My Walking Journeys

The Three Amigos Tackle the Leicestershire Round: Foxton to Bruntingthorpe

Apr 9th, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today, the Three Amigos walked another section of the Leicestershire Round. Starting at Foxton, we passed through Gumley, Saddington, Shearsby before finishing in Bruntingthorpe – it was a distance of 9 undulating miles. We had blue skies and lovely scenery along the way.

Leaving the house this morning there was a thick mist enveloping everywhere and it was a chilly 2 deg C. Not an auspicious start. When we parked at Bruntingthorpe we all agreed that it had been a nightmare drive getting there. We took a car back to the start, parking in Foxton. Thankfully, the mist had cleared.

It was a short walk to the Grand Union Canal and Foxton Locks – a flight of 10 locks that raises boats 75ft up the hill. It was built in 1810.

Walking down the towpath to the Locks we watched a boat pass through a swing bridge – the bridge looked easy to move.

Crossing a bridge across the canal we arrived at the bottom of the locks and proceeded to wander uphill.

Foxton Locks- view from the bottom

Foxton Locks – view from the top

A boat was in the final lock having travelled up. We asked the skipper had he used this flight of locks before and were somewhat surprised when he said its his first time on a canal boat!

Leaving the locks we had a short walk along the towpath before heading uphill to the village of Gumley. We passed beside St Helens Church.

The church of St Helen, Gumley

Leaving Gumley we passed a magnificent copper beech tree standing proudly- it was quite striking. We were headed for Saddington.

We passed through fields containing unusual coloured sheep – mottled brown and white. I wonder what breed they are?

To our left was Saddington reservoir and dam – built in the 1790’s to feed the canal. The reservoir is fed by Laughton brook.

Saddington reservoir

We crossed three footbridges over streams including Laughton brook and the canal feeder, before climbing uphill to the village of Saddington.

Saddington lies on the hill

The next part of our route was pretty naff it has to be said. The route lies on a new housing development at Fleckney. As we were arriving Chris quite rightly said that the footpath sign pointed left, although the map was saying the route was straight ahead. We followed the map and the route turned out to be closed – the route had been diverted but no diversion sign was at the point of entry into the estate. Most annoying. Chris pointed out ‘that he did say’ 😊

Obviously the housing development is new and maybe the Leicestershire Round will be modified at some point to avoid walking into a housing estate. Every cloud has a silver lining so on the estate we found a bench and had a break. I was ready for my scotch egg.

Delighted to be leaving the housing estate we headed off for Shearsby. A rut filled journey brought us to the lovely village of Shearsby. After the nightmare at Fleckney it was a delight to arrive.

Thatched cottage in Shearsby

Easy walking brought us past an oil seed rape field with its vibrant yellow flowers just starting to blossom. You don’t see as much yellow in the fields as you did a few years ago.

Finally, we arrived into Bruntingthorpe, the end of our walk for today. It had been a lovely walk apart from the minor housing estate debacle.

There was a fair bit of up so a reminder that Leicestershire is definitely not a flat county!

Hopefully, next week we will do another leg – Bruntingthorpe to Frolesworth -we finished today with two miles left to reach Peatling Magna.

Happy Walking ! 😊🚶
Discovering Ancaster: A Scenic 7-Mile Walk

Apr 6th, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today myself and Angela enjoyed a 7-mile circular walk around Ancaster including Ancaster valley- Angela had done some research and found the walk online. It turned out that there were a number of unexpected finds along the way.

Ancaster was a Roman town lying on Ermine Street, the major Roman road heading north from London. Along our route would be signs and information about Roman Ancaster.

One of the Roman Ancaster signs

It was a sunny start, but a cold wind was blowing, as we set off from St Martins church walking through the village to the railway station where we passed by a nice old brick engine shed.

Ancaster Railway station

Old engine shed

We headed up Pottergate Road (a track) onto Sudbrook Heath taking in the views.

view from pottergate road

Here we found dozens of pig pens and many piglets. It was a pleasant surprise. I suspect they may be supplied to the very popular butchers in Ancaster.

