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A new job is taking us North and we have decided on a house in Rugeley which puts us 4 miles (mostly off road) from Cannock Chase. I have never been or ridden there so have little idea what is in store.
Is this the best move ever or will I become bitter and disappointed with it after a while?
Dogsby
only when you discover that it's not really North but in fact Middle.
Is this the best move ever or will I become bitter and disappointed with it after a while?
Depends where you moved from...?
joemmo,
I didn't say 'The North' just North. We are currently in Hampshire and can pretty much smell the sea so Cannock is definately North.
well at least you are a bit closer to The North and The Wales.
I dunno about best move ever but a pretty damn good one. The chase is ace, tons of trails both waymarked and not. Despite what people will say there is lots of elevation, perhaps not massive summits but enough to get you whooping for the joy. Cannock Chase is a great place to live near, I'm 35 minutes away and wish I lived nearer.
Iv never been to Hampshire
Cannock is OK actually. Wouldn't kill me to live there
The trail centre is a trail centre...but for a trail centre its quite a fun one.
Stile Cop is a great little DH venue - does a lot with the height it has and you can certainly scare yourself on some of the runs! It can also be linked into a loop around the fun half of the trail centre Monkey trail.
The area is pleasant and you can genuinely loose yourself in the countryside which is impressive given its proximity to Birmingham.
When I have tried to go off piste I have been underwhelmed and usually covered in mud. Locals may know better stuff.
If you have a tasty bike, get a strong garage door. Lots of bike thieves in the area.
Blackflag,
Oddly I was just looking at ground anchors! I'll be buying serval.
On another note you'll now be within spitting distance of the Peak District and some proper natural trails. About an hours driving will get you to the likes of Bakewell or Macc forest for the White Peak and if you stick another 30 mins on that you're in the dark peak for Castleton or Hayfield.
Where is your place of work? cannock is OK, I enjoy it and if its on your doorstep you'd get into all the sneaky trails, but the terrain is not that lumpy really. If you could move further north towards the Peaks then you'd have more variety to have a go at. Though I'm making assumptions about the type of riding you like.
I live pretty much in the middle between Cannock and the Peaks so about a 35 to 45 min drive in either direction to get to either, but once we've offloaded the kids we'll be moving into the Peaks for the walking, biking and wilder out-doorsiness.
Though Cannock has the better road links so if your new job involves driving then you might be thankful of the road links around Cannock.
I live in Stone and tend to ride at the Chase every weekend, we steer clear of the trail centre stuff but maybe throw in a couple of marked descents for a bit of fun. If you take the time to explore the Chase than you will enjoy it.
In terms of distance covered you can easily do a 20-30 mile off road route and not cover the same ground twice. In that distance expect to climb around 2000ft or more.
The cafe at the visitors centre is a good but a bit pricey place to stop and Swinnertons is a very friendly bike shop. I've been dealing with Mark Swinnerton for over 20 years and he remains once of the nicest people in the bike industry you could meet.
I'm sure you will enjoy your move. Just make sure you are in the right part of Rugeley if there is one...I don't know Rugeley well as it just seems to be a place you drive through to get to Lichfield or Stafford depending on which way you are heading.
Rugeley is ok (been here for nearly 35 years). It’s a modest town but is an ex-mining community which since the Colliery closed way back has never really set the word alight.
decent enough transport links with the train line to Birmingham being electrified at the moment so journey time will be reduced.
There’s a distinct lack of high street shops and the town centre pubs are mixed. If hipster coffee shop dining is your thing then it will disappoint.
There are plenty of nice villages around the area if you want things quiet though and as cofounder if the way marked trails I am biased towards having the forest on the doorstep and it’s one of the main attractions for me staying in the area.
I live a few miles south of Rugeley, feel free to drop me a PM / Email with any questions and I'll do my best to answer! Once you're settled drop a line on here and I'm sure there will be plenty of us who would be up for a ride to show you the local trails
Been cycling over the Chase for well over 20 years.
I think the trail centre is very decent, the trails are regularly maintained and tweaked and there seems to be a good working relationship between the Chase Trails and the FC.
We typically ride more off-piste stuff, out on the wider Chase you will be able to find a lot of great, more natural trails using a combination of following tyre tracks, seeing where others pop out of the woods and Strava etc...
In terms of where to live, unless you have put a formal offer in, I would have a quick look at what is available in some of the nicer villages around the Chase.
