Well I know that the South Staffs pals have done something similar with Roy Evans (published author of Wolverhampton Warriors) Sadly I was unable to make that trip because I was a working man then.

Well a few weeks ago I thought its time I did a bit of mooching about to see what actualy went on across Cannock Chase back in the day.

First stop was the re-constructed soldiers hut at the visitors centre. You have to go here first to get a scale of the huts used. (Go on a Sunday between 12-2 and you can go inside)

I also purchased the excellent book 'A Town for Four Winters' by CJ & GP Whitehouse (£5 in the centre) I also brought a selection of small leaflets (30p each) that show many walks across the areas of interest.

So then I went off to see what I could find. I knew nothing of the camps layouts at that time but I was very lucky to stumble across an elderly gent walking his dog on fields off Camp Road . He saw the book in my hand and asked if I was looking for the camps location. Well he talked to me for a good forty minutes about what the scene was like back then and helped me realise the scale of the place.

Over the next few weeks I had pretty much found most of the camps remains, then again by chance I had a conversation with a chap who just so happened to have copies of two maps (scale 1:10,000) of both Brocton and Bridnley Heah camps. These maps show the camps as they were back in 1915 and also what remains visible in 2008 (when they were surveyed). I managed to obtain copies of both maps I have now been able to tread into practice trenches and see first hand what these places were like.

Of course the main visible features on the Chase are the rifle range butts. I have quite a collection of spent ammo off the WW1 range (Range D) but despite all my looking I cant find any at the other WW1 range used for Lewis gun training. Spent ammo is also to be found at the modern butts (Range E) that only 'closed' back in the 1980's.

The remains of the 1000 bed military hospital at Brindley Heath are surprisingly harder to find, but it was here that I found my best 'artifact'. Nothing more than an enamel tin mug that would have been issued to all the soldiers during their stay. The tables in the re-constructed hut have them displayed in abundance. So my little venture into an armour plated thicket of thorns and stinging nettles was worth it in the end.