Stafford: Even more poets!

Auden Way is off West Way, which runs between Newport Road (A518) and Rising Brook (A449). Parking is available on Auden Way. Drive along West Way until reaching the Westway Pub. Take Shakespeare Road opposite, then turn left and left again.

The Centre is served by bus route 9 from Gaol Street in Stafford town centre, 4 times per hour on weekdays and Saturdays and hourly on Sundays. Get off at Dryden Close, and the centre is 100 metres ahead of you on the right.

[1]  Leave the Signpost Centre and turn left.

[2]  Cross West Way at the Pelican crossing and turn left. Follow the footpath past the Westway pub.

[3]  Turn right through the steel railings and follow the tarred footpath across the grass, turning left to reach the school gates.Cross the drive into a tarred path.

If you find the railings difficult to get through, keep on 50 metres along West Way to Dryden Crescent. Cross over and turn right down to the school gates. Turn left along the tarred path.

[4] Follow the path along the school boundary to the main road (Newport Road).

[5]  Turn left into Newport Road and follow the road to the traffic lights.

[6]  Cross the road at the lights then turn left onto West Way.

Be careful crossing at the traffic lights, There are no pedestrian lights and traffic can turn at high speed from your right even with the lights on red.

[7]  Take the second right into Masefield Drive and follow the pavement along Masefield Drive, crossing Wordsworth Avenue and Burns Avenue.

[8]  You may shorten the route here by taking the first left along Wordsworth Avenue then the second left down Auden Way.

[9]  Take the third left into Tennyson Road.

[10]  Continue along Tennyson Road and  at the Castlechurch Primary School follow the road round to the left onto Chaucer Road.

[11]  Where Chaucer Road bends left into Wordsworth Avenue, cross over onto Auden Way and return to the Signpost Centre.

Be very careful of traffic coming down Chaucer Road behind you.

(A) Stafford Signpost Centre, Highfields

Located at the heart of the local community, the Signpost Centre was established in 2007 and soon became a social hub for the local community.

The centre provides a vibrant and welcoming place to meet, chat and enjoy a quiet cuppa as well as offering access to the internet and advice on housing, financial and family services.

A recent addition to the centre has been the creation of a sensory garden in what was an overgrown and apparently useless plot of land beside the building. A quiet haven for all the community to enjoy, this small plot shows what can be achieved when people work together.

As you walk more often, you may want to extend your walk to visit the nearby Castle Church.

(B) The church was rebuilt in the 1840s but many of the gravestones that surround the church predate this, the church having been a site of worship for 1000 years. There is an unusual sundial on the tower of the church dated 1624.

To the rear of the church, there is a public footpath that crosses Stafford Castle Golf Club. Follow this path across the course to reach Stafford Castle and enjoy the amazing views that the castle mound offers across the town of Stafford, Cannock Chase and neighbouring Shropshire.

(C) There has been a castle on this site since soon after the Norman invasion during the eleventh century when Robert de Toeni built a huge timber fortress. There has been a stone building on the site since the 14^th century although the present building dates back only 200 years.

The castle can be reached by way of a steep tarmac path or by following the gentler circuitous Woodland Trail.

For those who wish to learn more about the castle and its fascinating history, there are information panels situated around the site and the Visitor Centre brings the past to life in a fun hands-on way. Click on http://www.staffordbc.gov.uk/stafford-castle-and-visitor-centre to find out more.