Continuing on we were passed by a crop sprayer before we met another track – Heath lane and descended downhill towards the village of Sudbrook.

The crop sprayer passes us

Heading downhill to Sudbrook

In Sudbrook we passed what was once the pub ‘The Masons Arms’ but is a private house now. The pubs name was nicely carved in stone.

Ancaster is famous for its Limestone from the nearby quarry. Historically, Ancaster stone was widely used in Lincolnshire e.g at Belton House and Lincoln Cathedral. Leaving Sudbrook we crossed the railway line at the level crossing.

Continuing on we came across Moor Closes Nature Reserve where the plant called ‘Tall Thrift’ grows. Ancaster is the only known place in the UK where this plant grows.

On the information board we noted the interesting info about the old threepenny bit.

We decided to walk around the reserve on the designated path. The ground was soft and of a boggy nature. We didn’t see any Tall Thrifts but it is a bit early for them.

Moor Closes Nature reserve

We stopped next at a bench by the cemetery for a break. On this site in the 1960’s it was decided to excavate the Roman bodies as they were interfering with the use of the modern cemetery. The remains of 82 people were removed. In the early Roman period, cremation took precedence over burial. in later years burial was used and this cemetery indicates that this may have been one of the earliest Christian cemeteries in the country.

We walked on to the start of the Ancaster Valley- a site of Special Scientific Interest. It is one of the finest sites for limestone grassland and wildflowers in the country. The narrow steep-sided valley has avoided agricultural development and has a diversity of wildflowers.

Ancaster valley

We walked along the valley bottom taking care to avoid any wildflowers. At the head of the valley we climbed steps to reach a path which returned us along the valley at height. It was a very tranquil place.

A short walk brought us back to the car. It had been an interesting walk and it was the unexpected that made it so.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶
Exploring Boston: A Scenic 7-Mile Walk

Apr 4th, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

The fine sunny April weather continues (will we pay for this in the summer I ask myself?) so today I decided to do a walk that I have been itching to do for a while now – A 7-mile circular walk from Boston town centre, beside water, along the Maud Foster Drain, the Frith Bank Drain and the River Witham. The last few miles beside the River Witham gave impressive views of Boston Stump – the tallest church tower in the country. Sometimes an itch just needs to be scratched!

The river Witham and St Botolph’s Church

The route

Boston was once one of the greatest ports in England with a flourishing trade across the North Sea and Baltic. A slump in the wool trade and the silting up of the Witham caused it to decline in the 16th century. However, agricultural development of the drained Fens and subsequent dredging of the river led to its revival in the 18th and 19th centuries, and it still functions as a port today.

Perhaps Boston is remembered most, as being home for the Mayflower Pilgrims, who sailed across the Atlantic in 1620, landing in New England and founding a new colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower

The first Thanksgiving at Plymouth by Jennie A. Brownscombe

Replica of Mayflower docked at Plymouth, Massachusetts

With an early start, myself and Angela avoided the worst of the rush hour traffic and found parking in the former Cattle Market. We set off following the brick lined banks of Maud Foster Drain.

Maud Foster Drain

We passed Maud Foster Windmill, built in 1819, and the tallest working windmill in the country. It is unusual in having five sails. They were static the morning we passed by.

Maud Foster Windmill

Shortly, the brick-sided banks disappeared and we had a more open vista.

Maud Foster Drain

To our right we saw fields covered in fleece to protect the crops from frost. We had seen many fields like this on our drive to Boston.

Fleece lined fields

Arriving at Cowbridge, a junction of five drains, we crossed a bridge over Frith Bank Drain and headed along the road beside Frith Bank Drain.

Cowbridge Junction

At Cowbridge

View of West Fen Drain

This road turned out to be much busier than we had expected – we thought it was probably due to another road closure in the area. The sun was working its magic and the temperature was rising so top layers were removed.

We left the road, crossing a rickety footbridge over the drain and entered a woodland.

