04/11/14 - Animal Rescue

Distance - 7.5 Miles
Walk Inspiration - AA Walks through History
Caches - Sadly none on route.

 It has been remiss of me to have only walked in Cannock Chase once before. Its local, beautiful and there are 26 square miles to explore. That said, I managed a 7.5 mile walk that didn't have a single cache on it. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are good for many things. the retrieval of tupperware is not one of them.

After three days of walking with company, I am kind of solo. No human company, but I take the dog so that she does not spend the day barking at the man painting the outside of the house. For me, DIY stands for Don't Involve Yourself.

Park up at the visitors centre and head out on great paths, picking up a section of the Heart of England Way.

Heart of England Way - Future Inspiration

This is one of those walks that is stunningly beautiful, but with little variety.  Once you have photo'd the heathland, forests and woodland, there is not much else to do but enjoy the peace and tranquility.

Its always slightly exciting to walk between the red danger zones on the OS Map as I walk through the rifle range.  No shots being fired today though.

The walk takes me to something called "The Mound".  I could have knocked a corner off and grabbed a couple of caches but I feel I should follow the route to the letter.

As I move along the path, I see a man walking towards me with a lead but no dog in sight.  He is rather panic stricken, having lost his border collie an hour ago.

I ask where he is parked and move on towards the Mound with extra vigilance, looking for the errant mutt and considering the trouble I would be in if I returned home without the labradoodle.

The Mound.  Cost me two smileys today.

After looping around the lump of nothingness, I can see three people walking towards me.  They are holding a dog by the collar.  As they get closer, I can see it is a collie.  I ask if it is theirs and am mightily relieved when it's confirmed that he is indeed the runaway.  They have phoned the relieved owners, who I am sure will keep fido on the lead next time they are out.

With everything well with the world, I press on, tailed by a trio of horse riders.  I lose them at an unexpected Trig Point.

Patriotic Trug Point

Cannock Chase was used as POW camps in both WW1 and WW2.  There is also a German War Cemetery created after the war to inter all Germans who died in camps in a single place.

Dogs are not allowed in but I fancy a look.

You wait here - I'm off exploring

The German Graves

Respects paid, I head back to the walk - heading for the Pye Green BT tower that dominates the surroundings.   All lovely, if samey, walking.

I won't leave it so long next time.

Beautiful Day for a Walk

Great Ball of Fire