Utoxeter

 Gerald kindly drove me back to our rendezvous of the previous evening. I resumed walking the canal until it swung away from the direction I wanted and pushed on along back roads to the town of Cannock which held little interest for me.

Further on Cannock Chase was impressive in size but less so in arboreal diversity being mostly pine trees.

As I left the Chase I made the mistake of taking a B Road to Utoxeter thinking all B roads are less trafficked but this B road was clearly a local favourite and I spent several unpleasant hours dodging traffic and jumping onto muddy verges.

As I came into the outskirts of Utoxeter I stopped at a pub to gather local info on accommodation and was told of a ‘Boarding House’ just down the road. Being late and my boots and feet wet and the price being reasonable I searched no further.

Both the Pub Landlord and the Boarding House Manager mentioned an oriental fellow just weeks back walking JOGLE and the their independent views that he was a Ghurkha. I would have thought Ghurkhas far more stoic.

A quick evening inspection of Utoxeter revealed nothing of interest to me apart from some nice pubs. I spent the remaining hours trying to plan the route and accommodation up ahead and keep my travel diary up to date but fell asleep over my netbook as the days efforts got the better of me. I estimate I walked 24 miles / 35kms today.