Frith Bank Drain

A short walk through the woodland brought us to the River Witham – it is quite wide at this point.

We walked beside the river back into Boston. A chap who was volunteering at litter picking told us that this stretch of water is one of the straightest in the country and is used by the England Rowing team to train. We passed Boston Rowing Club as we walked further on. The Stump was clearly visible as was the Marina.

Boston Rowing Club on the right hand bank.

We walked under the railway bridge and passed the Grand Sluice Lock – built in 1766 to prevent extensive flooding between Boston and Lincoln.

The Grand Sluice and railway bridge

Walking on we had fabulous views of The Stump – no one knows why it is called that. It took some seventy years to build and at least four architects, successively, were in charge. I thought it was a truly impressive building. Nicholas Pevsner in ‘The Buildings of England’ describes it as ‘the most prodigious of English parochial steeples’.

We crossed the bridge over the river Witham to pay a visit.

First port of call was the coffee shop!

Refreshed after a sit down and coffee we took a walk around St Botolph’s church. It’s a beautiful church full of light and good vibes. The coffee shop is situated directly under the tower but if you look up you see a vaulted ceiling and cannot see to the top.

View inside The Stump.

After viewing the church we walked through the busy town back to the car. I felt it had been a rewarding and enjoyable use of a sunny morning.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶
Leicestershire Round leg 6- Glooston to Foxton.

Apr 2nd, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today was a Three Amigo walk on another leg of The Leicestershire Round -the 100-mile circular walk around the county of Leicestershire. We paused our efforts over the winter months because the paths would have been quite muddy. We had started at Bradgate Park last summer and we are doing the walk proceeding in a clockwise direction.

We resumed our walking today at the village of Glooston and did a 7-mile walk to Foxton passing through Stonton Wyeville, Thorpe Langton and East Langton.

We all met at St Andrews church in Foxton and took a car to our start at Glooston. It was a perfect blue sky morning but a tad chilly – Chris was in his shorts again!

Things didn’t get off to a good start because I was looking at the map, and not where I was putting my feet, and tripped up on uneven ground and ended up on the floor – luckily my rucksack softened the fall. I think it was the great Arthur Wainwright who suggested you won’t go wrong provided you look where you are putting your feet. Lesson learnt!

We crossed a few freshly ploughed fields and then some grassed fields where we admired the cute spring lambs.

Our route took us uphill to a trig point at 147m where we had panoramic views. It was worth the effort.

Heading uphill

We then descended a long sloping valley pasture to the spinney at the far end. Cattle graze on this pasture and there were plenty of deep holes where the cattle’s hooves had sunk into the ground during wet weather. Today the ground was mostly rock solid- it would have been a grim section in wet conditions. Still, it was challenging enough not to trip up in the ruts.

We arrived into Thorpe Langton where we spotted a bench by St Leonards church and took a break. We were hoping that ground conditions might improve for the remainder of the walk.

St Leonards at Thorpe Langton

Mick commented that the cemetery didn’t have many graves – apparently there were no burials here until the middle of the 19th century because earlier it was a chapel to the mother church at Church Langton.

Thorpe Langton

As we left Thorpe Langton Chris pointed out the Ridge and furrow pattern on a field. This archaeological pattern of ridges and troughs was created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Ridge and furrow

Next, we passed a strangely situated stone pillar along the route inscribed ‘Lottery Feb 21st 1886’. Apparently it remembers a famous racehorse that won the first Grand National in 1839. It spent time at Astley Grange Farm Stud close by.

Continuing on through fields containing well behaved cattle we passed under the railway bridge for the main Leicester to St Pancras line.

Freight train loco

Crossing the last few fields we were arriving into Foxton village where we crossed over the Grand Union Canal before shortly arriving at St Andrews church- our destination for today.

The Grand Union Canal

St Andrews church, Foxton

Our next leg will take us from Foxton to Bruntingthorpe during which we will walk up the famous flight of locks at Foxton.

Today was a perfect day for walking or taking a ride on a canal boat.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶
A Solo Adventure: 10-Miles Through The beautiful Vale of Belvoir.

