Ossington, Nottinghamshire -21st April 2007

" Toothy in Norwell Church"

Today we had a walk from Ossington in Nottinghamshire. It was a pleasant, flat walk across agricultural fields (no cows!) and through woodland. Although it was mainly flat it was difficult walking because all the paths had been very muddy and churned up by tractors and horses and now they had dried out and set solid and so it was very uneven walking. We arrived at the village of Norwell (pronounced Norrell) and looked around the church which was medieval.

The churchyard was lovely as it was covered in primroses. We had lunch at the Old Plough and afterwards chatted with a lady who was off to tend her allotment. There were lots of birds about with lots of birdsong. As we crossed a field near the end we saw two lapwings taking off and also a verge covered in cowslips. We finally walked through the grounds of Ossington Old Hall, which had been demolished in the '60s. We went to look at the church but the door was locked but it did have a very unusual sun-dial in the graveyard. (Nearly 10 miles)

Salisbury and Tisbury 11th/12th April 2007

We drove to Salisbury today and visited the cathedral. The cathedral was very impressive but not as ornate as some we have seen. The oldest working clock in England was out of order! We had lunch in the cathedral refectory. I thought I recognised someone and plucked up the courage to ask. It was Cherry Till from Gravesend grammar, who had moved to Wiltshire 10 years ago whereas I had left the school nearly 15 years ago.
We did a little shopping and then drove to Stonehenge. They provide a nice tape recording so that you can take your time understanding all the stones. The only barrier to the stones now is a rope so although you can't touch the stones you can get quite close and enjoy them.

Thursday 12th April 2007

Our last day today and so we settled on a walk from Tisbury. The A303 was closed so all traffic was diverted along the road we wanted so our 10 minute drive took about an hour. The village was quite nice. We walked along lanes and through farms and eventually to New Waldour castle which was originally Cranbourne Chase school but is now apartments. We then continued to Old Waldour Castle - ruins set on a hill which had been used in Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves. The next part was through woodland and we sat for a biscuit and watched a buzzard. We got back to Tisbury at about 3. We looked in the village for a teashop but had to make do with an icecream from the co-op.

Bush Farm CL, West Knoyle. 9th April 2007

We only had a 30 minute journey to reach our new site. This was Bush Farm CL at West Knoyle. We were pitched in a small woodland clearing overlooking fields containing Wapiti (Elk) and Bison and surrounded by bluebells. We had a trip round the farm in the afternoon, (they also had rheas, prairie dogs and raccoons), and bought some Bison steak for dinner! We slept to the sounds of Eagle owls (on the farm) being replied to by Barn Owls.

On Tuesday we went to Stourhead (NT). We walked across the Estate and out onto agricultural land, we followed footpaths and green lanes and headed towards White Sheet Hill, an ironage hill fort. It was lovely and warm -even on the hill.

As we walked around the escarpment we noticed that the grass was covered in black caterpillars. We then headed back towards Stourhead passing a memorial to some airmen who crashed on the hill during the war (about 5 miles) We then walked around Stourhead Gardens which were lovely as the Rhododendrons were in flower.

Longleat Caravan Rally 6th April 2007

We travelled to Warminster for the North London District caravan rally. As we were going to Dave and Kay's 30th wedding anniversary "do" in Bath this seemed a convenient place to stay for a few days. It was quite nice knowing that we were paying £10 per night whereas on the caravan club site it would have cost £21 a night -with not such wonderful views. We are staying on the field next to Half-mile lake and so woke to the sounds of sealions, hippos and also lions in the compound behind us. Longleat House is undergoing a lot of renovation and so was covered n scaffolding, which was a shame.

We went to Longleat on Friday morning and had a trip on the boat - lots of sealions but only one gorilla now on Gorilla Island. We then had a lazy afternoon enjoying the sun.

Saturday was spent in Bath and on Sunday we visited the rest of Longleat, with a trip on the safari bus and a visit round the house.

On Monday we packed up and left for Bush farm at West Knoyle.

Osmaston Park, 31st March 2007

This is a figure of eight walk. We parked near Osmaston village hall and then walked through the village past a very nice village pond. The village was lovely with lots of thatched cottages.

We walked through Osmaston park, the grounds of an old manor house, now ruined, and past a lake and very nice water mill.

We then continued through parkland to Shirley. We then had to follow field paths and across a very muddy field - up to the ankles mud! We followed another couple across and all had a good giggle while trying to find the best path through the bog. We eventually got back to the parkland path and returned to Osmaston. We had a nice lunch in the Shoulder of Mutton and then continued on the second part of the walk. The next part was across fields and farm land. It was really windy in this section so was quite chilly despite being sunny. We missed the footpath at one stage because the farmer had ploughed it up. We eventually found the path but had to climb over a fence-very naughty! We finally returned to Osmaston park again and returned past the lake back to the car.

The walk was supposed to be 8 miles but actually turned out to be 11!