Friday 23 February 2018

Walking by the Book

Hello Lovelies,
this week my sister in law was off work and was keen to go for a walk. I had found a walk in this book (which mum bought secondhand for me) that looked promising.


I do like walking by water as long as I have a circular route to follow. This walk started by the canal in the small Leicestershire village of Zouch.


We soon came to the river Soar. Here my sister in law spotted a bird. I would have missed him on top of the tall tree stump.


A Cormorant. Always lovely to see.


We followed the sweeping curve of the river. It was a cold day, but here the trees sheltered us from the wind and we could feel a little heat in the winter sun.



This is not a remote area, we could here the distant traffic and power lines detracted from the view a little but it was still a very pleasant spot to stroll.


the Cormorant flew over us.


and we approached a pub that was impossible to reach due to the lack of a bridge :0)


 Never mind we were not looking for a break yet anyway. Hello Mr Swan.


There were lots of interesting boats to look at here. I wonder if they are in the pub?


Our guidebook directed us away from the water now. We crossed fields. The book (published in 1995) informed us there were many stiles to climb, but they had now all been replaced by kissing gates. It made a flat walk even easier :0)


We soon arrived in the village of Sutton Bonnington. I loved the old cottages.





A little further down the road this sign caught our eye.


Ooooh, a cafe. Should we? Yes, of course :0)



Toasted tea cakes and a warm fire were more appealing than ice cream on a day where temperatures barely climbed above freezing.



 At the side of this lovely cafe we noticed this garden railway with a train chugging around the track.


Wait......you have forgotten to pick up Paddington Bear :0)

  There is more information on this fun place HERE

We carried on our walk, passing a grand house.


 and grazing sheep.


 It's not a village that I am familiar with, I liked it a lot.



Our route was now to head down this track. What lovely light it was.


Back at Zouch we couldn't resist exploring the waterways a little further. I was delighted to spot Grey Wagtails 


Such a pretty bird. I've only seen them in the Peak District before.



 This looked like a pleasant way to get some fresh air when you live by the river.


We wondered how long that narrow boat had been on the bank here.


Soon the light was fading. Time to leave the river.


 And the canal.


This was a 4 mile walk that had so much to see. I'm really looking forward to trying some of the other routes in the book now. I do hope you enjoyed it too.
Jacquie x

9 comments:

  1. Oh I did thoroughly enjoy this walk with you both. I am train mad so would have loved to see the little train. Was lucky to see the flying scotsman on our trip over UK in 2016 ☺☺

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  2. I totally enjoyed going along on this walk with you. So many things I love.. the swans, the canal boats, the old brick and timber homes. What a wonderful place! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  3. Sutton Bonnington looks lovely, such pretty cottages. Lovely to see the grey wagtails, they live around here too, down by the stream. Love the sign at the cafe, I shall remember that one. Glad you had such a lovely walk, and with good company too. Hope you have a good weekend Jacquie. CJ xx

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  4. Thank you for that lovely walk! Beautiful photos too! At the moment walks are off the menu as my husband has back pain. As this is not normal for him the Dr is doing tests and hopefully we'll get back out on our walks again soon x

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  5. Great catch up as ever. I have a copy of that pink sign but mine has yarn substituted for ice cream and that makes me happy. Jo xxx

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  6. What a lovely walk. Your pictures really capture the sunshine on a chilly day too.

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  7. I did enjoy this walk very much. How nice to have a willing walking companion! Have a good week.

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  8. Oh Jacquie, what a wonderful walk, loved the photos, particularly the boats, I do love narrow boats and the like. Great to find the cafƩ and stop to refuel. I must keep up with my morning walks, I've missed a couple of days. We had 2 inches+ of rain over the weekend, so things should look a little greener by the end of the week. So lovely to hear it on the roof and watch it falling.....xx

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  9. I really enjoyed this virtual walk with you, Thank you Jacqui x

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