Mar 29th, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today I enjoyed a 10-mile circular walk taking in the Grantham Canal and the villages of Plungar, Stathern and Harby in the picturesque Vale of Belvoir.

View from a high point across the Vale of Belvoir

My route

It was a blue-sky sunny morning as I sent off along the grassed towpath from Stathern Bridge heading for Plungar. There were a couple of things niggling me when I thought about the route.

The first was, would there be any cows in the fields, because I have noticed that there were some cows in fields again. They can be particularly feisty after being released from winter quarters. The second was would the final steep climb from Stathern Woods onto the escarpment be dry, because if it was wet, it would be treacherous and I was solo walking today.

Along the towpath I came upon a memorial to the fallen crew of a Lancaster bomber which suffered engine failure after returning from a mission mine-laying. Sadly, all the crew, apart from one, perished on that fateful night.

It was a nice peaceful walk beside the canal. Coots and Ducks were enjoying the water.

Leaving the canal I passed through the small village of Plungar and followed the lane to reach fields that would take me to Stathern Woods. The escarpment was clearly visible now.

The woods were quite boggy in places as I walked through. This is not boding well I thought. However, the higher I got the less water there was and when I reached a steep section it looked passable.

Through the woods

Getting steeper

Picking my way up the steep section I was very surprised to find to find evidence that someone had ridden a horse downhill! I could see the marks where the horse’s hooves had slipped. That must have been a hair-raising ride.

At the top of the escarpment I joined the Jubilee Way for a while. The views would have been better if there were less trees but I could still see for miles.

Next I headed downhill, via Tofts Lane, into Stathern.

Tofts Lane

Arriving into Stathern I headed for the village shop for a Latte hit and a bacon & egg bap. I have visited on other walks and its a nice spot for a break.

Feeling refreshed after the break I made my way through the village past the church admiring the honey coloured Ironstone blocks used in the construction.

St Gulthlac’s church, Stathern

Leaving Stathern my route took me across multiple fields and stiles. Thankfully there were no cows to worry about😊. Luck was with me today.

Walking into Harby I passed the Millenium sign and headed for the canal passing St Marys church.

St Mary’s church, Harby

A short walk along the towpath brought me to Stathern Bridge once again. A coffee vendor was selling coffee from a van. It was indeed my lucky day- time for another Latte!

Happy Walking! 😊🚶
Three Amigos’ Walking Adventure in Nottingham

Mar 26th, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

This morning the Three Amigos took a bus into Nottingham to enjoy a 10.7-mile circular walk from Trent Bridge, along the Nottingham and Beeston canal to reach the river Trent, then back along the river to Trent Bridge. It is fair to say that we all thoroughly enjoyed this walk by water.

Nottingham Forest Football club stadium by the river

Our route

As we arrived in Nottingham, at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, we found that mist was developing -this was disappointing because we had been expecting sunshine! It was the first Three Amigo walk for quite a few weeks. Chris had donned his shorts – myself and Mick wondered whether this was a little rash given the morning chill in the air? Chris assured us that he was a tough cookie and not a wimp like us! Well, what can I say.😊

Trent Bridge Cricket ground

Chris and Mick crossing Trent Bridge

Trent Bridge

We crossed Trent Bridge then headed down the embankment to join the start of the Nottingham and Beeston canal. We wondered when/if the mist would lift? The Forest ground was still shrouded in the mist. Opposite the Stadium was the entrance to the canal.

Joining the Nottingham and Beeston Canal

The canal was built to bring coal into the city from the mines scattered around the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire border. We took the wide towpath, noting that there were plenty of Canadian geese enjoying the canal. The mist was starting to clear 😊.

I particularly liked the amusing artwork on a wall by the canal.

We were heading past beautiful old warehouse buildings side by side with modern new developments. I know which ones I prefer! (The old, since you asked)

Old Fellowes Morton & Clayton depot

The impressive Fellows, Morton and Clayton depot was property of that Company – it operated the largest fleet of barges and narrowboats in the country. This building had its own built-in dock on the ground floor – it’s now a popular nightspot.

