Read my Milton Keynes travel logue here.

You will find this West-Midlands city in the county of Staffordshire 116 miles north of London. It is also 20 miles from Birmingham meaning that everybody sounded a bit Peaky Blinders.

The name of Lichfield has a couple of etymologies. Some argue the “lich” reveals to corpse, in this case, the corpse of St Chad who founded the settlement as a religious centre, while a field is an open area – meaning that Lichfield is literally the field where the corpse of St Chad was buried. Others have argued that the “lich” refers to trees meaning that Lichfield was an open space where there weren’t any trees.

My journey began in Euston train station – the same as my last trip to Milton Keynes. However, unlike last time where I missed the train, I arrived with plenty of time to spare. I easily caught my 10.46 train and it was absolutely swarming. I was lucky to get a seat.

I arrived into Lichfield Trent Valley at 12.17. And I didn’t have to scan my ticket. Not upon departure or on-board or even upon arrival. I totally could have got away with not buying one. Not that I’m saying to do that of course.

I had also travel to an outer-ring station a mile walk from the city centre. If I had gone via Lichfield City, it might have been a different story. En route to the city centre, I saw a Greggs, a little plant shop set up with an honesty box and St Margaret’s Parish church. All very cute.

However, as you know by now, the church I am most interested in visiting is the city cathedral. This is where I headed first. It was magnificent from the outside. It is the only three-spired medieval cathedral in Britain. Outside it, there was a statue to St Chad who established a mission here in 669AD. And here I was thinking that Chad was just an yankee-doodle name. The actual cathedral dates back to the thirteenth century.

As for Lichfield itself, Bishop Clinton consolidated the city in the twelve century and it was during the reign of Henry VIII that it gained city status.

Onto the actual cathedral. Unlike some others, it was free to go round and unlike Gloucester they don’t guilt-trip you into making a donation. It was an impressive building with lots of cool features like an upstairs chapel, as well as a 3D model for the visually-impaired. I guess even the historically traditional Catholic church has to modernise at times.

By now it was 13.15 and I was hungry, so it was time for lunch. In the nearby historic stables, now church offices, through a window I spied a buffet of food being examined by a church vicar. I was waiting for him to leave, so I could slip in the open door and take a sandwich, but two other women went instead and closed the door behind them. Not very Christian I have to say. Either way I needed to look elsewhere for lunch.

En route to the cathedral, I did spot a market, but the only food they sold was Indian food. I have been eating a lot of Indian food recently, so I looked elsewhere.

Instead, I found this food truck where I bought fish and chips for a fiver. You can’t get anymore British than that. And for £5 that is the cheapest lunch I’ve eaten on these city trips since Doncaster where I bought egg, bacon and beans for £3.90. And it was tasty. A tad greasy, but that is only natural.

After I finished eating, I realised I had stumbled onto the charity shop district, as there were seven charity shops in one street. Charity shops aren’t for everyone, but I love them. If you’re lucky, you can get a real bargain. In the British Heart Foundation, I was tempted to buy a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt for £6.50 – over a £100 cheaper than buying it brand new, but it was also extra-large. And I am not an extra-large. To be honest, I’m not a large either, but that didn’t stop me from buying an F&F polo shirt for £3! Oops. Now I have a shirt that is too big for me.

After this I went to the Samuel Johnson Museum. And who was Samuel Johnson? Aren’t you lucky? I’m just about to tell you. He was a poet, philosopher, playwright and lexicographer who wrote one of the first dictionaries in 1755. Interestingly, English spelling has only been standardised for the last few centuries. Before then it was a complete free for all.

Anyway, I was now standing in a museum dedicated to his memory. It was interesting learning about him. He had written a play called Irene, which starred his actor friend David Garrick. However, it was also crucified by the critics. For reference, David Garrick was the Brad Pitt of his day so this is really saying something.

I also found that Johnson was married to a cougar with his wife Elizabeth being twenty years older than him when they wedded. Johnson was also a book-binder so there was a room exhibiting his equipment. You even had the chance to write with a feathered quill and ink. I liked to do that a lot when I was younger.

Plus there was lots of opportunities for dress-up. Naturally, I took every one.

Plus I saw a meme in the wild.

I left the museum at 2.45 and headed to another museum – the Erasmus Darwin House. Darwin was a contemporary of Johnson’s – a philosopher, academic and grandfather of Charles Darwin. However, for whatever reason, the museum was closed. Considering it had an entry fee, it was probably for the best.

Instead, I visited an Arts and Crafts Fair at the local guildhall, but this was closing too. Onto the next item of my vague agenda: a nature walk.

But en route, I stopped off in a music shop where I thought I could buy some viola music like I did in Chichester, but the books were too expensive. I also saw a jazz band busking in the street, which was good fun. It all created a nice atmosphere.

At half 3, I stumbled upon Minster Pool and behind that Beacon Park.

There was a wedding going on. I wonder if the buffet I saw earlier was something to do with that. The church offices were attached to a cafe that was closed for a wedding.

Anyway, it was onto my ramble through Beacon Park which eventually became Darwin Park. It was all very scenic, but nothing compared to the River Dee in Chester or Dawley Park in Derby.

About an hour later, I arrived at a Waitrose and knew it was time to head back. Naturally, I didn’t follow the same route and so became a bit lost, as I quite literally went all around the houses. But I did see some nice houses. I also saw some squirrels, which I tried tempting over with my almonds, but they ignored me.

Anyway, I made it back to the familiar Beacon Park at 4.45. There was a train home at 5.49 which I decided to go for. But first, I decided to do a Too Good to Go purchase at a Costa located in a giant Tesco on Church Street.

Obviously, I am not sponsored by Too Good to Go, but let me explain. It is an app where for a discounted price you can buy a surprise goody bag of the food and drink that certain cafes can’t sell. For £.50, I bought two croissants and two slices of cake – lemon cake and cinnamon cake. That would have cost me £11 otherwise. I have also done it in the bakery Wenzels where I bought six sausage rolls and two cheese and onion slices for £4.75 instead of £14.

Personally, I think it’s a great way to tackle our food wastage problem – just bear in mind, you have crap signal in that Costa, so you might need to go out of the Tesco, load up your phone and go back in. It happened to a friend of mine.

Anyway, it was 5.20 by this point, so it was time to catch my 5.49 train home. Unlike on the train here, an inspector did ask to see my ticket, so probably for the best that I did buy one. Another word of warning. If you are using a Super Off-Peak Day return, you should use if after 7pm and not at 5.49 like my urr friend did. Thankfully the inspector was nice about it.

Anyway, my train arrived back in London Euston at 7.25. Lichfield was pretty midlish – I loved getting fish and chips for £5, but I was hoping for some more spectacular nature. Theoretically Lincoln is next on my list, but Lincoln is also expensive to reach, so I may skip it out and go to Norwich instead.