Deep Hayes Circular Walk

Please note: We are currently reviewing our walks publications, please refer to the text on this webpage for the most current route details we have. If you note any differences when following the route, please let us know by emailing: rightsofway@staffordshire.gov.uk

Starting at Deep Hayes Country Park, this interesting walk follows the Staffordshire Way along Caldon Canal to Cheddleton before climbing out of the valley to a viewpoint at Tompkin. The route then follows an old trackway down towards Stanley Pool and Stanley Village before crossing the high ground once more to return to the canal near Hazelhurst Aqueduct. A short walk route is also available. 

Distance: Long walk approx. 12.8 km (8 miles) / short walk approx. 6.4 km (4 miles). 

Duration: Long walk approx. 4 hours / short walk approx. 2 hours

Terrain: Easy walking on towpaths, lanes and fields

Parking: Deep Hayes Visitor Centre OS961533

Refreshments: There are toilets and refreshments available at the Deep Hayes Visitor Centre. Pubs can be found along the route at Cheddleton, Stanley and Denford. 

1. The starting point for this walk, Deep Hayes Country Park, was created out of a disused quarry lying on the south side of the River Churnet valley. Leave through the car park entrance, turn left down Park Lane, and cross the bridge over the Caldon Canal. Turn down the steps onto the canal towpath (which from this point forms the route of the Staffordshire Way) and turn towards Cheddleton, keeping the canal on your right.
      
2. The Caldon Canal was opened in 1778 to carry limestone from the quarries at Caldon Low to the Potteries and beyond, and to feed water to the Trent and Mersey canal at Stoke. Follow the canal for a mile to reach Cheddleton Flint Mill. Flints were brought up by canal from Kent and Sussex and finely ground here for use in the pottery industry.
      
3. Leave the towpath at this point and walk up onto the A52 main road. Turn right over the canal, follow the pavement uphill and opposite the Red Lion pub turn right into Hollow Lane. Follow the lane up the hill passing the Black Lion pub, the 12th century church of St Edward, and the village school.
      
4. Continue straight on into Shaffalong Lane. Follow the lane past Big Shaffalong Farm at the top of the hill and then down the hill for 400 metres to a path on the right where the lane bends round to the left. Follow the path down to the bottom left corner of the field, where a stile takes you out onto Coalpitford Lane. As the name suggests, hereabouts were a number of small coal mines, the last of which closed in the 1920s.
      
5. To follow the short walk jump to section 16. Follow the lane downhill and over a bridge, then steeply uphill. With Colford Farm on your right, turn left into a short track leading to Ford Farm. Follow the track into the farmyard, turning right through the cattle shed to a metal gate leading into a field.
      
6. Walk up the hill through three fields to the lane on the crest of the hill. Turn left past Little Knowsley farm then fork right at the junction onto a lane signposted Werrington and Bagnall. From this vantage point it is possible to see on the western skyline the folly at Mow Cop which marks the start of the Staffordshire Way, and to the north the gritstone ridge known as The Roaches, north of Leek.
      
7. Follow the lane downhill past some houses and the Congregational Chapel and where it bends to the right join a track on the left in front of Lane End Farm. Ignore the turning off to the left a few yards later, and continue straight ahead following the track to Bagnall Grange. Walk through the farmyard past the house to a track on the right next to the last shed. Follow this ancient trackway (Old Mill Lane) down the hill to the stream at the bottom.
      
8. Cross the stream and follow the track up the bank following the field boundary on the left for 100 metres until it turns off to the left. Here, turn right and walk across the field, pass through a stile next to a metal gate, then continue in the same direction across three more fields to arrive at Stanley Pool. This was built in 1783 as a canal reservoir but is now also a well-known angling and outdoor education venue.
      
9. Walk across the end of the lake and past a fenced compound to join a path rising gently up through trees. At the end of the wood cross a small sleeper bridge and turn left, crossing a stile. Walk across the first field, then halfway along the next to a stile by a gate, then continue along the other side of the wall to the field corner. Cross a stile and walk a short distance behind house gardens, then cross the wall on the right to walk through a small field to the road.
      
10. To walk round Stanley village or to visit the Travellers Rest pub turn left. Otherwise turn right and follow the lane through the houses to a track on the left next to Little Acres farm. Follow the track for 10 metres then go through a metal bridleway gate on the right and follow a path half-left across the field and through a second bridleway gate. Follow the path downhill between fields, through two more gates and on to a small footbridge. 
       
11. Cross the bridge and pass through another bridleway gate, then follow the edge of the field ahead then left to reach a gate in the top left-hand corner. Through the gate, follow the field boundary on your left up to the top of the field, then cross a stile and walk up the edge of a garden to arrive at a lane. 
       
12. Turn left and follow the lane past some houses and down the hill to a drive on the right leading to Little Hollinhurst Farm. Turn into the drive then immediately cross a stile on the right and walk over the field to a stile to the right of the farm bungalow.
       
13. Cross straight over the next field, then bear left through another and cross a stile. Now bear right to a stile by an oak tree and continue to a stile and gate at the left-hand end of Hollinhurst Farm buildings.
       
14. Cross the stile, bear left down the hill and pass through a metal gate. In front is a fine view across the head of the Churnet valley. Walk down the field and cross both canal bridges to reach the canalside next to a white canal cottage.
       
15. Turn under the bridge to join the towpath and follow it downhill in the Cheddleton direction, passing Hazelhurst Locks, and eventually arriving at Hazlehurst Aqueduct (1841), where the Leek Arm crosses the main line of the Caldon Canal. Continue along the side of the canal past the Holly Bush Inn until you arrive back at Bridge 39 and Deep Hayes Country Park.
       
16. Short walk continued… Follow the lane downhill and over a bridge, then turn right into Brund Lane. Follow the lane past a car park on the right and up the hill for half a mile, eventually turning right onto a driveway in front of Lee House Cottage. Where the drive swings left to the house, join a grassy track in front and follow it for another 800 metres until you eventually meet Huntley Road.
       
17. Turn right and follow the road downhill until it crosses the Caldon Canal near the Holly Bush Inn. Join the towpath and follow it away from the pub keeping the canal on your right until you arrive back at Bridge 39 and Deep Hayes Country Park.   

Downloadable version

A downloadable version of the original printed leaflet including a map of the route, is available below. Please note that the text above is the most up-to-date route details we have.

• Deep Hayes Circular Walk (436 KB)