Castle Wharf

Castle wharf has a view of Nottingham Castle on the hill- hence the name.

Nottingham Castle

Some of our views looked distinctly Victorian.

Soon we passed a Marina and spotted a Swan sat on it’s nest. Can you see it?

We were heading out of the city now and into the suburbs. There were quite a few cyclists and runners along the towpath – probably because it is close to the University. We even saw a number of individuals paddle boarding – I wouldn’t like to fall in the canal!

Mick and Chris putting the world to rights.

It was amazing how quickly our vista changed from urban to rural.

To our right was the large Boots factory and we soon arrived at the river Trent where stopped to look at the weir. Chris related the tragic tale of a young man who had died whilst trying to rescue someone who had fallen in. There was a memorial to the incident at the Weir.

Weir on the river Trent

Following a path by the river we passed the Sports grounds of Nottingham University – very impressive.

The river Trent

The rural embankment changed to concrete after a while -we were approaching the city.

A trip boat passed us by and it was full of passengers.

We reached Victoria Embankment and crossed the river via the lovely pedestrian bridge – Wilford Suspension bridge. There was a slight bounce as we walked across.

View from Wilford suspension bridge towards Trent bridge

The trip boat passed us by on it’s return leg.

Shortly we arrived back at Trent Bridge and made our way to the bus stop.

It had been a great walk, if a tad chilly at times. I had particularly enjoyed seeing the old warehouses along the canal you can’t beat a bit of heritage!

Happy Walking! 😊🚶
A Castle and a Canal – A nice day out.

Mar 21st, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today, I enjoyed a 8-mile circular walk from ‘The Duck’ pub at Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir. The walk took me along the tranquil Grantham Canal and then up to Belvoir Castle (curiously, pronounced beever by locals) where I admired the views. Walking through fields to the village of Woolsthorpe I headed steeply uphill again, enjoying glorious views of the surrounding countryside. Finally, I dropped down to the canal again and a short walk brought me back to the pub.

Majestic Belvoir Castle

It was an overcast morning as I set off along the grassed section of towpath of the half-mile pound between locks 15 and 16. Half way along I met an angler who was just setting up his kit for a days fishing – I wished him good fishing!

The half-mile pound

It will be nice when the trees are full of leaves once again – they look quite bleak without.

Along this stretch I noticed that the offside bank had deposits of silt on it – evidence of the Grantham Canal Society removing silt from this stretch of Canal. I passed a couple of dogs walking their humans and upset a few ducks who weren’t expecting anyone to be walking along.

Stenwith bridge

A couple of restored locks were passed along the way.

The towpath changed from grass to stone as I headed for Longore bridge, crossing the Lincolnshire/ Leicestershire border – no passports required 😊.

Stone towpath

A couple of Swans were nest building in the reeds- it will be interesting to come back later on in the year and see the new arrivals.

At Muston Gorse bridge I left the towpath, passing the remains of The Dukes Wharf. A tramway connected the Canal to Belvoir Castle from 1815 for many years taking coal and other supplies up to the Castle. The Wharf was recently ‘found’ again by the Grantham Canal Society who are now crowdfunding to restore the wharf and weighhouse. https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/gcsweigh-house

The Dukes Wharf

My route now took me along roads to reach Belvoir and the Castle -joining the ‘Cross Britain Way’.

It was starting to get slightly brighter at this stage with the odd glimmer of sun. The Castle looked magnificent in its dominant position.

I passed through grassed fields, some containing sheep who were most curious about their visitor today.

Crossing the River Devon I made my way into the village passing through the carpark for ‘The Chequers’ pub on the way to a steep climb uphill.

The Chequers pub

Looking back, whilst catching my breath, the village and Castle provided a quintessentially English view.

At the top I picked up The Viking Way and headed downhill towards the canal, enjoying the views.

The final stretch was as easy walk along the towpath to Woolsthorpe bridge.

