Three Shire Heads Bridge, Gradbach, Staffordshire, England

The name of this place is either Three Shire Heads or Three Shires Head depending on who is the source of your information. One thing that is beyond doubt is the fact that three counties have a claim to this one spot: Cheshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. That fact makes it difficult to state which of these is the one to which this bridge belongs. For the title, I have gone for the postal address of the nearest village or hamlet though the choice is a fairly arbitrary one, it has to be said.

Aside from all that, this is a pleasant spot that I first passed on a muddy walk from the Cat and Fiddle Inn to Rushton Spencer at the start of November 2004. 2004 was a year with a disappointing summer and that Sunday did not get the best of starts either though things improved as the day went on. Places may not have looked their best and I did get stuck up to my shin at one muddy gateway, but the walk was what I needed and set me up for continuing into 2005. However, it did take me until January 2012 to get back here again, and it was a crisp frosty day that I had this time around with the walk taking from the same starting point as before but ending in Buxton instead. It was a great start to a walking year.