Citylife in Lichfield September 2021

The High Sheriff’s Tour of
the Trent Valley
By Louise Morris
From Biddulph to Burton: Touring the Trent Valley
through Staffordshire
Through June and July, James Friend, the High Sheriff of Staffordshire, has
been touring along the River Trent as it flows through the county. Supported
by Transforming the Trent Valley (TTTV), a landscape partnership scheme
headed by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and funded thanks to The National
Lottery Heritage Fund, the High Sheriff has walked, cycled and paddled the
Trent Valley raising money for The Community Foundation.
Starting at the headwater of the River Trent on Biddulph Moor, we followed
the river as it flowed south towards Stoke-on-Trent.
The second stage began with a visit to Staffordshire University, where
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust has restored the river channel thanks to their
ERDF funded SUNRISE project. We then cycled along the historic Trent and
Mersey Canal to Stone before following the river valley to Wolseley Bridge.
On the third day of the tour, we walked the canal towpath through Rugeley,
where the Canal and River Trust has recently upgraded it to an all access
standard, and on to Kings Bromley. A small diversion took in the Riverside Park
at the former Rugeley Power Station site where TTTV is working with Engie
to enhance habitat and restore the floodplain.
The fourth stage saw us walk along the Trent Valley Way from Yoxall to
Alrewas where we took in the stunning views of the valley and passed through
flower-rich meadows. We ended at the National Memorial Arboretum where
we met up with some of the many volunteers who have supported TTTV over
the last 2 years and enjoyed a very welcome cream tea.
We were treated on our fifth day with a visit to Cherry Holme, a former
river island that has been ambitiously restored as part of the TTTV scheme.
The new river channel, completed last September, is greening up nicely as
nature begins to reclaim and naturalise it. Vegetation is taking hold and is
already providing a good diversity of habitats for plants, insects, mammals and
fish.
Our penultimate day started at Tucklesholme, a Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
nature reserve near Walton-on-Trent where the High Sheriff cut the ribbon on
our new Discovery Area. We then walked along the river following the Trent
Valley Way towards Branston Leas, another Staffordshire Wildlife Trust reserve,
before ending in Burton on the Washlands.
The Tour concluded on Saturday 31st July at the TTTV Family Fun Day on
the Burton Washlands where families enjoyed bug hunting, trails and
storytelling on the banks of the river whilst the High Sheriff, accompanied by
friends and family, canoed to the Derbyshire border with the Burton Canoe
Club.
The tour has successfully completed 60 miles of the Trent Valley between
Biddulph and Burton. We have cycled 23 miles, walked 34 miles and paddled 3
miles in 7 days.
Day 1 Trent Head Well
Day 3 Walking the Trent and Mersey
Canal towpath (Credit S. Cheshire,
TTTV)
Day 5 Visiting Cherry Holme
(Credit L. Morris, TTTV)
Day 2 Cycling to Wolseley Bridge
(Credit S. Cheshire, TTTV)
Day 4 Walking the Trent Valley
Way to Alrewas (Credit Sanda
Friend)
Day 6 Walking the Trent Valley Way
to Burton (credit L. Morris, TTTV)
To find out more about the High Sheriff Tour, read our blog and see our
photos, visit www.thetrentvalley.org.uk/high_sheriff_tour.php.
Day 7 Canoeing the River Trent
(credit Sanda Friend)
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