An Oyster Very Rich in Pearls

In his "Personal Notes in Conclusion" at the end of his Coast to Coast Pictorial Guide, Alfred Wainwright encouraged "any walkers with initiative" to "plan his own itineraries simply by linking the public rights of way recorded on current issues of the 1" Ordnance Survey maps."  He went on "You may follow high level tracks over the hills; or circuit mountain watersheds; or march the boundary of your county or any other; or trace old drove roads; or go from point A to point B, whether A and B are castles,stone circles or whatever; or visit your maiden aunt in Bognor; or cross the country on canal towpaths; or follow rivers from source too sea."  Well I walked his Coast to Coast anyway but went on to take him at his word and in the absence of a maiden aunt - in Bognor or anywhere else - I chose to circumnavigate the Staffordshire Moorlands that are so close to home.

You'd think that a walk that took in dragons, a Knight of the Round Table, a bottomless pool inhabited by a water-sprite named Jenny Greenteeth, rocks shaped like a lion and (allegedly) a bear and a sun that sets not once but twice would be a walk through Middle Earth rather than Middle England.  That you would find traces of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins rather than Bonnie Prince Charlie and William Morris.  That such treasures could not be hidden away in an oft-overlooked area partially excluded from the National Park status of the countryside to the east and north.

But this is a walk through the Staffordshire Moorlands that will surprise those people who may not even have realised that Staffordshire had moorlands and may even surprise those who did. It's a walk that takes in the delights mentioned above, visits the few "honeypots" that the area has to offer (Dovedale, Hartington, Alton - albeit avoiding the eponymous Towers) and also explores some of the region's best kept secrets.

Essentially it is a walk alongside the three rivers that border the Moorlands - the Dove, the Churnet and the Dane - but if you hanker for the higher ground it is never far away and there are hills, clouds and Roaches to climb.  There are also the bright lights and hotpots of such traditional market towns as Ashbourne and Leek (the self-styled "Queen of the Moorlands") for those who yearn for an occasional break from the constant rural idylls.


And like Wainwright "It is a walk I recommend, not necessarily to undertake in a single journey, but in parts as place, time and weather become convenient."  In truth, that is precisely the way that I have walked it and this will become clear as the description of the route unravels.  I loved the walking but loved the research and the writing nearly as much.  "The map of England is an oyster very rich in pearls" is the last time that I will quote the great man here but is utterly true and as an oyster needs a little grit to make a pearl, so we should begin our pearl of a walk with a little gritstone...