OUT & ABOUT

If your idea of heaven is the dramatic scenery of the great outdoors, then Staffordshire delivers.  From the wilds of Cannock Chase and the awe-inspiring National Memorial Arboretum, to the magnificence of Weston Park stately home - Staffordshire is irresistible.

You don’t need to think about where to walk either. We’ve teamed up with app, iFootpath, which provides two inspiring routes, one of which starts and finishes at The Moat House. The 4.5 mile  trail explores adjacent countryside, local villages, Teddesley Park and a stretch of the pretty Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Points of interest include 1,000 year old oak trees, plus a former home of Hobbit author, JRR Tolkien. Dig out your walking boots and work up an appetite for our award-winning cuisine. Download iFootpath App | Download Walk.

For those looking for a fun-filled family break, we’re ideally located to enjoy the thrills of Alton Towers or Drayton Manor Theme Park. If high adrenline rollercoasters aren't your thing, but your family likes to explore forests and gardens, then a woodland adventure awaits at Weston Park. For more exotic wildlife, the Barbary Macaques at Trentham Monkey Forest are also worth a visit, where the owners are working on conservation of the monkeys as endangered species.

The canals of the Four Counties Ring (Staffordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire and The West Midlands) were built by hand with navvies using just picks and spades to dig out any obstacle thrown at them, creating a 110 mile waterway perfect for leisurely cruising.

Today, the 92 lock ring offers a narrow boating adventure that unravels some of our country's greatest stories of pottery, salt and engineering. Located on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal, The Moat House has its own private moorings and a number of canal cruising companies close by. Extend your crusing holiday with a night at the hotel or ensure an early start on the water after a fine dining experience in our 2 AA Rosette restuarant.

If your preference is for quiet relaxation and contemplation, take a short trip to walk aimlessly around some of England’s finest gardens. Dorothy Clive Garden is a 12 acre hillside garden that delights and surpises whatever the season. The gardens include a new winter garden, an edible woodland, a woodland quarry with waterfall, an alpine scree and pool, rose walk and amazing seasonal borders. Trentham Gardens is a large estate that features Italian Gardens, a Floral Labyrinth and large open meadows, where you can escape the shopping village that's also on the estate. Biddulph Grange is a beautiful Victorian garden created from plants collected by James Bateman's travels around the World from Eygpt, to China and the Himalayas. There's a garden for even the most green-fingered Staffordshire visitor.

There's nothing like a TV programme to boost interest in art and craft from "The Sewing Bee" to Channel 4's "The Great Pottery Throwdown". Nearby Stoke is the global capital of fine pottery and ceramics with many different world-renowned designs, glazes and styles created here, hence"the Potteries". Discover the difference between the classics like Majolica and Wedgewood on The Ceramics Trail or visit the factory shop of modern pottery designer, Emma Bridgewater and Middleport.

If you're a downhill specialist or just want to test out your first mountain bike, Cannock Chase offers leisurely trails to suit the family and exhilarating tracks with lines for the most adventurous. There's an onsite bike shop with any parts or advice you need, a range of different trails for natural cycling and Stile Cop bike park boasts several graded downhill trails if you have the right skills, bike and clothing. Cannock Chase is also the chosen location for the 2022 Commonwealth Games mountain bike cross country racing, so you'll be able to watch the experts show just how fast you can go.

For those wanting some retail therapy, Trentham Gardens offers a different sort of retail village experience with 77 timber-built lodges housing some of the UK's favourite retailers. There's a great range of independent shops selling everything from posh stationery and cookwares to delicious food and drink.

In Autumn 2020, Cannock will welcome a new £160 million McArthur Glen's shopping development selling 80 premium and luxury brands, rivalling the company's other designer villages like Cheshire Oaks. Luxury brands available at its other outlets include Michael Kors, Joules and Barbour as well as food retailers such as Yo! Sushi. A children's playground is also planned for the Cannock village to keep little ones entertained while the adults shop till they drop.

The RAF Musem in Cosford is one of the largest collections of Royal Airforce history in the country with over 1.3 million objects held in trust. Visitors can view military aircraft from the past to the present from Spitfires to Vulcan bombers, as well as tanks, helicopters and missiles. Admission is free but the excitement of the flight simulators costs, but its pretty reasonable. There are cafes onsite and you can exit through the gift shop if anyone wants a souvenir.