Churnet Valley - Froghall and Ipstones

Saturday 20th November 2021

After the fabulous walk in the Churnet Valley that I had the week before and with the mild weather continuing I was soon heading back to Staffordshire parking at Froghall Wharf, which is an idyllic post-industrial location at the end of the Caldon Canal. Passing the old limekilns, I joined the canal towpath with little idea of where I was going to be walking. I hoped I would get some inspiration while on the trail and fortunately a map at the car park provided just that. The red trail was my initial inspiration and took me beside the canal through the steeply-sided wooded valley where the autumn colour of the trees produced wonderful scenery beside the preserved Churnet Valley Railway that runs close to the canal through the narrow valley. This walk went on for such a long time that I began to get a bit fed up with the unchanging scenery. Eventually I turned off the towpath to climb steeply through Booth’s Wood which was a great climb that warmed me up after the cold start beside the canal, but when the gradient eased I could find no route out of the wood despite being marked as doing so on the map and instead the path clearly veered back down into the wood.

Retracing my steps I tried to find the right route but without success, so in the end I came off the path and climbed up to the fence that marks the boundary. Despite walking back and forth beside the fence I could not find the correct way across it and eventually climbed over as best I could making my way across the field onto the correct right-of-way past Greenwood House. I was on a trail that is marked on OS maps as Staffordshire Moorlands Walks (one of many) and this took me through farmland before descending into a wooded side-valley of the Churnet that was a fabulous place, delightfully wild, but possibly too much so as fallen trees blocked the path and made it difficult for me to cross the valley. After successfully negotiating the obstacles I was back onto the farmed upland and enjoying the sunshine that was finally making an appearance and providing me with some great walking. On reaching a road, now on the green trail, I descended a short way, actually approaching Froghall, but before reaching the bottom of the valley I turned off onto a path that heads into Moseymoor Wood.

However, a sign at the beginning of the path warned me that there was a closed path, so cautiously I made my way along the path which was exceptionally muddy. The first turning I reached was blocked off and marked as closed, so I continued up the valley into Cloughhead Wood and found that the turning for the green trail was also closed due to landslip. With both my options unavailable I continued on the path that climbed out of the valley on a much drier path back onto the road that I had come off earlier. With my plans constantly changing I walked along the road into the village of Ipstones onto another part of the green trail and took a byway called Green Lane that crosses the hillside before descending into the muddy valley that I had been unable to access earlier. With the sunshine now a distant memory I immediately climbed back out of the stunningly wild valley before continuing on the byway up to the village of Foxt. There I abandoned the green trail and dropping steeply down into the stunning valley of Shirley Brook I stayed on the side of the valley to reach the route of an old tramway that used to serve the limekilns of Froghall with limestone from Caldonlow Quarries. This gradually descending track took me all the way down to Froghall Wharf and back to my car.

This walk was rather short for me at only four hours, but with the short hours of winter I decided that this was enough and was actually a similar length to the previous week’s walk in the Churnet Valley. This was an enjoyable walk, though a bit muddy in places, however it passed through many fabulously wild woodland scenes that were a real delight and show why I was developing such a strong love for the Churnet Valley

Churnet Valley - Oakamoor and Whiston

Saturday 13th November 2021

I wanted to take advantage of the warmer than average weather last November and decided that I would take the opportunity to visit an area that I have wanted to go to for many years: the Churnet Valley in Staffordshire. Although outside of the Peak District and easily overlooked, it is a striking area of outstanding beauty with steep gorges and an abundance of woodland and wildlife. I found a walk described on the Staffordshire County Council website around Oakamoor and Whiston that I decided would make a good introduction for me to the Churnet Valley. Parking in Oakamoor, I set off from the car park and picnic site beside the river to a road in the village where I took a track that climbs into Cotton Dell Nature Reserve. I was confused by the directions in this delightfully wooded valley, but with a clear path beside the stream I decided to ignore the directions and enjoy the fabulous surroundings. If I was going the wrong way, then I was going wrong through a wonderful place as I slowly climbed the narrow wooded valley through the stunning landscape until eventually I reached a junction of paths where I decided that this was probably where the directions wanted me to leave the valley, even though it didn’t exactly match, and so I climbed steeply out of Cotton Dell.

Passing a house I continued the climb until I reached a track where I turned sharp right to follow it north above the valley. Despite the warm temperatures, it was largely overcast with only occasional breaks in the clouds when the sun briefly made an appearance. Continuing along the track for more than a kilometre, I eventually turned left soon after crossing a cattle grid up the hill and slowly down the other side. From this point the walk was rather dreary as I followed the now clear directions through many grassy fields until after crossing a golf course I reached the village of Whiston where I turned left onto Ross Lane. This track took me all the way down into the Churnet Valley, but at one point I was faced with a split in the track and I turned left when I should have gone right. When I realised my mistake I crossed the field between the tracks back onto Ross Lane, which had now become a delightful, tree-lined lane and took me down to the bottom of the valley.

After a pause beside Ross Bridge to have my lunch, I set off along the route of the Churnet Way and was soon joined by the Staffordshire Way onto an abominably muddy path beside the River Churnet until eventually I reached East Wall Farm. Good tracks took me out of the valley into the woodland of Hawksmoor Nature Reserve, which was a welcome change after the tedious part of the walk since leaving Cotton Dell. Ultimately it was woodland that had brought me to the Churnet Valley, so any time I was not walking under trees was a disappointment. The autumn is not my favourite season, mainly due to the lack of flowers, but the golden colours to the trees, particularly in Hawksmoor Wood, added to my enjoyment of this walk. After crossing a road I entered Sutton’s Wood where there was a maze of paths that proved tricky to navigate correctly and when I reached the road at the far end it was obvious that I hadn’t kept to the right-of-way.

At the road I stayed on the Staffordshire Way on a track that took me to a junction not far from the former Dimmingsdale Youth Hostel. The directions told me to turn left at this point straight back down into the valley, but I was having too much fun to end the walk already so I decided to keep to the Staffordshire Way heading down Ousal Dale, which was dark and shady, sheltered from the low sun. Soon I was down at the bottom of Dimmings Dale, which was a surprisingly popular area thanks to the car park and tearoom at the Ramblers Retreat. There were stunning views across the pond in the valley with the golden colours of the trees contributing much to the scene and showing the best of the season. At the Ramblers Retreat I crossed Lord’s Bridge over the river and dropped down onto the old track of the Churnet Valley Railway, which was also very popular and so it was astonishing to realise that while I had hardly seen anyone on the prescribed route, once I came off it I saw many people.

Walking along the track of the disused railway I returned to Oakamoor and as a taster or introduction to the Churney Valley this walk made me eager to return to the area. I was in awe of the steep sided, wooded valley and its picturesque scenery, so it wasn’t long before I was making a return visit.