Way Down South

On Saturday 21 July, five members of Stafford group walked the most southerly leg of the Staffordshire Way from Kinver to Enville. After some delayed journeys due to an abnormal load travelling along the A449, Sarah, Kay, Trish, Jane and Lois met at Kinver Rock Houses, having left cars at the Cat Inn at Enville.

At holy Austin Rock

First we looked around the Rock Houses which have been restored by the National Trust to show life there in the 1930s and 50s. They were inhabited until the 1960s and we were amused to hear that if a family needed more room the Victorian father got out his sledgehammer and excavated further into the sandstone rock.

Inside a house

Looking at artefacts

Chatting on the Rock

It was warm enough to have our picnic near the tea room before setting out on our walk.

Picnic at Holy Austin Rock

This part of the way is very pleasant with well-defined tracks and paths, and old-established woods.

It was a bit squelchy underfoot at times where bikes had churned up the ground.

There has to be mud

We particularly liked one path which had been cut out of the red sandstone rock.

Sandstone worn away by walkers' feet

Nearing Enville we passed Enville Hall which has a beautiful herbaceous border and a ha-ha separating it from parkland.

The ha-ha at Enville

Then we came across a game of cricket being played on the pitch next to the walled garden. It was a very English scene.

Cricket at Enville

After a cold drink at the Cat Inn, we took walkers back to cars at Kinver. All in all, an excellent day in the country - and completed without waterproofs!

At the Cat Inn

Written by Lois with photos by Sarah and Trish