Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.
Today, Angela and I enjoyed a lovely day out at Rutland Water where we took a cruise on the reservoir (on ‘Rutland Belle’) followed by an enjoyable 8.5-mile walk around part of the reservoir (the circumference is 23-miles).
The reservoir is owned by Anglian Water and was created between 1971 and 1975 by damming the river Gwash near Empingham. The project involved flooded 2.5 square miles of the Gwash Valley, including the demolition of Nether Hambleton and most of Middle Hambleton. The reservoir is filled by pumping water from the River’s Nene and Welland – it is a water source for the East Midlands.
It is a fantastic facility for water sports, walkers, cyclists and wildlife watchers (Osprey have recently been introduce). We parked at the visitors centre at Sykes Lane and took a 2-mile walk along the reservoir to the Whitwell car park area where Rutland Belle sails from. There is a large café here so Angela grabbed us a couple of coffees and we checked in at the ticket office where we were informed that, because of the strong winds, the boat would not be landing at Normanton. Thankfully, it would still be sailing 😊.
Once boarded we were given a safety brief and the Captain introduced himself and crew, once again apologising for the change of itinerary. We were asked to turn our phones to silent which we thought was a good thing. The boat cast off and it wasn’t long before we appreciated the strong wind on the reservoir.
There were so many windsurfers, small yachts, kite surfers, catamarans skimming along the water – an amazing sight.
The Captain informed us of interesting landmarks and reservoir facts as we cruised along. We appreciated this. The boat was not full so it easy to enjoy our surroundings.
Soon we were passing the former church at Normanton – a striking looking building- now used for civil wedding ceremonies.
We were both thoroughly enjoying the cruise – the wild weather seemed to add an extra dimension. Far too soon the trip was over and with some difficulty (due to the wind) the boat moored up back at its Whitwell base. We had a quick chat with the Captain before disembarking for a spot of lunch.
After, we took a walk back to Sykes Lane visitors centre and perused the shop. We decided to walk around the reservoir to Normanton Church.
Passing a large bronze sculpture – apparently it was cast in one continuous pour- we followed a path to the dam at the end of the reservoir.
Walking along the path on the top of the dam we reached the other side of the reservoir and followed the pathway to Normanton. The path was busy with cyclists. ‘Rutland Belle’ passed us by doing another cruise.
It wasn’t long before we arrived at the former church.
The building was closed so we took a walk around the exterior and I captured a view from the end. I was pleased to have reached here because on previous walks along the Hambleton Peninsular I had seen it across the water.
Having achieved our objective we walked back to Sykes Lane car park. It had been a memorable day out, if you ever visit Rutland Water a trip on ‘Rutland Belle’ is well worthwhile.
A link to one of my walks on the Hambleton peninsular is below.
Happy Walking! 😊🚶
My Walking Journeys 