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 The book (published in 1995) informed us there were many stiles to climb, but they had now all been replaced by kissing gates.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