Crown Meadow, Stone: A nature reserve by the River Trent

The Frank Jordan Centre has a car park. There is plenty of car parking space available elsewhere in Stone.

Stone is also served by local buses 1,2 and 3 which are at the time of writing run by DG Coach and Bennetts Travel  Cranberry.  

Bus routes X1, 101, 249, 250 and 490 operate from Stoke to Stafford via Stone.

[1]  Standing with your back to the main entrance door of the Frank Jordan Centre, turn left and walk along the pavement. Carefully cross one end of Abbey Street and continue to the next corner.

[2]  Turn left to walk down the pedestrianized Stafford Street and carefully cross the other end of Abbey Street. Continue along the pavement, crossing the canal then taking care as you cross the entrance to the Westfields car park. You are now following the route of the old road to Stafford; its replacement is on your right. Take care as you cross the entrance to the Canoe Club car park to reach the old Walton Bridge across the River Trent (A). For a better view of the bridge you can take the path to the left down to the riverbank.

[3]  Cross the bridge to where the path splits two ways. The right-hand path is slightly steeper. If instead, you take the left-hand path, follow it past the houses to meet the road at the top. Turn right and follow the pavement round to re-join the right-hand route at the top of the steps. Use the pedestrian-controlled traffic lights to cross safely over the road (Stafford Road).

[4]  Turn right and follow the pavement. Take care crossing the end of Stafford Close and then cross the River Trent again, this time using the new Walton Bridge (A). Just after the bridge, there is a track on your left.

[5]  Turn left, leaving the road, and follow the track across a wooden bridge over a stream. The track immediately divides. Take the path on the left that leads straight ahead and follows the river through Crown Meadow Local Nature Reserve (B). This path passes several seats where it is possible to rest for a while.

[6]  The track reaches a junction of paths where steps rise up a bank in front of you. Ignore the steps and turn to the right then take the path immediately on the left. It leads to a car park. Carefully cross the car park and the road beyond to attain the tow-path of the Trent and Mersey Canal. Turn right and walk along the tow-path to the "Star" Inn (C).

[7]  Taking care because of the cobbled surface and steep slope, continue to follow the canal at the side of a lock (D) as it passes under the road bridge and emerges at the other side. 50 metres beyond the tunnel, there is finger-post on the right of the tow-path. At this point, turn back on yourself climbing the canal bank to the right. On the left there is a children's playground with a seat. On the right there is a beautiful tiled seat. Go through the metal gates to emerge on Stafford Street. Turn right to cross over the canal and walk to Abbey Street. Carefully go across Abbey Street and turn right on the other side. Follow the pavement at the side of Abbey Street to the next corner.

[8]  At the corner, turn left and follow the pavement along another branch of Abbey Street. At the top of the road, where it meets Lichfield Street, turn right and taking care, cross Abbey Street to follow the pavement to the Frank Jordan Centre.

A. The Walton Bridges Take the Stone to Stafford road across the Trent. The old bridge is medieval in origin, and is Grade II listed. The citation reads:

Bridge over River Trent. Probably medieval or post-medieval in part with C17 or C18 rebuilding. Ashlar. 2 arches with one large and 3 small flood arches to north, small flood arch to south. 2 segmental-pointed arches encase older arches with 3 ribs; segmental arch to south; small flood arches all segmental-pointed. 4 triangular cutwaters to east, 5 to west. Platt band over arches and plain parapets. Approximately 60m long and 5m wide.

The new Walton Bridge was officially opened on 28th June 1984.

B. Crown Meadow Nature Reserve There are several seats by the footpath through the reserve. The Trent is one of our major English Rivers. It starts on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor in Staffordshire and Joins the River Ouse to form the Humber Estuary. The nature reserve here at Crown Meadow is one of three reserves along this stretch of the river that were established by Stafford Borough Council to form the "Stone Meadows" nature reserve. IN summer there are Bullrushes and Lythrum to be seen, as well as the invasive Himalayan Balsam.

C. The "Star" Inn was here at least two hundred years before this stretch of the Trent and Mersey Canal was completed in November 1771. In those days it had stabling for 15 horses which illustrates its importance as an overnight stop for travelers at that time.

D. Stafford Road Canal Lock (Trent and Mersey No. 93) There are three locks on this stretch of the canal. Locks were designed to allow canals to change level to suit the height of the surrounding terrain. Older canals were designed to stay at a constant height, often by following height contours, resulting in them taking much less-direct routes. The building on the opposite bank was a toll office where boatmen had to pay to use the canal.

The slopes up to to Stafford Road, the gravel path through the nature reserve and the cobbled slope by the Star Inn make this walk not particularly wheelchair friendly.