Woolsthorpe bridge

As always, the walk had been great. There is no better way to boost the spirit or get some exercise.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶
A Beautiful Circular Walk Around Denton and Harlaxton

Mar 17th, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today, myself and Angela enjoyed an 8-mile circular walk starting in Denton village and going to Harlaxton village- where we joined the Grantham canal, followed by a visit to the tranquil Denton reservoir, before arriving back to the start.

It was a bright sunny morning, although chilly once again, as we set off looking forward to a nice walk (we were not disappointed). Walking through Denton we passed St Andrews church. Like many villages in this area the church and many houses are build using Ironstone and have a lovely light brown colour.

St Andrews church, Denton

Having looked at the church we continued through the village eventually leaving via fields, crossing a wooden bridge followed by many more fields to arrive at the outskirts of Harlaxton village. However ,we wouldn’t be heading for the centre just yet, we were heading out again and uphill to enjoy views back.

Leaving Denton village

We are headed towards the ridge

Heading uphill from Harlaxton

As we moved closer to the top we passed through a field containing some lovely placid horses. We stood for a while admiring the view.

Looking down at Harlaxton village

After crossing another field and climbing up a metal ladder (you don’t see these very often) we met a road. An easy walk downhill brought us back into Harlaxton.

The ladder to the road

Walking into the village we were intrigued by the unusually tall chimneys.

We noted that a couple of houses had an unusual canopy/extension.

We paused at the green by the obelisk (remains of the village cross) and had a cuppa.

The Obelisk in Harlaxton

Perhaps the most outstanding thing in Harlaxton is the Manor – a Victorian built house currently owned by the University of Evansville. The manor was built in the 1830’s by local businessman Gregory Gregory – the local pub is the Gregory Arms. The Manor opens to the public on certain days of the year and its definitely on my ‘must visit’ list.

Harlaxton Manor

Continuing through Harlaxton we reached Harlaxton Wharf on the Grantham Canal. We joined the towpath and headed for Denton Wharf.

The Grantham Canal

Harlaxton Wharf

Harlaxton Wharf was much quieter today than on another occasion!

We enjoyed a very peaceful walk along the towpath (meeting nobody) eventually reaching Denton Bridge.

Denton bridge

We crossed the bridge and took tracks / road to reach Denton reservoir. This reservoir was built specifically to supply water to the canal and its a lovely spot to sit and contemplate. We took another break here sat close to the water admiring the swans and geese. The clouds were gathering.

Denton reservoir

We took a walk around the perimeter of the reservoir and took a track leading back to Denton village. We had thoroughly enjoyed the walk. My favourite bit was the placid horses.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶
Weathering the Elements: A Walk Through Carlton Scroop

Mar 13th, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today, myself and Mick enjoyed a 10.5- mile circular walk from Carlton Scroop to Marston and back again. I had done some of the route previously, but it was a new route for Mick.

Mick parked the car outside the church of St Nicholas – a grade 1 listed Norman church- in the small Lincolnshire village of Carlton Scroop. When we go walking we usually find that the local church is a good spot to get parking.

It was a chilly day once again. Rain was forecast for later in the morning so we had an early start to try and avoid the rain.

The church of St Nicholas, Carlton Scroop

We left the village via field paths and could see a tall mast on the hillside. It is a microwave tower that was part of the cold war emergency communications system , ‘Backbone’.

The communications tower on the hillside

Mick striding out

As we were at a height we appreciated nice views across the distant fields. The clouds in the sky looked ominous though.

We reached a road and walked downhill to reach a farm track – we had joined the Viking Way, a long distance trail running 147 miles from the Humber bridge to Oakham in Rutland. We come across the trail quite often when we are out walking.

A nice downhill section

Our path took us along Frinkley Lane passing a wind turbine – it was interesting to see that the lower sections had been painted in graduated shades of green to blend in with the landscape – I’d not seen this before.

Continuing past Frinkley farm we crossed the very busy west coast main line and followed the lane into the village of Marston. As usual there were very few people visible on the trains.

