Staffs Way - Cannock Chase and Shugborough

Continuing the walk, we left Bednall behind - with its aptly named primary school (it's All Saints Day today).

Straight over the A34 to this - the start of Cannock Chase. 

This is the Glacial Boulder. As Andy commented: "it was lucky that plinth was there when it came to rest"

 The nearby trig point in the wild countryside.

Me looking very cheerful having just eaten a Snickers bar. Our way lay down the valley to the left 

We were very happy that the Staffs Way is well signposted, as the Chase is enormous, with lots of different paths

Not sure what this mushroom is. Comment below if you know. (Reader Bob Hawkins says it's an ink cap. Thanks Bob.)

There are lots of cycling routes.

We left Cannock Chase, walked along a busy road for half a mile, and then entered Shugborough

It was Hallowe'en, as you can probably tell.

Jacobs sheep on the estate

One of the many follies

Shugborough Hall- as close as we could get to it (without paying!)

Walk details: the day's walk was rather long (14.5 miles) owing to a miscalculation on my part. This section, Cannock Chase to Shugborough is about 5 miles. We started by parking in Wolverhampton, getting the train to Penkridge and walking from there to Rugeley Trent Valley Station. From there, a train to Stafford, then a change to Wolverhampton. The walk took us six and a half hours (including stops for food and photos). Unless you are very fit, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it distance-wise, although it was pretty interesting! The Cannock - Shugborough section is the best bit.