22nd September 2007
We walked across lots of fields which had recently been ploughed so it was quite hard walking. We arrived at Hallaton at about 1pm and had lunch at the Bewicke Arms- black pepper and seasalt coated scampi and chunky chips. Hallaton is a very pretty village which hosts the bottle kicking on Easter Monday. The vicar presents a hare pie which is carried to the butter cross and split and thrown to the crowds. The bottles (small casks of beer) are then thrown and chased from the Fox Inn to the neighbouring village of Medbourne. Photos in the pub suggest it is a bit of a riot with everyone getting very muddy.
John found a water pump in the village and had a go! The householder was walking past and said that the pumps needed priming before they worked. This involves pouring water into the pump to wet the leather valves. He told us that there were many pumps in the village and they needed pumping everyday to keep them working. He also said that there were 51 deep wells and they didn't get mains water in the village until 1961. We looked around the church which had very nice stained glass windows and then walked on towards East Norton across the A47.
We drove to Belton in Rutland and parked by the war memorial. There were hoards of teenagers about, possibly DoE, obviously going on a hike. They set off in the opposite direction to us luckily or there might have been long queues to get over the stiles!
It is definitely getting Autumny. There were cobwebs on all the bushes and it was a bit foggy.
We walked through Belton and over the busy A47 to Alexton. This was a small village which is getting bigger as several new houses were being built. We looked round the small church which is no longer used but kept as a historical monument. The stone carving inside was very impressive but there were mouse droppings everywhere.
We walked across lots of fields which had recently been ploughed so it was quite hard walking. We arrived at Hallaton at about 1pm and had lunch at the Bewicke Arms- black pepper and seasalt coated scampi and chunky chips. Hallaton is a very pretty village which hosts the bottle kicking on Easter Monday. The vicar presents a hare pie which is carried to the butter cross and split and thrown to the crowds. The bottles (small casks of beer) are then thrown and chased from the Fox Inn to the neighbouring village of Medbourne. Photos in the pub suggest it is a bit of a riot with everyone getting very muddy. John found a water pump in the village and had a go! The householder was walking past and said that the pumps needed priming before they worked. This involves pouring water into the pump to wet the leather valves. He told us that there were many pumps in the village and they needed pumping everyday to keep them working. He also said that there were 51 deep wells and they didn't get mains water in the village until 1961. We looked around the church which had very nice stained glass windows and then walked on towards East Norton across the A47.It was easier walking now as the fields weren't ploughed. Another church to look round and then across more fields.
In one field there was a herd of young bullocks who decided to race us to the gate. We managed to get through only to find another herd in the next field. Luckily these showed no interest in us at all. We crossed the A47 again and watched a farmer planting seeds in a field - a very impressive bit of machinery and then followed a path back to Alexton and then back to the car.
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