We were up early, drove to the property and parked in the village of Dunham Massey. Access to the property was over wooden steps into the park – the main car park does not open till 09:00. An early visit is a good idea to avoid the crowds, so arriving at 08:00 ticked that particular box.
It was a crisp, frosty morning.
Dunham Massey HallAll to ourselves
The park was quiet and we appreciated having it mainly to ourselves for a while. Soon, the jogging fraternity and dog-walkers started to arrive.
A quirky little building in the park
Usually there are deer roaming around but this morning they must have been having a lie-in 😊.
Grass tussocksjoggers
We were on a time constraint this morning but managed to walk 4.5 miles. The sun was rising as we were close to finishing.
Todays walk was a 10 mile walk along the Bridgewater canal from the Cheshire town of Lymm to Stockton Heath, near Warrington and back again.
Although the morning started with freezing mist the sun soon burnt the mist off and it turned into a blue- sky day.
Angela with one of the larger boats moored at LymmThe path lies ahead
Myself and Angela set off along the towpath taking in the views and watching the wildlife along the way. We passed a few Anglers and quite a few dogs walking their humans. Everyone was enjoying the sunny day!
The path close to Lymm was good but as we progressed the path became very muddy which was not what we had hoped for.
Good section of pathA muddy towpath
We passed under the M6 motorway.
M6 Motorway bridge
There were some lovely houses adjacent to the canal along the way – quite a few had balconies so that their owners could sit outside sipping a chilled white wine watching the canal world pass by – although that is in the summer when the weather is warmer!
Passing under one bridge I noticed a really cool piece of graffiti – possibly not to everyone’s taste?
I liked this piece of Graffiti
We passed a weird looking boat – not a type I had seen before.
The strange boat
There were plenty of pleasure cruising boats moored up along the walk.
We stopped at a handy bench for a butty and cuppa and so, feeling refreshed ,resumed our walk.
Getting back into Lymm the weather was still holding.
Arriving back into Lymm
Lymm has a very old monument which was restored in 1897 by public donations in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria – the stone is gradually washing away.
It was a delight to do this walk today – the sunshine certainly lifts your spirit – and we look forward to the next one.
Today myself and Angela had a walk at Skipwith Common – a national nature reserve in North Yorkshire. It is an ancient landscape with 270 hectares of open heath, ponds and woodlands.
Nice path through the woodslowland heath
There are numerous paths through and around the common. Today there was plenty of water from the recent rain in evidence.
The heathland was formed at Skipwith about 3,500 years ago when settlers tamed the ancient woodland with fire. Their descendants grazed sheep and cattle preventing trees invading open areas thereby allowing heathland plants to thrive. Peat digging created many of the ponds on the common.
One of the many ponds
During World War 2 in,1942, the Common and some of adjoining Ricall Common was the site of RAF Ricall – a base for training aircrew to learn how to fly four engine Hadley Page Halifax bombers. There were 32 aircraft and almost a thousand men stationed there until the war ended in 1945 when the base was decommissioned. It remained as a storage facility until 1960 when the final off-Common parts were sold.
A memorial (based on a propeller) was raised in 2010 dedicated to members of RAF Ricall who lost their lives in accidents.
War memorialOne of the many bunded areas where former RAF buildings resided
We walked along some nice wooden walkways that led to wildlife viewing points.
We only had time for a brief but enjoyable visit.
Walking back to the carparkSilver Birch trees
All being well, myself and Angela should walk a new section of the Bridgewater canal over the weekend. I am looking forward to that.
Today myself, Angela and Mick took a 10 mile walk along the Grantham canal from Hickling basin to Cropwell Bishop and back.
The route
It was a sunny morning with very little wind as we set off along the towpath from Hickling basin towards Kinoulton.
On the way to Kinoulton
The towpath was in very good condition given all the rain we have had recently.
Arriving into Kinoulton
As we have come to expect along the canal we saw some swans. At one point two swans took off into the sky, with speed, and you could see just how powerful their wings are.
Leaving Kinoulton the sun was still shining and we were enjoying the views 😊😊.
The canal stretches ahead
Soon, the canal was noticeably more weedy and we reached a point when there were trees growing in it. For those who are not aware, the canal has not been used for many years and is currently being restored by the Grantham Canal Society – it is a very long term project but steady progress is being made.
Greenery in the canalA nice caravan on the opposite bank
When we reached Cropwell Bishop (our halfway point) we found a handy bench and had a cuppa and a butty. Refreshed we then began our return leg. A tree had been blown over across the canal recently – no surprises given the winds recently.
Tree blown over
It was a peaceful walk – we had hardly met more than half a dozen people.
Heading back to Hickling
Arriving back at Hickling basin we were surprised that the very popular café (The Old Wharf Tea rooms) situated by the basin was closed. Turns out it is closed until the 5th of February.
Yesterday we had a lot of rain from Storm Henk resulting in flooding because the rain falling on already saturated ground.
This morning myself and Angela made our way to Belton House to do a walk in the park. The gardens had been closed because of flooding we were informed on entry.
Belton HouseBelton House
Belton House is a National Trust property on the outskirts of Grantham.
The first mile in the park was through very boggy ground and surface water – it was raining.
As we reached higher ground we saw that a couple of trees had been blown over and the ground was less boggy.
We stopped for a cuppa taking in the nice view.
Time for a cuppa
Our route took us past Belton Woods Golf Course where we helped retrieve a wayward golf ball for a golfer. We crossed over a stream which was carrying much more water than normal.
As we walked along our route we wondered what the river Witham, which passes through the park, would be like. We found that it had burst its banks and was flooding the surrounding land (no surprise there!).
Angela inspecting the floodingRiver Witham in floodRiver Witham in floodRiver Witham in flood.
We soon found ourselves wading through more boggy ground to reach Belton House – the finish of our 4 mile circular walk.
It had been an interesting walk taking in the flooding and wondering when the wet weather will cease. Apparently, colder drier weather is forecast for next week so that’s something to look forward to.
This morning I met up with Mick and we did a 9 mile walk starting in Bingham and going via Newton and Shelford to reach Radcliffe where we picked up a bus back to Bingham. We were both keen to see what state the river Trent was in after all the recent flooding.
It was a dull day but thankfully we didn’t get any rain. After walking through Bingham we hit the busy A46 which we crossed via the pedestrian bridge.
Pedestrian bridge over the A46
We followed footpaths to bring us around the old RAF station at Newton with its iconic control tower, and headed towards Shelford.
Art Deco style control tower
On our way to Shelford we stopped for a cuppa and Mick produced some festive mince pies from his rucksack . A very nice surprise 😊.
We had to do a small detour on the way to Shelford because the field we should have crossed was badly waterlogged.
Waterlogged field near Shelford.
Having reached Shelford we turned right past the church (St Peter and St Pauls) and followed the road to reach the river Trent.
St Peter and St Pauls ChurchThe river Trent.
This section of the river has a grass embankment to walk on. The river height had dropped but debris along the bank was clear to see where the water had been.
Debris from the recent floods
There were many tree branches, bits of wood, plastic bottles and a life buoy stranded by the embankment.
The river Trent
I wonder whether the rubbish will get cleared up?
The walk followed the river towards Radcliffe where we ascended a hill and had some views of the river through the trees. We also passed numerous memorial benches along the footpath.
A weir across the TrentA nice railway bridgeThe footpath into Radcliffe with memorial benches.
We soon reached the centre of Radcliffe and a bus arrived after only 1 minutes wait – they run every 10 minutes which is a great service.
