'Mud, mud, glorious mud' is the motto of Stoke Sentinel columnist Geraldine Dutton, who has gone barefoot to try out the new Barfuss-Park at Trentham, where visitors remove their shoes and walk through gravel, sand, grass and mud to stimulate good health. Here, she gives her verdict...

Mud, mud, glorious mud - there's nothing quite like it. And if you don't believe that, try it out for yourself at the new Barfuss-Park at Trentham.

Going barefoot in the park has never been more fun as you step from pebbles to mud to sand and then logs on a half-mile track in the Italian Gardens.

And it's all the name of good health.

Popular in Germany, where being healthy is taken very seriously indeed, barfuss (barefoot) parks were derived from the teachings of a Bavarian priest back at the turn of last century.

Father Sebastian Kneipp was a staunch believer of the early-to-bed, no meat, cold water brigade.

He swore that walking barefoot through the dewy grass each morning, together with liberal amounts of cold water, helped him to recover from consumption.

And it is this principle of walking barefoot to stimulate your health - not to mention your calf-muscles - that has proved popular with the German population, who never pass up the opportunity of taking at least some of their clothing off.

The idea is to emulate our ancestors, whose soles were undoubtedly as tough as old boots, by experiencing the sensation of walking on bark, pine cones, gravel, sand and grass. Not forgetting the mud.

Englishmen are known for their reluctance to strip off shoes and socks and roll up their trousers - except of course on the beach - but this is the preferred dress-code.

Picking your way delicately across gravel and pebbles will not harm your turn-ups, once you're knee-deep in mud you'll understand the caution.

Certainly I will try it again - this time privately, without a camera lens on my every wobble.

I haven't had so much fun for donkey's years - although, I warn you, the pebbles are a tad hard on the old soles.

The experience left my feet tingling - and dirty, despite the foot showers provided in the little shed at the end of the walk.

It's not the sort of activity to indulge in before going out to tea at granny's.

The old calf-muscles ache too - but, to be fair, the photographer did have me squelching about in the mud for a good half hour.

For a fun hour or so I'll give it a nine out of 10 - it would have scored full marks if those pebbles hadn't been so sharp.