Walk 10/2008 – Cannock Chase War Trail

Sunday 4th May 2008

Today we welcomed 2 visitors making a total of 5 walkers, but we were all also privileged to have Tim a very fine Englishman escort us to our starting destination in the Midlands, he repeatedly asked us to turn around as Alan generally ignored him! But he and Tim gave us all some early morning amusement. (Sat Nav!)

The walk was very flat and of 7.5 miles, taking us over huge expanses of heathland, with new fir plantations together with older clumps of pine forest. The area is deemed one of the premier areas of natural beauty in the Midlands. At times it felt surreal with the vast stretches of open land, a minimal horizon and few people about. On the heathland there are reportedly rare species of butterfly, wild flower and bird life, but unfortunately the weather was against us and we were unable to spot any.

The walk provided the opportunity to glimpse aspects of a war trail through the Great War, including the remaining grounds of a former camp hospital, corps hut lines, world war rifle butts, and a now dismantled camp railway. Of more supremacy was the Katyn Memorial, the Commonwealth War cemetery where many servicemen who died in the camp hospitals were buried and the German War cemetery where 2143 German servicemen from both the first and second wars are buried. Both cemeteries had immaculately maintained gardens, with each headstone being kept in the most pristine condition. The environment was so peaceful and silent and provided a thought–provoking place to visit.

The temperature throughout the day was very warm but with a constant heavy drizzle, providing a humid atmosphere which felt sub–tropical at times particularly with the steam coming off the ground and the moisture dripping of the ferns. The humidity enhanced the scents of nature, and we all commented on how we could truly smell the rain! Some others also picked up the additional scents of foxes and horses! There were many horse riders and mountain bikers but few other walkers spotted. Claire observed that it was difficult to decipher bird song in the forest and explained that there were “Too many tits flying about”, she exclaimed this profound statement just as 3 mountain bikers whizzed passed whom we were sure overheard!! [Ed – there was a magic moment here, where Claire stopped mid sentence as it dawned on her how her words might have been misinterpretted by the passer–bys. As at least two of them were female, I am glad she made this comment rather than me!]

Claire also caught an ice cream van in her imagination and even believed it carried the melody of “if you go down to the woods today”!! But then decided she was hallucinating due to a distinct lack of drinking water or the surreal surroundings!! However she was later rewarded with that long awaited ice cream when we all partook in a delightful afternoon cream tea in the Springside Lodge Café.

Other points of interest had included Freda’s Grave – the mascot of the New Zealand Rifles 1918. Freda was a Dalmatian and so it was particularly odd that the next dog passed on our walk was a Dalmatian too! Perhaps it could have been one of her long distant descendants. We all concluded that this had been a most tranquil walk with some weird experiences, delightful scenery and good walking tracks.

Report – Cathy

Pictures – Alan

Walk rating – Good

Freda’s Grave.

The Glacial Boulder.

The Katyn Memorial.

A woodland track.

The Commonwealth War Cemetry.

The German War Cemetry.

Some of the heathland tracks.

Typical scenery.

The were numerous open areas where the trees either never existed or had been felled.

Walking through the pine wood.

We lunched near this little waterfall. Unfortunately it was raining.