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Fairoak Pool, Cannock Chase - Photo:
Geoff Pick
CCL |
Although Cannock is an
industrial town it has a remarkable piece of
greenery on its doorstep - Cannock Chase, 28
square miles of forest and heath, which makes
up Britain’s smallest Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty. A herd of shy fallow deer has
survived here for hundreds of years. The Chase
was a royal hunting forest but Richard 1 sold
it to the then Bishop of Lichfield to help him
fund a crusade.
The Chase was used as a
training ground for troops during the First
War while the dead of both world wars are
buried in German and Commonwealth cemeteries;
the former has the remains of the first
Zeppelin crew shot down over Britain. Nearby
is the ancient hill fort of Castle Ring.
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