Abandoned Colliery Views & Nature Trails | Whitfield Valley & Chatterley Whitfield Run

Join me for a gentle 3.5-mile jog through one of Stoke-on-Trent’s most intriguing green spaces — where nature meets industrial heritage.

We begin at the free car park off Ford Green Road, right next to the historic Ford Green Hall Museum, and head north into the peaceful Whitfield Valley Nature Reserve. As we jog through reed beds and alongside the restored stream, we soon reach the striking remains of Chatterley Whitfield Colliery — once the most productive coal mine in Britain.

From the top of the landscaped spoil heap, you’re treated to sweeping views across Stoke-on-Trent and beyond, with Mow Cop’s rocky outcrop rising to the north. We loop back along the main cycle route to complete this rewarding and accessible 3.5-mile route — perfect for walkers and runners alike.

Whether you’re local or just love exploring new running spots, this is one not to miss!

📍 Route: Ford Green Hall → Whitfield Valley → Chatterley Whitfield → Spoil Heap Summit → Cycle Path Return

🎽 Distance: 3.5 miles (ish)

https://gb.mapometer.com/running/route_5600763.html

🚶‍♂️ Suitable for: Runners & Walkers

🅿️ Parking: Free car park off Ford Green Road

https://maps.app.goo.gl/vF6mRuLdURatndZt7?g_st=ipc

Whitfield Valley Nature Reserve, Chatterley Whitfield Colliery, Stoke on Trent running, abandoned colliery UK, heritage running route, nature trail Stoke, spoil heap walk, Ford Green Hall Museum, Staffordshire running routes, Run Adventurer, Mow Cop view, coal mine ruins UK, urban nature reserve, UK trail run

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Morning folks. Welcome back. So today we’re at Whitfield Valley Nature Reserve and we’re going to head up through the nature reserve and up to Chattley Whitfield Heritage Country Park. You might recall we passed through last year on my bike when I wasn’t well enough to run. Well, hopefully I am well enough to run today. And we’ll go and have an explore. For those of you who are new, I am Simon. I just love exploring the countryside. It’s a gentle trot. And I hope these videos are just nice and relaxing, uh, easy watching TV for you and possibly inspiration and places that you might like to visit, too. Up on the website, I’ll include a map of the route I do today and a GPX file so you can download it and follow the route exactly yourself without getting lost. It’s a beautiful morning. It’s the last day in June and uh it’s not too hot now, but it’s going to hit 30° today. This is full on summer, so we need to get going before it gets too hot. Come on, let’s go. [Applause] And we’re off. Starting from the Whitfield Valley Nature Reserve car park, which is free and located just off Ford Green Road here in Stoke on Trent. It also serves the Ford Green Hall Museum where you can get a slice of 17th century yman life if you’d like to visit there too. It’s hard to think that this nature reserve is postindustrial landscape. Honestly, as soon as you start, you’re just faced with a fantastic view. Follow the path beside the pool. At the far end of it, we’re going to go straight on. There is a path to the left and we’re going to come back that way. We’re heading north through the nature reserve which sits in a kind of valley with Ford Greenbrook or Bankybrook as it’s known to the locals sitting at its base. The brook runs south and joins the river Trent. This is adjacent to the old mining site and the valley was once heavily industrial. Following the collar’s closure, nature was allowed to reestablish itself and transformed the spoiled ground into grassland heath and ponds and reeds. It’s really beautiful. Ah, some shade. It’s only early, but it’s going to be very hot today, I think. Up ahead, there’s a bridge on the right. I’ll just point out because there’s another path that runs north south here. So, you’ve got a choice of routes. In fact, the whole place is crisscross with paths. I just paused to say hello to the Canada geese. Lots of wildlife here and this is a site of special scientific interest. [Music] And I know where we are now because we’ve been here before. We’re just coming into Chattley Whitfield Heritage Country Park. And ahead you can see what remains of the old spoil heap from the Chattley Whitfield Collure. And we’re going to head up there because there should be a great view from the top. They’ve been mining coal here for a long long time. Probably started in about the 13th century by the monks from the nearby Holton Abbey. The ruins of which lie just south of here. What we’re looking at here is the Chattley Whitfield collure which grew to become the largest mine in Europe and became the UK’s first collure to produce more than a million tons of sailable coal in a year. In 1881 there was a tragedy and 24 miners died but mining continued here until its closure in 1976. They did try to open a underground mining museum here, but it was too dangerous and they closed it down. And in 2010, the spoil heap was landscaped and we have what we see today. [Music] The collar lies on the other side of the hill. We just get a quick glimpse of it here. We’ll get a much better view from the top. It’s well worth the climb to the top. The views are stunning. Morning. Oh, vicious killer dog. Hello. Nature is already reclaiming what remains of the collure. This looks like a a winding tower, I guess. Probably bringing the uh spoil up onto the heap. Doesn’t take long for nature to reassert itself. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. And wow, what a view. I particularly liked looking north up towards Mauop. I’m used to seeing it from the other side. Quite interesting to see the ridge from this side. Abandoned and derelictked. Here’s the old Colluri itself. It’s a listed building, so it’s uh still standing, but it’s looking a little bit worse for wear. Let’s keep moving. There are lots of paths. I’m going to take that one straight on and then dog leg round to the right to meet the path at the bottom of the hill. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat up here. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] We’re heading south now back towards our starting point. We’ll cross the bridge here and then follow the main path heading south back towards the start. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat up here. [Music] [Music] If you’ve watched the other video where we cycled through here, you’ll know this comes out on the road. So, we’re going to take this path on the left, head up through the next field, and then take the path to the right, and just follow it right back to the pond where we started. [Music] [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Okay, all done. 3.7 miles. Not too far today. But the sun, oh, all right in the shade, but when you come into the sun, it was absolutely draining. Really was. So glad to get back to the car for a drink of water. Um, hope you enjoyed that and um, yeah, worth a visit and you could do walk the route I’ve done or there are lots of crisscrossing paths you could have taken or perhaps if you’re running you could have run in from Stow or from Biddolf or Congleton and make the top of that hill your turnaround point on a there and back. Uh, always nice to have a hill for a push at the halfway point. Right, water. Speak to you next time. Take care. [Music]