Hello and welcome back to my Blog 😊.

This morning myself and Angela met up with Mick and enjoyed a 7-mile circular walk in the Vale-of Belvoir. It was a sunny but chilly morning following heavy rain overnight.

We started our walk at Woolsthorpe- by- Belvoir and walked westwards along the rather muddy towpath of the Grantham Canal.

The weeds along the canal were dying back which allowed a clearer view of the canal. A friendly swan swam over to say hello.

After about a mile and a half the towpath reverted to stone rather than grass so it was less muddy underfoot.

All along this stretch of the canal we could see Belvoir Castle standing on its hill in the distance – the castle has a great view of its surrounding lands. The castle is home to the Duke and Duchess of Rutland.

A little further on we halted. The towpath was flooded where the canal had overflowed.

We decided that, because we could not see how deep the water was ahead, we would look for an alternative route around. Unfortunately, this took us through muddy fields so it was a good job we were all wearing gaiters!

Re-joining the towpath we got to Muston Gorse and were able to view the work being carried out by The Grantham Canal Society at a site of historical interest known as ‘The Dukes Wharf’.

Soon after the canal was built (1797) by the famous canal engineer William Jessop, the Duke of Rutland asked whether an extension to the canal could be made to bring goods up to the castle. Knowing how many locks would be needed and that the amount of water needed to operate them would be prohibitive, Jessop came up with a proposal for a tramway. Uniquely, he fabricated metal fish-belly rails in his own foundry (previous tramways in the country had used wooden rails). The tramway was built in 1815 and operated for over 100 years. The wharf where the canal boats unloaded was known as The Dukes Wharf and it contained a weigh house (to check the weights of the good’s (e.g coal) received.

The National Railway Museum in York has a tramway truck on display.

Recently, the Grantham Canal Society has been working here to expose the original wharf. They have even found a piece of rail. The crane used for unloading has long gone.

There is an building nearby which is thought to have been the weigh house. The Society hope to restore this area.

Leaving The Dukes Wharf we headed up the hill towards Belvoir Castle.

We walked past a small retail centre called ‘The Engine Yard’ and headed down the scenic, tree lined road, crossing the river Devon to enter Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir.

It was a short walk to where we had parked our car. Mick headed off home and myself and Angela popped into ‘The Duck’, a recently re-opened pub, where we enjoyed a warm welcome from the staff and a lovely hot couple of coffees. In was nice to get into a warm pub after the cold walk.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️