Readers, I apologise for my attempt at clickbait. It’s Chartley Moss. A place so treacherous that you aren’t allowed to enter without an expert guide.

This nature reserve eight miles to the north-east of Stafford is the largest schwingmoor in Britain. Did anyone else over the age of 45 read that in the voice of Wayne or Garth? A raft of peat floats above a 13 metre deep lake and any trees that do grow drown before they mature creating an eerie environment of dead trunks poking out of the moss.

This strange floating forest has naturally attracted a raft of folklore. A spectral huntsman has been seen leading a pack of hounds across the site and there are rumours that a railway engine and a JCB lie sunken somewhere beneath the depths of the bog.

There is one story about two absolute local legends which is absolute fact however. On 25th February 1994, a Vickers Viscount crashed into the Moss, killing the pilot. Landing upside down and on fire, two local men saw the crash landing and made their way through the darkness to where they could hear passenger Raymond Cole crying out for help. Eventually they reached him and pulled him to safety . For their bravery, Victor Antcliff and David Gregory of Drointon were presented with the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery.

As I’ve missed the guided walk there (it was last weekend), here’s Christopher Brasher and Deputy Area Officer for The Nature Conservancy, Mr Oswald, to show you around this perilous peat bog. Two splendid chaps indeed. We’re not worthy.

Sources

The Road to Chartley, Jim Foley

Wolverhampton Express and Star – Friday 19 January 1996