Patrick Comerford
Today is Staffordshire Day 2026 (1 May 2026), with a packed programme of adventurous and fun events and activities to celebrate the county, its life and its history. This the tenth Anniversary of Staffordshire’s big party, celebrating so much from the anniversary of Josiah Wedgwood to the recognition of Staffordshire in the Magna Carta.
The tenth Staffordshire Day is about helping people to discover the places and stories that make the county different, welcoming and full of heart. This date (1 May) was chosen because it is the anniversary of Josiah Wedgwood setting up his pottery company in 1759, helping to transform Staffordshire into the centre of the world’s ceramics industry.
The events this year include ‘The Staffy Trail’, a new sculpture and heritage trail across the county connected by easy and accessible transport links. But Staffordshire Day is more than a day – it runs from today (1 May 2026) for 10 days. A map and mobile app have been developed to help visitors take self-guided walking tours around Stoke-on-Trent, Tamworth and Stafford, and to discover unique sculptures, new stories and businesses.
The printed map of Tamworth highlights the history and heritage of the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Mercia. It takes about 1-to-1½ hours to walk and is accessible for people with most abilities. Other ‘Staffy Trails’ include Stafford, Stoke, Lichfield and Uttoxeter.
In advance of this year’s celebrations of Staffordshire Day, I followed my own self-guided through the south-east corner of Staffordshire, starting my trek in Tamworth, walking along Lichfield Street to the Moat House, the Comberford family’s former Tudor and Jacobean house on Lichfield Street and by the banks of the River Anker and River Tame; then back into the town centre and walking two or three miles out to Wigginton, where I visited Saint Leonard’s Church.
From Wigginton, I walked two miles along Comberford Lane and Wigginton Lane to Comberford and Comberford Hall, and went in search of the site of the ‘Old Manor House’ in Comberford, with the help of a copy of a map of the Borough and Parish of Tamworth, printed in 1845.
In the mid-day sunshine that was like early summer, I then walked along the banks of the River Tame beside Comberford village.
From Comberford, I walked back towards Tamworth, and at Comberford Cross Roads, the junction of Comberford Road, Gillway Lane and Coton Lane, I went in search of the site of Comberford Windmill, marked on Coton Lane on that 1845 map of Tamworth.
Having found Windmill Lane, I continued on in the sunshine west along Coton Lane for two or three miles, reaching Hopwas village, where I enjoyed views of Hopwas Wood, walks by the banks of the Tame once again and by the Coventry Canal, and visited Saint Chad’s Church on a hill overlooking the village.
In the late afternoon sunshine, my five-hour walk through beautiful Staffordshire landscape and countryside came to an end with a late – very late – lunch in the Tame Otter by the banks of the canal in Hopwas, a pub and restaurant run by the same team that runs both the Hedgehog in Lichfield and the Wolseley Arms at Wolseley Bridge between Rugeley and Stafford.
I caught the bus from Hopwas back into Tamworth, passing the Moat House on Tamworth Street once again, in time to catch the train back to Milton Keynes. I must have walked about 10 miles during the day. And it was a good way to celebrate all that is good about Staffordshire today.
Wigginton, Comberford and Hopwas are three villages in the civil parish of Wigginton and Hopwas within the area of Lichfield District Council, between Tamworth and Lichfield, and each of them has centuries-long connections. But more about these villages, these connections and the churches I visited in the days to come, hopefully.
Three minutes of sunshine by the River Tame in Comberford, Staffordshire, in yesterday’s sunshine (Patrick Comerford, 2026)