We crossed over the river Witham and then stopped for a break at a handy bench.

River Witham

We left Marston passing by the smelly sewage works and entered wide fields. The clouds overhead were getting darker.

Our undulating route took us up and down hills a few times and then the rain started. Rain turned into hailstones which were very unpleasant when they hit our face’s.

Imminent rain

Thankfully, the shower only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was enough to give us a good soaking. Feeling damp, we strode across the remaining fields getting muddy boots. The sun was out again!

Near the finish

We had enjoyed a nice walk meeting very few people on our journey. Although it has rained, we both felt it could have been much worse and we had got away lightly.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶
A 5-Mile Adventure: Cropwell Bishop to Owthorpe Walk

Mar 11th, 2025

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today I met up with Chris and we enjoyed a 5-mile circular walk from Cropwell Bishop to Owthorpe and back, crossing fields, country lanes and along the towpath of the Grantham Canal.

The morning was much colder than our recent weather, which was a shock to the system. I had got used to the brief mild spell we had been blessed with last week.

Arriving at the Cropwell Bishop Memorial Hall car park I noted that Chris had arrived early and was busy getting his boots/gaiters on. Watching Chris getting the gaiters on is usually good for a laugh as he struggles with the buckles and there is a good deal of huffing and puffing going on! 😊

Starting point

Eventually, we set off up the road and joined the towpath of the Grantham canal. This section of the canal is dry.

The dry bed of this section of the Grantham canal

The section leads to a bridge which at one time used to be a roving bridge – unfortunately it has been removed to make way for a road. To a canal enthusiast, these are interesting bridges and were designed to enable a horse to change to the towpath on the other side without having to unhitch. Clever stuff!

A roving bridge

Leaving the towpath we joined a wooded footpath running beside the road with distant views of the Cropwell Wolds. Soon we crossed a stile and passed through a farmyard leading to open fields.

Open fields and the obvious path

We passed across a ditch via the wooden planks – carefully checking that they were not rotten!

We passed some fish ponds and headed uphill across another field to St Margaret’s church.

The fish pond

St Margaret’s church, Owthorpe

In the churchyard there was a bench so we had a break here, enjoying the peace and quiet. Blossom was on the trees. Chris pointed out that the clock had an unusual wooded face. The clock was installed in 1680 and was built by Richard Roe of Epperstone.

Leaving the church we passed another fish pond. Before it burnt to the ground in a fire in the late 1820’s Owthorpe Hall was located nearby. It was the seat of the Hutchinson family. One member was Colonel John Hutchinson who was a politician and military leader (a Roundhead) – he was one of the people that signed the death warrant of King Charles 1. He also had the fishponds dug to supply fish for the Hall.

Another fish pond.

Joining a country lane we walked past a very impressive wedding venue at Oddhouse Farm that had been build in a barn.

Passing the venue we re-joined the Grantham Canal and set off along the towpath. There was some water in the canal and while Chris was looking at the canal he saw something move in the shallow water – it was a frog! As we turned to go I spotted another frog on the towpath – it was good to see the wildlife.

After a stretch along the canal we left the canal and followed a path up Blue Hill and headed towards Cropwell Bishop.

View towards Cropwell Bishop from Blue Hill

Crossing a few more fields we arrived at Cropwell Bishop. Cropwell takes its name from the Danish ‘Kroppr’ or early English ‘Crop’ for the outcrop of nearby Hoe Hill. The Bishop bit was added in the 10th century when the land was given to the Bishop of York. We passed the church of St Giles which was built in 1215.

St Giles church Cropwell Bishop

Further on we passed the creamery where the world famous Cropwell Bishop Stilton cheese is made.

The Cropwell Bishop Creamery shop

Historically, Gypsum was mined at Cropwell Bishop and made use of the canal as a means of transport. These old warehouses are still standing.

Arriving back at the car it was clear that Chris didn’t need his gaiters for this particular walk – it had been mud free!

Happy Walking 😊🚶