Distance: 4 miles
Parking: 1 Large carpark
Family Friendly: Yes
Pushchair/ wheelchair access: Possibly, the paths are rocky and bumpy
Facilities: No
This lovely walk forms part of the Cannock Chase walk. The car park is large and can fit plenty of cars. There are no toilets or anything on site which might put some people off.
The paths are clear and there seems to be loads of different ways to go to make your walk as long or a short as you wish. Some paths are narrow and might not been too accessible, but there are plenty of other options.
There are areas of cover under trees and shrubs, which is great on a hot day! There are open areas too with heathland. This difference in the areas helps to foster some great biodiversity.
I did not spend too long here on this occasion, so I am not too sure if this is a circular walk, or if you have to double back on yourself.
Identified Species
Bracken – Pteridium aquilinum
This is a type of fern, and one of my personal favourites! For me this plant makes me think of how the world would have looked back when the dinosaurs were around! I imagine walking through huge bracken that is a big a trees.
Bracken has a pinnate leaf which is extremely long, with many fronds coming off the main stem on the leaf. Bracken grown in lines and covers large areas. It also dies back in winter, unlike other ferns. So in the winter you will see seas of brown broken bracken.
On the underside of mature leaflets you will find small circles in a blue/ grey colour and brown once mature and old. These are called sori and this is where the spores come from to reproduce. Ferns do not produce flowers and seeds like other plants.
Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar – Tyria jacobaeae
This is the larval stage of the stunning cinnabar moth, which is a day flying moth. The caterpillar is banded black and white, and is very striking. The caterpillar feed on ragwort plant species, which can be round in grassy areas gardens or openings in woodlands.
The cinnabar moth lays roughly 150 eggs on the underside of the leaves of the ragwort plant of choice. As the caterpillar eats the ragwort it store poison inside itself making it unpalatable to birds, its distinctive coloration helps to display this message. Once the caterpillar has eaten between June and August, it buries itself in the ground and pupates over winter emerging the follow year as a moth.
Foxglove – Digitalis
This is a lovely member of the figwort family. This iconic flower is most recognisable by the bells shapes pink or purple down turned flowers. The inside of the flowers has a mottled pattern of white circles with small dots of dark pink. The plant is tall and flower heads grown up the main stem. The leaves are lower than the flower heads nearer to the ground and are a light green, arrow shaped simple leaf. The edges of the leaves have a rounded edge serration.
Chrysolina herbacea
This gorgeous beetle stands out with his incredible metallic green colouration. They like damp areas and are often found around ponds, in wetlands on woodlands. This was in the edge of the woodland. They predominantly eat mint, which is why they can been seen here on a deadnettle, which is a member of the mint family. It is oval shapes and largely linear. There can be some colour variation, with some being red, purple or blue. The elytra shows random perforations, but these lend to be more longitudinal.
If you would like to watch my vlog of this walk, please click below
Here are some other lovely images from this walk
Thank you SO much for reading my blog. I really hope you enjoy it.
Please feel free to comment any thoughts, feelings or suggested places I should go next