JOGLPJohn o' Groats → Lizard PointPlan your walk
DE

Part of the route John o' Groats → Lizard Point

Limestone Way & Staffordshire Way

Castleton → Knighton

Length
219km
typical days
6–9
Ascent
3,106m ↑
Wild camping
mostly not
Download GPX
Fact sheet
Wild camp spots
it varies
Water on the way
it varies
Shops
frequent
longest stretch without a shop
28km
Difficulty
easy
Waymarked
no
Mobile signal
good
Surface
Farm track, old railway, pasture

What to expect

From Castleton the “mountains” are over for a while. The Pennine Way is behind you, and from here you head south through wide, fairly flat rolling country. This isn’t one continuous long-distance path but a stretch of the Limestone Way, a stretch of the Staffordshire Way and, in between, paths we pieced together ourselves. To be honest, this was the section we’d planned least, and we didn’t really know what to expect. So we were quite surprised that the Limestone Way even existed.

Don’t expect wilderness here. You’re always close to villages and farms, and essentially you’re bridging the heavily farmed country between the Peak District and the Welsh border, where the Offa’s Dyke Path awaits. It’s still nice. Because it’s fairly flat you can really cover distance, and that’s what we’d recommend: don’t spend too long here.

Limestone Way and Dovedale: The Limestone Way runs around 74 km through the White Peak from Castleton to Rocester in Staffordshire (Wikipedia). On the very first day you walk through Monk’s Dale, a narrow, deep and rather overgrown limestone valley that is part of a nature reserve (gov.uk), sometimes easy going, sometimes less so. After that we walked a stretch of the Tissington Trail, a railway line from 1899 that has been a cycling and walking path since 1971 (Peak District National Park). Flat as a pancake; we just wanted to cover some kilometres. In the evening you drop down near Milldale into Dovedale, with its crystal-clear river, tall limestone cliffs and old villages. It’s beautiful, but very touristy where it’s easy to reach. At spots like “Lover’s Leap” there were still surprisingly many people around late in the evening. No wonder, it really was romantic.

Staffordshire and Shropshire: After that it gets quieter. Wide hills, lots of farmland, more woodland, and small canals with locks now and then, for example near Penkridge. In between it gets surprisingly wild. Near Rugeley you skirt Cannock Chase, the largest surviving area of heathland in the Midlands (National Landscapes), with bracken and heather; at times it felt almost like the Lüneburg Heath where Patrick is from. And because there’s no continuous long-distance trail, you sometimes end up on paths that only exist on the map. Once we had to properly fight our way through the undergrowth because the path had completely disappeared in real life; more of an expedition through the rainforest. This was the section where we’d least expected that. The weather didn’t always play along either. The villages are close together and you pass shops regularly, even a Lidl (a treat after weeks of Co-op range).

Sick break and train: Shortly before the end it caught up with us: a stomach bug for Lorenz, a foot tendon problem for Patrick. So we only walked as far as Cosford station, took the train to Shrewsbury and had a good day’s rest there. Shrewsbury is a lovely little town, by the way. From there we took the Heart of Wales line via Craven Arms to Knighton (Wikipedia), where the Offa’s Dyke Path continues. So we didn’t walk the stretch in between via Ironbridge, Wenlock Edge and Craven Arms ourselves; the route covers it on foot on waymarked paths. We can’t tell you from experience what it’s like.

Our verdict: Nice enough overall, but we wouldn’t walk this section as a trip of its own. It’s the bridge between two really good trails.

Elevation profile

Elevation profile

Caution

  • Dovedale is popular and busy well into the evening. You’re more likely to find a quiet pitch before it or a bit after.
  • From Staffordshire on you’re mostly crossing fields and pasture. Close gates behind you and give cows with calves a wide berth.
  • Some paths, for example in Monk’s Dale, are badly overgrown in summer, and some only exist on the map. Long trousers help, and allow some time for detours.
  • Waymarks are of little help, because you’re only on official trails in pieces. Have the route as a GPX on your phone.
  • We didn’t walk the stretch from Cosford to Knighton. The GPX follows waymarked paths there; things on the ground may differ.