Sansom Wood

I met up with Diane and Otis for a walk in Sansom Wood and lunch at the Fox & Hounds in Blidworth. It was the first nice day since I've been back from Dorset, and was a complete contrast with yesterday's non-stop rain.

Dorset - 21/04/12

 We took in some of the sights of Dorset on the last day of the trip. Weymouth beach:-


The coastal path between Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door:-

 One of my favourite places in the UK, The Blue Pool:-

 Corfe Castle:-

Osmington Mills - 20/04/12

Bruno's final birthday walk was along the coastal path near the campsite that we stayed at in  Osmington.

 We spent the evening in a very dog friendly 13th century Pub in the village - The Smugglers Inn - a dog at every other table and unlimited dog biscuits available at the bar

 Finding our way back in the pitch dark was a bit of a challenge. I tried to use the flash to find the way - without success, resulting in these unintended photo's:-

Eventually, we found our way back to the campsite.

Lyme Regis - 20/04/12

We stopped for lunch and a pint at Lyme Regis, and Bruno's second birthday walk along the seafront promenade - dogs weren't allowed on the beaches in the centre of the town.

Cheddar Gorge - 20/04/12

 It was Bruno's 8th birthday so we celebrated it with a series of dog walks as we drove from Tewkesbury to Weymouth. The first stop was at Cheddar Gorge. We parked in the Gorge and did a circuit of the Long Wood Nature Reserve. Very muddy, but a pleasant walk :-

 The Birthday boy:-

Slad Valley & Tewkesbury

We had a noisy drive to Slad (the exhaust pipe has rusted through and will need replacing at some point tomorrow). This village was the home of the poet and author, Laurie Lee who wrote the "Cider with Rosie" novels which were set in the Slad valley (which I haven't read yet). We parked in the village and set off on a 4 mile walk in the surrounding valley

 
After the walk we had the inevitable chore of de-muddifying the dogs in order to make them presentable enough to be allowed in the village pub. The Woolpack is a nice old pub, full of character. It was one of Laurie Lee's haunts and the walls are covered with Laurie Lee memorabilia. The dogs behaved themselves while we ate lunch (Gnocchi and rocket salad for me) They endeared themselves to the elderly couple sat next to us and were rewarded with the leftovers that they couldn't manage.

We stopped at Tewkesbury in the afternoon and did a 4 mile walk around the town, following a walk in the guidebook I have borrowed from the library. The walk wasn't the most scenic, the route took us around the various battlefields from the War of the Roses in 1479. It didn't mean a great deal to me as I hadn't read up on this part of our history, but the dogs enjoyed romping around in the various fields.

One of the battlefields with Tewkesbury Abbey in the background:-

Another field - the site where one of the armies bivouacked before the battle:-
 
One of the old buildings in the town centre:-

Bourton-on-the-Water

It was bucketing down with rain this morning - not the best weather to start a walking trip. I drove down to Hitchin for a brief visit with Mum, Linda and Alan, then I drove over to Luton airport to meet my friend Maurizio off his flight from Milan. I couldn't have timed my arrival at the airport better, as Maurizio had just arrived when I parked in the 15 minute short stay carpark (if you overstay the 15 minutes then the cost rockets up from £1 to £4.60). Whilst I was at Linda's house I got her to print off directions for a walk at Bourton-on-the-water, a chocolate box Cotswolds village.

We did a 5.5 mile circular walk from Bourton taking in two smaller villages, Lower and Upper Slaughter.

Maurizio and the dogs at Bourton:-

 The dogs went for a dip at the mill pond next to the mill museum in Lower Slaughter:-

 The countryside surrounding the villages:-


We are staying at a Days Inn motel at services on the M5 for two nights, then we will head off to Dorset.

The Garage that Time Forgot

It was raining lightly when I set off in the car this morning, I hoped that it would clear up by the time I started walking. Unfortunately, it has carried on raining all day, so it was a wet, muddy walk. I parked the car in the village of Church Gresley, where there is this garage. Half a dozen cars are entombed in metal cages by the roadside. They haven't turned a wheel for decades, as can be seen by the expired tax discs and thick layers of dust.

I asked one of the villagers what the story was and he said it has stood there like this for 20 years although the office has a light on every night. He had heard that it "was closed because of drugs". I'm sure that the real story behind this isn't quite that colourful, but it must have an eccentric owner.

 Behind the village lies Gresley woods, which form part of the National Forest. One of Maggie Thatcher's ideas, the area was planted in the eighties and so the majority of the trees are still quite small. I walked for an hour or so around the woods. My walk didn't really scratch the surface of what's there as the National Forest is huge. I didn't see a great deal as the rain was constantly fogging up my glasses and made walking quite slippery .