For our first day in Staffordshire we decided to visit the nearby Rudyard reservoir. Apparently, Mr Kipling’s parents named their son after the location where they first met!
Dad was attracted by mention of a steam railway so we started with that. The Leek and Rudyard Railway is quite a modest narrow gauge tourist line which runs for a short distance beside the reservoir. But, the tickets were inexpensive and there were some pleasant views.
After the train ride we had a walk and then retired to the Rudyard Hotel for lunch where they were doing rather a pleasant carvery. As always with such things, the “as many vegetables as you like” policy meant that we didn’t have any room for desert!
We ended the day by a visit to Blaze Farm where they had a short nature trail with wooden carvings, animals to pet and locally made ice cream. Entrance was free so we only paid for the ice cream.
