Tuesday 5th April (Day 1)
A short stay away just for the habitation at Cannock Resprays. We left about 11.00am; destination The Trafalgar Pub (car park), Littleworth, a fifteen minute drive from the motorhome place. A good run saw us arrive just before 2.00pm. We parked up in a slightly sloping car park and used ramps to get things better, well bit. Then we had lunch. Right out of the back of the car park was access to Hednesbury Hills. Boots on and off we yomped. A pleasant walk around the area finding a race track on the top of the hill and over the far side a museum to the local industries - well coal. In the area there were about thirty collieries in years gone by; how time have changed. We returned to the motorhome and sat around until 6.00pm and the went into the pub for a couple of pints and a meal. Rump steak and the trimmings £8.75! A bargain. Later back at the motorhome we watched a bit of TV before sleep time; hopefully the road will quieten down.
Wednesday 6th April (Day 2)
A reasonable sleep. The road was less noisy until around 6.00am when it picked up again. Up at 7.30am and off by 7.45am arriving at 8.00am as Cannock Repsrays opened then. We dropped the keys of and walked to the bus stop to catch a bus to Stafford. We chose this as last year in Cannock we could only get a breakfast in ASDA and it was very poor. In addition it was quite a sad place. We timed it quite well and within fifteen minutes the 74 Chaserider bus arrived. The journey should have taken thirty-five minutes but due to traffic was almost fifty. It was then ‘find the café’. Apart from Wetherspoons it was proving difficult. Eventually a local directed us to the area around St Mary’s church. The Grove café looked good but was closed but as we walked away they opened. A really nice, if a tad expensive, breakfast followed with thick bacon and tasty sausages, rather than plastic sausages and wafer thin bacon. Even the tea was in a pot. We were recommended to view four locations in Stafford by the café owner. First we walked to St Mary’s church but it was locked. Second the park which had a hot house (closed) and an aviary. We abandoned the park as it started to rain. Third the ‘hidden’ church aka St Chads. It was open! Here one of the locals told us a lot of history of the church and town. St Chad’s was originally a priest school built between 1150-1170. It is the oldest building in Stafford. The archway to the choir area originally was the door before it was extended. It was built by Africans and depicts animals and warriors. There was thought to be a tunnel from the church to the local pub. Indeed in the pub a tunnel entrance was found. It was blocked off so it is not known whether the tunnel led to St Chad’s or St Mary’s. The River Sow which runs through Stafford is, at 23 miles, the shortest in England. Another point of interest is that under Stafford is a huge salt water lake which is regularly checked on. Our last visit was the Ancient House. A timber framed construction spoiled by the two shops either side of the entrance. It was set up in room settings: a shop; King Charles I holding court to raise a larger army; a period bedroom etc. A pleasant time was spent here before a coffee and the 12.20pm bus back to Cannock. We arrived just as the habitation was completed. What followed took over half an hour. I only mentioned the nice breakfast awe had nd we were regaled by the workers daughter' three times cancelled marriage in Turkey on a boat; His medication; the football boots both he and his son used to wear; and his visit to Glen McArthur Outlet Centre to buy trainers! So by just before 2.00pm we were off and, apart from having to divert off the M6 for a small distance due to an accident, it was good drive home.
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