One of those days that demand a walk – clear blue sky, mild, autumn leaves… Perhaps there would be some deer?

The relatively level ground of this part of the Chase was home to a number of military camps in the first world war. These were linked by a railway, along which ran the “Tackeroo Express”… I realised that part of our walk – the north-western corner – was following what appeared to be a former railway track – I assumed it had been to connect to a mine or similar, and only realised its true origins when we had been home again for a little while.

And the deer? I guessed, wrongly, that we might glimpse one or two on the quieter stretches of the walk. We did see a couple though – just a few feet away from the road as we drove away across the Chase. No photos…

See http://www.staffspasttrack.org.uk/exhibit/chasecamps/default.htm for more on the military camps and the Tackeroo railway.