Farley

Farley Lane and the Churnet Valley

Farley Lane climbs steeply out of Alton village, past a scatter of cottages and farms, and forms the western boundary of the Alton Towers estate. Farley is a farming hamlet; for a meal or supplies, plan a stop in a nearby village.

Farley lies in the Churnet Valley in the Staffordshire Moorlands, with the Weaver Hills visible a few miles to the north-east. These limestone hills mark the southern end of the Pennines; their highest point, The Walk, is topped by a trig point.

Food nearby and the long walk

For a pint or a meal, The Star at Cotton is on Star Bank in Cotton, near Oakamoor. The Tavern is in Denstone, as is Denstone Hall Farm Shop & Café; The Duncombe Arms is in Ellastone. These nearby villages offer several stops to pair with a Farley visit.

An eight-mile Oakamoor and Whiston circuit passes through Cotton Dell and Hawksmoor. Several steep, muddy sections make the walk moderately difficult. Start at the Oakamoor picnic site car park and follow the published directions.

Chapel, hall and medieval origins

In nearby Ramshorn, Ramsor Primitive Methodist Chapel, known as the Jubilee Chapel, was built in 1887 to mark Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Its pulpit came from a former chapel at Gun End, near Leek. The chapel still hosts occasional worship.

Richard Bill of Norbury acquired the Farley estate by marriage in 1607 and built Farley Hall shortly afterwards; his family later worked as land agents for the Earls of Shrewsbury and Gower. Farley has its own entry in the Domesday index under Totmonslow hundred, recording zero households.

The Towers estate and ways in

Five Grade II* listed structures stand within the Alton Towers estate: the house with its attached garden walls and gatehouse, Robert Abraham's Conservatory, the Gothic Prospect Tower, the Pagoda Fountain of about 1832, and the memorial to the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury. The estate's Grade II listings also include walls, bridges, fountains, an orangery and stables.

The nearest working station is Uttoxeter, about ten miles away. Alton's own station, opened 1849 on the Churnet Valley line, closed to passengers in 1965 and is now Landmark Trust holiday accommodation. The D&G Bus AT3 links Blythe Bridge station to Alton Towers via Ramshorn Road and Cotton, but is open to employees only. Alton village, down the hill, has Alton Castle, rebuilt for the 16th Earl by Pugin and now a Catholic youth retreat centre; the Peak District begins about ten miles north.

Refuge at Farley Hall

In May 1939, Farley Hall took in around 38 Sudeten Czech refugees — clerical and engineering workers who'd fled the German occupation — after the youth hostel at Ilam Hall, where they'd first been placed, turned out to be fully booked over Easter by paying holidaymakers. They stayed at Farley Hall, then home to Major C.F. Bill, while Europe collapsed around them.