Narrowboats, breweries and a Georgian high street make Stone one of the more likeable market towns in Staffordshire. It stands on the River Trent and the Trent and Mersey Canal, which brought prosperity to the town when it opened in the late eighteenth century, with boatyards, warehouses and locks still lining the waterway today. The high street is lined with old coaching inns, independent shops and cafés, and the town has a relaxed, welcoming feel.
The canal is the heart of the place. Built under the guidance of the engineer James Brindley and backed by Josiah Wedgwood, the pottery manufacturer, it linked the Potteries to the ports of Liverpool and Hull, allowing fragile ceramics to be transported safely by water. Stone became a busy canal town and a brewing centre, and its water was prized for beer. Today the locks and towpaths are popular with walkers and boaters, and the canal-side pubs are a pleasant place for a break.
Stone is also linked to naval history: John Jervis, the admiral who became Earl St Vincent and was a mentor to Nelson, was born near the town. To the north, the Potteries towns around Stoke-on-Trent have a rich industrial heritage, and the Wedgwood factory and museum at Barlaston, a few miles away, tell the story of English ceramics. Trentham, just north, has large landscaped gardens and a monkey forest.
The riding from Stone is varied. The roads around the town are busy, with the A34 and the M6 nearby, but heading northeast you soon reach the Staffordshire Moorlands and the edge of the Peak District, where the A53 climbs past Leek toward the Roaches, a jagged gritstone ridge, and on to Buxton across open moorland. These are some of the best biking roads in England, with sweeping curves and wide views, but they are also heavily policed and often windy and wet. To the south, the lanes through the Staffordshire countryside lead toward Cannock Chase, a forested heath with quiet roads and wildlife.
Stone has cafés, pubs and restaurants on the high street, making it a good food stop, and fuel stations and supermarkets are easy to find on the edge of town. Oatcakes, a Staffordshire speciality that looks like a soft pancake and is usually filled with cheese and bacon, are the local breakfast, best eaten hot.