Best of luck with your move and make sure you say “Hi!” to any bald guy on a bike. It could be me! 😉
Rugeley is okay, but as st said, it's a pretty typical Midlands town which has lost its big employers, so can be a bit run down in places, but generally isn't too bad. Don't expect a brilliant high street though...
When we moved nearby we looked at a few places in the town, but ended up in one of the local villages, which are all pretty nice around here.
And as for the Chase, it's so much more than the Dog and the Monkey... I ride with people from work who have been all over the Chase, and we are still finding new trails... it's ace!
<div class="bbp-author-role">jamj1974, st, Rosss and everyone,</div>
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<div>Thanks for all of the replies. You are pretty much confirming my external view of Rugeley as not the most exciting town on the map but the prospects for riding both on and off piste are really encouraging. Currently Swinley is my nearest trail centre so we are definately moving up the way!</div>
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<div>As for the offers of meeting up for a ride then thanks; I'd love to! The plan is to move house in Jan and I have a week to unpack the house so there will be a need to get out and ride at some point to have a look around and then after that I would love to see some of the out of the way stuff.</div>
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<div>Also really looking forward to having a decent LBS. My current one is outstanding and we have a really good relationship that I will be sad to leave behind but Swintertons looks outstanding.</div>
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<div> Dogsby</div>
Agree with the comments re Swinnertons. Run and Ride's tardis-like emporium is also pretty good
It's not so bad living in the middle of the country, Rugeley wouldn't be my choice, but there's worse places to live, far worse !
Thing is with the Midlands that a lot of people don't realise unless you live here is that you're never too far from anywhere, pretty much everywhere in the country is doable in a few hours. I've just come back from Devon in 3:30hrs, it's a trip I do quite regularly, it rarely takes more than 4... You can be in Wales or the Peaks in less than 2 hrs too. Maybe not on your doorstep, but I've yet to be anywhere with decent MTBing in this country where I'd fancy living there....
As for the Chase, it isn't so bad & it's easy enough to make a zig zaggy 50 mile loop up once you get a feel for the place. Also, get used to always being on the look out for tyre tracks disappearing into the bushes, you might be surprised at what you'll find over there !
I used to live over the other side in Penkridge and work in Rugeley. Cannock Chase is awesome as as local haunt; there's loads of variety from swoopy natural stuff to the downhill built stuff, it's big enough that you'll be forever rediscovering bits you used to ride loads but got out of the habit of visiting, it's got plenty of cafes for cake stops and when the weather is manky you can just do loops of FTD and the Monkey. I do miss it having moved away.
We have just brought a house in Rugeley. Hoping it all goes through and move sometime this month. Moving from not too far away in Bilston.
Have ridden the chase a few times but looking forward to exploring a lot more over Winter. If cant find many good trails then will probably build / rake in some unofficial ones lol.
Feel free to message me when you move up here
Get your name down for a permit to ride on the Chase there is a 6 month wait! See Stu on here
Limy,
I'll drop you a line when I am settled.
Rich,
A permit?
It’s a running joke...
Permits are no joke, they are bringing them in for e bikes on the official stuff, one of the main reasons for all the delays in reopening the rollers and also closing the monkey.
Not heard of any permit whatsoever. Not mentioned on any communications I have had from Chase Trails or seen published near the site.
Where have you heard this...?
Have you been riding without a permit Jamj 😲 haha you'll get ****ing shot if the ranger catches you. They've come down in price this year iirc.
Yes they have come down a bit,but the waiting list is longer than ever now! The rangers are seizing bikes now as well if you get caught without permit!
You know I’ve seen this wind up on another thread last year!
🙂
Permits ;o)
I live in Cannock - been here for 7 years now.
There's probably better places to live but it's not too bad .
Having the Chase on your doorstep more than makes up for it - and also only an hour & a bit away from Degla, the Peaks and loads of other great places to ride.
I thought better of another Snobs veteran postierich!
I always read it as posterioritch..which seems more fitting for a hairy cyclist 😎
I live right on the chase, I’ve not done much MTBing this year for unknown reasons, but I can honestly say I’d not want to live anywhere else (not far away anyway).
The chase is good for riding, not the best, but definitely not the worst, but it’s handier for decent paid jobs than most of the places that are good for riding. I work in Birmingham and cycle there 99% of the time.
It a good place to live for going on UK holidays too, All of Wales isn’t far away, Cornwall isn’t too bad and Southern Scotland is even closer.
They’re in the process of building a big McArthur Glen outlet village on the outskirts of Cannock town centre which will solve most of the high street shop issues.
Hipster coffee wise though you’re up the creek, would probably need a trip to Birmingham, you’re tripping over them there