Day 18 - Featherstone to N Abbots Bromley (21.5 miles approx)

Day 18. Today I was due to visit a place where many famous people have hailed from. Abbots Bromley. Well okay, no one leaps off the page when mentioning "fame" and "Abbots Bromley" but I had heard oodles about it.

To get there I had to pass through the likes of Shapshill, middle hill, Wedge's Mills, Cannock, and Rugeley. All pretty nondescript but that was okay. Not every place is going to be stunning or blow me away. They were... functional.

I wanted a good nose around Abbots Bromley so I decided to save up my breaks and have them all in one go at "Abbots". I made my way along the B5013 and crossed the Blithfield reservoir. On the other side I sat to tie a shoelace and was asked the usual inquisitive questions "where, why, when, how, are you crazy?" and as I was talking someone else chimed in and asked if I were Matt Taylor. This is the 2nd person to mention him to me on my travels. Who is this guy? I made to leave but left the details of Richards Appeal.

It was a short few miles to Abbots and when I arrived it was via "Goose lane" which was ironic because the person who told me all about Abbots has the nickname 'Goose'.

Abbots Bromley is really nice. It's got it's fair share of pubs but it also has "old town" written all over it. One of the houses is called "Gaol House". I'm sure the inhabitance now are much better behaved than it's historical name suggests. I stopped in The Crown and Jess served up a pint of Landlords. When I mentioned what I was up to I got the usual quizzical look, then the follow up questions, followed by the 'impressed but your mad' comments. To be expected. I feel a bit mad now. I didn't at the start but as time is going on I'm thinking.. this is a looooong way!!

It's good though because I get to see some fantastic places and life slows to a pace where you can take things in. You also get to meet some truly amazing people. Take tonight for example. I am staying with Mick and Gayle who picked up on the fact I was walking End to End via this blog which is advertised on Mark Moxons website. Gayle and Mick contacted me and offered me food, a bed for the night, the use of their washing machine, more food, and they threw in loads of information pertaining to The Walk. These are kind people and this is something we discussed tonight. You meet people when you do these types of thing, good people. It really has rekindled my faith in humanity. As Gayle said the news would have you believe the world is full of hoodies and criminals... I simply isn't true. My advice to all is go stick a pair of stout shoes on and hit a trail, path, canal, whatever, but go and enjoy it.

Tomorrow it's off to Leek I believe. The weather sounds like it may be a damp one so quite apt.