Colton, Staffordshire

Colton is a village and civil parish in Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England. It is situated just outside the town of Rugeley.

Access
Colton lies just off the B5013, which runs from Rugeley, local pronunciation 'Rudge-Lee' or 'Rewj-uh-lee', to Uttoxeter ('Utch-eater').

The village is entered by way of a hump-back bridge over the Moreton Brook, which has a ford alongside for large vehicles. It is said that in WWII, a US army lorry took the bridge at speed and overturned, killing two soldiers. St. Mary's Church stands on the right, with St. Mary's School on the left. There used to be a pool on the left a short distance beyond the school, on which people would skate, or slide, during the frequent very cold winters of the 1960s. A hundred yards further on is the Forge, where the Williscroft family would re-tyre your cart wheel with a steel hoop, make you a toboggan for use in the snow on The Martlin Hill, or dig your grave, make your coffin, and conduct your funeral.

Facilities
There is a village hall and a small church. There is a bypass that has just been built near Rugeley the town nearest Colton. There is also a park for young children.

At the foot of Martlin Lane is the 'Pinfold'. Entering the Pinfold from the South is a public footpath which crosses the fields from Rugeley, having left the main B5013 near to the Trent Valley Railway Station. Red bricks can be seen embedded in the ground at points on this walk, and they are believed to have been laid by prisoners taken during the Napoleonic War. Alongside the Pinfold is the village War Memorial. Almost opposite is The Greyhound Inn.

Continuing through the village, one passes Malt House Farm, the former home of the late prominent Euro-sceptic Tory MP Nick Budgen. High House (the former village shop) is passed, and if you continue ahead you continue to Blithbury and 'The Bull and Spectacles' Inn. However, turning left takes you further up the village. Modern houses show where a number of older houses have been replaced, until the top of the village is reached, surrounding the 'Dun Cow' Inn. The Manor Farm sits above, and Heath Way leads to the hamlet of Stockwell Heath, whose duck pond has for several generations been referred to tongue-in-cheek as 'Stockwell Heath Docks'.

History
Colton House had a large British Army camp during the early years of WWII. With there being no telephone at Colton House, a soldier, with a bicycle, was permanently stationed a few hundred yards up the road outside the telephone box at the bottom of Martlin Lane, to respond as necessary when the telephone rang, in true Dad's Army fashion. The telephone service in those days was part of the post office, and the soldier on duty at night would be comforted by a tray of cocoa and biscuits brought down the lane by the postmistress's son.

Prominent organisation
Colton is the home to Border Collie Trust GB, a registered charity rescuing and rehoming Border Collies and Collie crosses throughout the UK.