS  and continued past the monument for the Battle of Hopton Heath.  Not a big monument, but then I don't think it was a particularly big battle.

The path led through a large field with long, wet grass resulting in damp feet and damp trouser legs.  It was one of those fields where the stile I was aiming for wasn't visible from the start and not being well travelled there was no trail to follow.  So I just used the now-behaving GPS to keep me near the line until I could spot the yellow dots of the footpath sign on the far fence.  That stile looked pretty dilapidated, which would explain the bits of new aluminium gate nearby.  The next fence already had its gate installed. 

I descended the hill down to Salt and the Trent Valley, aiming for the Trent and Mersey canal.  The next bit was a steady and flat stroll along the often muddy tow path, heading for Haywood Junction.  When Weston came into view I could see the traffic backed up to the A51, obviously from the County Showground.

Past Haywood Junction I left the canal at Shugborough and headed for Cannock Chase along the Staffordshire Way. I went past the stepping stones along Sherbrook Valley  and at the little bridge where the Staffordshire Way leaves the valley I stopped for lunch.  I nearly had to share my rolls with a couple of large and friendly but hungry dogs.

I only stopped for ten minutes but as usual it was enough to trigger complaints from my legs and feet when I set of again.  It was a well travelled path I followed from there, picking up the Heart of England Way to the Visitor Centre and Marquis's Drive.  All along there I was checking the GPS, estimating how much distance I'd done that the GPS had missed and doing the mental arithmetic to work out what the total distance would be if I turned back at X, Y or Z.  In the end I decided to copy last year and at the top of Kitbag Hill I turned North to start looping back.

I went down to the other stepping stones, or in this case stepping slabs, and back via Fairoak Lodge and the Tackeroo caravan site.  Last year I'd exhausted my water and had to resupply here, but being much cooler I still had some.

At rifle range corner there was a party of 12 tired teenagers, boys and girls, with heavy packs and looking at a map.  They asked directions to Beaudesert and I waved in the general direction of the way I'd come.  Then they asked where they were and I consulted their map.  It was a laminated extract of the OS map for Cannock Chase with a thick red line marking what I guessed was their route.  I then had to point to the very edge of their map to where they were, nowhere near the thick red line.  "We're about half way" said one lad and I left before the recriminations over navigation began.

Passing my outward route I went up Brocton Field and Coppice Hill where I transferred my backup water into the camel pack thingy.  Heading downwards I began to suspect my footware.  It seemed I was feeling every stone in the path, walking on the softer verges rather than the stony track.  Things came to a head as I reached Milford Common.  Although I'd suspected that blisters had already formed, all of a sudden there was a pain in my left sole that slowed me right down.  I grabbed a soft drink from the fish and chip place at the common, then sat outside and eased my shoe and sock off my left foot.  There was a large blister on my heel which I could live with and another right on the sole that was causing the trouble.  I slapped a Compeed on it, hoped for the best and set off again.

It took a few minutes of limping but I was able to get back into my stride, although a little slower.  Facing a choice between the tarmac of the road route back home or the shorter, uneven canal route, I opted for the Staffs & Wocester tow path and a bit of will power to ignore the pain.  As usual I left the canal between Baswich Bridge and Radford Bank, whereupon it started to rain.  It was the heaviest rain all day, not quite enough for me to put up the hood on the waterproof.

Back on the streets it was a trudge back home, taking waits to cross the road as rest stops.

I had been wearing the shoes I planned to use for the actual walk, but now I'm not so sure.  I had thought they were in good condition but the insides have no give anymore.  I don't like the idea of getting a new pair so close to the big day.

The Long Mynd

Saturday 14th April
Distance: 31.8 km (19.76 mi)
Time: 7 hours 52
Average speed: 4.04 km/h (2.51 mph)

This was the second 20 mile training walk (call me a liar for 0.24 of a mile), the one with steep ascents. The first ascent was from Church Stretton (192 m above sea level) via the Cardingmill valley up to the trig point at Pole Bank (515 m by my GPS).

The weather was dry, overcast and cold. The wind encouraged me to keep my jumper on, but there was no need for my waterproof.

From Pole Bank I headed south past the gliding club and stopped at the edge of the forest to have my lunch. There was a sheep in a hollow that stared at me as I ate my two buns and a banana, never moving. I became convinced it had got stuck somehow so I went for a closer look. It moved then but still held its ground, then I saw the tiny head just beside it so I left them alone.

Changing the usual route I headed east and followed a stream to near Churchmoor Hall. I thought it was a path, and so did somebody else by the footprints, but it was just a sheep track and I had to make diversions around hawthorns. Back on the actual path I headed south-west to Plowden, a mere 200m above sea level before climbing back up to the plateau on the Long Mynd at 440m.

Heading back towards the gliding club I again saw Crouching Ewe Hidden Lamb who had left the hollow and were grazing nearby. The final stretch at height was via Cross Dyke before heading down to Little Stretton, a steep descent, and then a nice flat stroll back to the car in Church Stretton.

A good practice walk, not too fast. I had stiff legs and only proto-blisters on the feet. The next big walk is pencilled in on the 28th, a 30 mile.

Macclesfield Forest and Shutlingsloe

Easter Sunday
Distance: 13 km (8.08 mi)
Time: 3 hours 20
Average speed: 3.9 km/h (2.42 mph)

A typical British Easter Day: daffodils, drizzle and the occasional snow drift lying. The narrow track up to Forest Chapel still had deep snow in it, my foot broke the crust on top and my leg went in up to the ankle.

Above Forest Chapel I was in cloud. A brief respite around the reservoir then back into cloud heading for the top of Shutlingsloe. Out of the forest and crossing on the flagstones I was contemplating missing the peak when I saw somebody who made me look almost sane: a hill runner in very short shorts and bright red knees. I was so glad it wasn't me I was on the path heading for the top long before I realize I'd missed the chance to avoid it.

From the top of Shutlingsloe I could see the trig point, the rocks around it, and nothing else. It was quite tricky picking my way down without sliding around and required descending one bit on my bum.

Stile Cop and the canals

Friday 30th March
Distance: 31.3 km (19.45 mi)
Time 5 hours 57
Average speed: 5.26 km/h (3.27 mph)

For this one I combined a Friday walk home with the scheduled 20 mile training walk. To make up the required distance I combined my three possible routes from Rugeley to Stafford.

Firstly I headed up Stile Cop. The weather had just turned and the glorious sunshine of the past few days had become a thick cloud covering. Worse, when in the wind it was feeling chilly. I was in a t-shirt and persisted so, it wasn't too bad out of the wind.

At Stile Cop (the only real climb, 146 m worth) I went down the track beside the bike trail then across the main road heading back into the Chase. At the stepping stones I turned right to go past the Forest Centre and follow the Cannock/Rugeley footpath back into Rugeley.

In Rugeley I followed the road to the Moseley where I picked up the canal heading for Stafford. Then it was a simple trudge back to make just shy of the 20 miles. The net result was stiff and sore legs the following day, but no blisters.