Geograph - photograph every grid square

The Isabel Trail is the name given to a 1.65 mile stretch of cycleway in Stafford, leading north then north-east from the A5288 to the A513. It runs over a small part of what was the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1939, and most of the line closed in 1951, except for the Isabel Trail section, used until 1975 for access to RAF Stafford (now MoD Stafford/Beacon Barracks).

The trail is flat and paved, and is a popular parkrun venue. It forms part of two National Cycle Network routes, 5 and 55.

It is named after Lady Isabel Stafford, the last owner of the nearby castle, who was forced to leave and cede Stafford Castle to Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War in 1643.

Wikipedia entry on the Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway:
Link

National Route 5 of the National Cycle Network is a long distance route which when complete will connect Reading and Holyhead via Oxford, Banbury, Stratford-upon-Avon, Redditch, Bromsgrove, Birmingham, Walsall, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Chester, Colwyn Bay and Bangor. The southern half of the route between Reading and Walsall is open and signed whilst the northern half between Walsall and Holyhead is still under development.

Route 55 of the National Cycle Network stretches for more than 100 miles/180 kilometres, from Ironbridge to Preston. Not all of the route has yet been completed (as at 2021). Once completed, it will pass through or close to Telford, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield, Stockport, Manchester, Bolton and Wigan.

More information can be found on Sustrans' website: Link