Chris Butler – Staveley recce

We’ll stop for coffee and toilets at Truckhaven on our journey North.
The walk starts on the west side of Staveley, where the coach will drop us off. We start walking along Brow Lane where there are lovely views of the valley towards the coast.

We pass St. James’ Church, where we’ll pop inside, if it’s open. The East window of the church is an outstanding Pre-Raphaelite masterpiece designed by Sir Edmund Burne-Jones and made by William Morris in 1878-1881. One section of the window was used by Royal Mail as a Christmas Stamp! Check it out on Google and see if you can spot it.

We then head over Barley Bridge and up Hall Lane to another viewpoint. Hall Lane is a steady incline which we’ll take slowly because we’re not in a rush. We then walk down another quiet lane, over fields and head to a pleasant waterfall, which is our lunch stop.

After lunch, we head down to a quiet lane and enter the woods alongside the River Kent. We cross the river and walk through woods and fields on the other side. There are often Dippers by the river, and Kingfishers have also been spotted occasionally!

We reach the road into Staveley and the coach will pick us up opposite the Eagle and Child pub.

The walk is about 6 miles. Enjoy!