About 20 years ago, a friend, who is a mapping surveyor asked me to stand in as his chain boy. The job was a property near Cannock, Staffs., which turned out to be
The Grand Lodge, at the end of a drive to Beaudesert. At the time I did not have a clue where I was and as the day progressed it became apparent that we were mapping the garden area of the Lodge, which had been, presumably, sold off from the rest of the estate, it would once have been part of.
I made a bet with my friend, that I could guarantee there would be in an area devoid of Rights of Way of 500 acres. I had newly acquired memory map and I was only just then becoming aware of the Corruption of the Definitive Map. The signs of Aristocratic landholding was sufficient clue to base a calculated guess; I drew a track from RoW - RoW to encircle an area without footpaths and other RoW and ticked the area box in Properties to close the loop and came up with a figure very close to 500 acres.
At the time I was very new to a computer and my knowledge of the internet minimal, it was some time till I realised that I could look up the History of Beaudesert. So it came as a surprise that
the Grand Hall, once one of the many residences of the Earl of Anglesea, a mere country country seat, no longer existed. In fact it was a ruin a decade or more before the Definitive Map was enacted, however it had been located in a prime position, landscaped to make the most of the view east, as it lies in the lea of Cannock Chase. I may have over estimated my 500 acre exclusion zone, as MM did not map Open Access at the time.
Here, the 18th century Landscape engineers built a way to maximize nature for a scenic approach to provide a leisure area, then only accessible to a privileged few. This was the purpose of large country houses in the 17th, 18th and 19th Century, yet today that approach is denied to an industry of leisure that is important to the health of the nation.
Does Beaudesert connect with the other lostways in this topic? I think it does both as route and provides a better understanding of lostways. It provides a piece, in an independent route from the Midlands to the Welsh coast. But it's location is important, originally I thought it was proximity of the transport hubs of Litchfield and Rugeley, but how significant are rural gaps between major built up areas.
What is a Lostway? Is it a way that can be recovered through a Public Inquiry by collecting the appropriate legal evidence or is it a way that many people might walk if common sense were allowed to prevail.
Could the Grand Lodge, Beaudesert be the portal to the longest lostway in England and Wales. The rights of way across Wales are not used because the way across England is not easy to see.