Longdon

Two Necks and a Blacksmith's Forge

The sign outside the Swan With Two Necks doesn't quite make sense until someone explains it: two nicks, not necks — the marks cut into a swan's beak by the Worshipful Company of Vintners to mark their birds apart from the King's on the Thames. Sign-painters wrote down what they heard, and the pub has carried both since 1755.

It sits at 40 Brook End with original oak beams and a beer garden. A blacksmith's forge once stood next door — Tom Broadhurst worked there as an apprentice in the early 1900s; the forge is now the Longdon Women's Institute Hall. The menu runs from a £3.50 soup of the day to a 10oz rump steak at £9.95, wood-fired pizzas, and a "Two for £10" deal covering lasagne, vegetable balti and chicken tikka. There's a marquee for weddings, a play area and quiz nights; the pub's own website records the Rolling Stones stopping in for fish and chips.

The Pubs Around the Parish

Out at Longdon Green, the Red Lion looks over the cricket pitch — sit in the garden and hear the game without watching it. It's part of the Brunning & Price group, so the food runs smarter: curried cauliflower soup, baked goat's cheese with heritage tomatoes, British sirloin at £33.95. Dogs are allowed in the bar, and staff set up a bed with water and treats for a booked table — one Tripadvisor reviewer said her dog Jessie was "thoroughly spoilt on her first visit to a pub." A signed 9.8km circular walk starts at the pub door onto Cannock Chase.

Up at Upper Longdon, the Chetwynd Arms is the plainer option — a family-run local with an open fire, a beer garden, and vegan and gluten-free options. Two other pubs have gone: one became a petrol station and then a house, the other demolished in 1985 after coal-mining subsidence. Shopping is thin on the ground — the post office runs out of the village hall on Brook End for one hour a week, Tuesdays 3 to 4pm.

A Norman Arch Worth the Detour

St James's Church is worth the detour regardless. Its Norman chancel arch has three orders on scalloped capitals — outer and inner carved with zig-zag, the middle one plain roll-moulding — which the listing description calls "a remarkably fine Norman arch," and for once that's not an exaggeration. There's a green man carved into the north doorway, and a font with a C12 basin cut with diagonal reeding, its later stem brought from Lichfield Cathedral. A monument to William Orme records Royalist fines of £1,395 and, by his own account, most of a £2,000 fortune.

Heathland, Old Names and the Road In

The parish takes in Gentleshaw Common's heathland and the start of the Two Saints Way toward Lichfield Cathedral. The name derives from the Saxon "Langandune" — long hill — and an old local rhyme still gets repeated: "the stoutest beggar that goes by the way, cannot beg through Longdon in a summer's day." Lichfield is 4.3 miles one way, Rugeley 3.7 the other, both on the A51; there's no bus service into the village any more, so it's a car or taxi.

Saturday on Longdon Green

The cricket club plays friendly Saturday fixtures on Longdon Green from late April to September, captained by Tom Bonsor, juniors and beginners welcome, plus an annual tournament every July with food, drink and entertainment.