Friday, 30th March
Today was Hilary's birthday (I can't tell you which one!) and her choice for the day was a cycle tour of the bits of Cannock Chase we hadn't yet seen. We set off due east from Penkridge and soon reached the rather unlovely town of Hednesford. Soon afterwards things improved as we got up onto the Chase itself. We found a quiet bridleway that for once was cycleable with "ordinary" bikes (so many of them require mountain or "all terrain" bikes) and stopped halfway along at the edge of the forest for a picnic lunch.
Later we headed for the "Visitor Centre and Deer Information Centre". Well, it had a cafe, toilets, a huge car park and a cycle-hire shop but no information about deer or anything else as far as we could see! At Pye Green there is a high telecommunications mast, which is clearly visible from the Shopshire Union between Wheaton Aston and Brewood. We'd often seen it from that angle but never before had we cycled virtually beneath it. By now we'd seen most of Cannock Chase. It's an interesting part of the world and good walking and cycling country - or at least it would be if the supposedly minor roads that criss-cross it were not used as short cuts by huge amounts of motor traffic speeding between the surrounding towns.
Back in Penkridge that afternoon, Hil found a hairdresser that could accommodate her at short notice (the poor girl was just packing up for the day!) while I did the shopping for the evening meal.
We had hoped to eat out and last night had toured the town's hostelries to see what was on offer, but we weren't impressed. Hil is vegetarian and has long since got used to the idea that her choices on any menu will be restricted but the choices available in Penkridge were particularly poor - and expensive - so we opted for a night in, with yours truly of course as cook!
3 comments:
Happy birthday Hil, I agree about boring veggi options on Menu's.
So sorry that you did not overly enjoy your ride around my home area.The roads that criss cross Cannock Chase have a 40 mile an hour limit which is from time to time not adhered to which is a great shame but the roads are necessary to locals, they are not short cuts. Not been into the visitors centre for ages but will call in when next passing and pass on your comments about lack of information. That is not good when they are a visitors informaton centre. Hednesford is a small mining village/town which sadly no longer has a mine but the people are a very close community most families have members who worked down the mines and it has changed very little over the years. Please have a safe journey on and I look forward to reading your blog of daily life abourd Starcross.
Jaymor,
We did enjoy Cannock Chase,it's just that it may be better for walking than cycling and I did notice the 40mph limit, although I don't think anybody else took much notice. I'm surprised that the relatively small and scattered housing areas we saw on the Chase could produce so much traffic, particularly outside rush hour - It certainly seemed like through traffic to me.
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