Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today, Angela and I enjoyed a 10-mile walk in the Vale of Belvoir taking in Easthorpe, Bottesford, the Grantham Canal and Redmile.

It was a very blustery day, but thankfully dry. We have had quite a few heavy rain days this week. We parked near Middlestile bridge (No 56) on the Grantham Canal and set off along the towpath towards Muston Gorse. Immediately we saw a couple of swans with their six cygnets- it was great to see.

After approximately one mile along the towpath we reached Muston Gorse bridge (No 57). Here we left the towpath taking a footpath across fields towards Bottesford. The grass along the towpath had recently been trimmed so that looked neat.

There were plenty of clouds in the sky and the sun was making a determined effort to break through. We were aiming for the spire of the St Mary the Virgin church at Bottesford which we could see in the distance.

Our route would take us across the very busy A52 and I was inwardly dreading having to wait ages waiting to cross. As it transpired we arrived and got straight across through a gap in the traffic 😊.

Having conquered the A52 barrier we followed the lane into the lovely village of Easthorpe where we admired the cottages as we walked through.

Crossing a buttercup strewn meadow as we left Easthorpe we made our way to Bottesford. Walking beside the church we arrived at a Ford across the river Devon. Here we stopped at a bench and took a break.

The church is sometimes known as ‘Lady of the Vale’. It has the second highest spire (212 ft) in Leicestershire. The chancel was rebuilt in the 17th century to accommodate the monuments of the Manners family, Earls (later Dukes) of Rutland whose ancestral home is Belvoir castle.

After our break we continued walking through Bottesford, then crossed the A52 again (no problem here!) and followed a road to reach the Grantham Canal towpath where we headed towards Redmile. The Redmile church spire was visible as we walked by the canal.

A short walk through Redmile brought us to a track which led us across fields away from Redmile towards Muston Gorse. We walked beside what looked like a new road being constructed- I wondered if it was an access road to a Solar farm.

We reached a small lane and while walking along this were astonished to find a large double decker bus coming towards us. It was a school bus and filled the width of the lane. Being as though there were ditches either side of the road we had very little space to avoid the bus. Somehow we managed to let the bus pass by.

We reached the canal again at Easthorpe bridge (No 56) and joined the towpath meandered our way back to where we had parked the car. The canal is such a tranquil place to wander.

It had been a lovely relaxing little walk.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