On Reflection

Well, there is no doubt that we did not walk every inch of The Staffordshire Way. We reached Kinver Edge fully aware that we had left two significant stretches of Way unwalked: Wolseley Bridge to Penkridge (about 11 miles) and Codsall to Seisdon (6.8 miles). But hey! We covered some 74 miles over 6 days, and for five of those days, we carried all of our gear. Not bad for beginners.

As it happened, we filled in one of those holes just a few weeks later. On a gorgeous, spring day (Saturday, 17th April 2010) we motored down to Wolseley Bridge, parked up and walked to Penkridge:

The going was good, and we thoroughly enjoyed our day of towpath, stately home, and chase. But it was far from easy, and we reflected that on that Wednesday, the fourth day of our Staffordshire Way Walk, we made the right decision to cut for the ‘bus at lunchtime. I doubt that we would have made it to Penkridge, and the attempt would probably have finished us off!

As we came to the end of our day’s walk, The Boat hove into view. Not any old boat, but a pub on the outskirts of Penkridge. It was a beautiful evening; we sat outside by the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal with a pint and sense of well-being (despite the aching calves and throbbing feet).

From there, public transport rapidly returned us to Wolseley Bridge – train north to Stafford, then ‘bus out east to where we had parked the car. Great day out, and no rucksacks!

Back to the 6th and last day of walking The Staffordshire Way