It was 10:30 we we set off for another walk this morning. And of course it had started to spit with rain just after 10:00. Luckily it never got any worse than that and I haven't had a waterproof on at all today.
Today we turned in the opposite direction on the tow path and headed towards Stone. We turned off at Bridge 86, Upper Burston Bridge, and headed off to the south west. First there were two bridges to negotiate and then find the correct path.
There was a good flow on the Trent in this area, and some of the farms in the area are owned by the Severn Trent Water Co.
Our route today was right on the edge of the map and this bit looked a bit complicated, and it was on the other map!! We managed to get the right on and headed on up the gentle side of the valley.
There are plenty of fields to cross on this walk and that means plenty of stiles to cross. Some were fine, some were falling to bits and wobbly and some had either a very high step up or a very high bar to get your leg across, and some had both! Mind you it does do for an all over work out after a day of hoisting your self over them. Oh yes and many of the fields had sheep and lambs in them. I think these three all belong to the ewe. I wonder if one was adopted?
As we climbed gently up the valley I was struck by this tree not far before we arrived at the hamlet of Marston. It seems in England the difference between an hamlet and a village is a hamlet does not have a place of worship! And is generally smaller. In that case Marston is a village as there is the church of St. Leonard that was built in 1794. Apparently Marston means marsh/farm settlement. I wonder if Bass Brewery know that?
The path takes up to the fence of an obviously government/military depot with some very large buildings. There was no sign of life, or cars etc so must be inactive at the present time. Stafford seems to have a lot of military depots and camps and even an RAF Stafford. Hopton, or more accurately Hopton Heath, was the scene of a battle of the English civil war. In 1643 Sir John Gell for the Parliamentarians, fresh from the capture of Lichfield, decided he would take Stafford that protected the supply routes for the Royalist. He met up with reinforcements from Cheshire led by Sir William Brereton at Hopton Heath. Meanwhile King Charles had sent the Earl of Northampton had been sent to control the midlands for the crown. He met up with the forces led by Henry Hastings at Tamworth and arrived at Stafford on 18th. On the 19th the Battle started in the afternoon. There were 1200 Royalists and 1400 Roundheads. There was a artillery barrage from both side and after initial skirmishes the Royalists mounted a cavalry attack but were repulsed. They tried twice more and even lost The Earl of Northampton when he was unhorsed and refused quarter. In the end the Roundheads left under cover of darkness. Both sides claimed victory, however the Parliamentarians lost 500 men and the Royalist 50, largely due to their use of cavalry.
The undulating countryside gives views across the valleys and makes for interesting walking.
There were some lovely paths through woods and thickets that broke up the field walking too.
This was the view from when we had our lunch sitting on a sandstone rock.
We started to use old tracks that had loads of wild flowers bringing colour between the hedges.
As we descended Pea Hill into Enson there was this old trackway that had been cut through the sandstone. At one time there had been a small quarry up the hill. It was very atmospheric as the trees nearly grew overhead. On the side of Pea Hull in the 1960's motorbike scrambling used to take place.
We have noticed on our couple of walks in the area that there seems to be lots of property that would make lovely projects. This is the Zion Chapel at Enson built in 1833. It doesn't seem to be used at the moment, but the door is freshly painted. I suppose that means that Enson is also a village rather than a hamlet!
From Enson we cut across the fields and through farms to get back to the River Trent and were soon back at Bridge 86 and heading back down the towpath to 'Holderness'. It was once again good to get the boots off and sit down with a cup of tea and a biscuit. Once Helen had a look at her fit bit thing we realised why? It was another 8 mile walk!! Mind you I didn't sit for long as I couldn't remember whether I had changed the oil in the gear box so just to be sure I did it. It looks like I had done it as it looked quite fresh oil, but n o harm done. Helen even managed to stir her self and baked some scones.
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