Day 54: Tissington to Uttoxeter
📍 Distance: 19.59 miles (31.53 km)
⛅ Weather: Overcast with sunny spells, warm with threat of rain in the afternoon
🕣 Start Time: 08:27 | 🕠 Finish Time: 17:15
Today’s walk began with a gentle stroll over to the village of Thorpe, where I stopped by a beautiful, centuries-old church. The doors were open, and I a moment inside speaking with the church warden.
From there, I followed the undulating route of the Limestone Way through the hills toward Rocester. The terrain was scenic, but the day quickly became a test of patience as I joined the Staffordshire Way. Route finding became particularly challenging. Many of the designated footpaths had either been blocked, moved, or had disappeared entirely, especially around Abbottsholme School where the path cuts across playing fields — unmarked and confusing.
It was around this point that I met Will — a fellow end-to-end walker heading in the opposite direction, from Land’s End to John o’ Groats via the northern section of the South West Coast Path and Offa’s Dyke. Unfortunately, Will was having a tough day: the strap on his very large rucksack had broken, not what you want when you’re not even half way through your trek.
Rocester brought an unexpected glimpse of industry in the countryside too. I passed the world headquarters of JCB and found out that the company had funded a combined primary and secondary school academy in the village. Not far from there was a large house — clearly JCB-owned — and even a vast shooting sports complex under construction, again with their name on. It’s clear JCB has left a significant mark on this area.
However, the navigation frustrations were not over the day. Footpaths were often poorly maintained, rerouted without signage, or simply vanished into hedgerows or fields. Nearing Uttoxeter, I faced one last challenge: crossing a vast field with an unmarked underpass below a busy main road. It was on the OS map, but with zero signage, it felt like a guessing game. The final field was split by an electric fence, and the waymarker pointed in entirely the wrong direction. After reaching a dead-end, I had to backtrack before eventually finding a stile hidden further along the fence line.
Eventually, I made it to the Bank House Hotel in Uttoxeter — a welcome sight, especially since there were no campsites nearby. We met several generous people who donated to Alzheimer’s Research UK and offered to promote our fundraising on their local Facebook pages. The hotel staff were outstanding — kind, supportive, and couldn’t do enough for us. A heartfelt thank you to all who made our stay so pleasant.
Tomorrow brings another long walk — this time to Castle Ring in Cannock Chase. Fingers crossed the weather stays kind and the paths are easier to follow.
