A walk to Oaks in Charnwood via the Outwoods

Walks in Charnwood are simply spectacular! The scenary is green and rugged. There are crops burgeoning in the fields, flowers growing in the hedgerows and a variety of animals at the farms. Our walk to Oaks in Charnwood Country Fair took us up to the Outwoods, where there were sculptures made to blend into the trees, and across Breakback Lane where someone else was clearly enjoying the scenary.

The journey was quite a distance, so it was really exciting (by which, of course, I mean it was a huge relief) to be able to see the fair in the distance! 

When we eventually got to Oaks in Charnwood, we were hungry, so indulged in a hog roast, tea and a piece of homemade cake. We walked around the stalls, which were selling everything from jewellery to wood carvings, from handmade cards to books, from bric a brac to handicraft materials, and everything in between!

There were activities for children, like archery and quoits, and a gigantic slide and revolving teacups. The dog show attracted a lot of spectators, and the tractors, vintage cars and steam engines were also very popular!

To make the journey home more interesting, we walked back a different way, and saw some different sights!

A great day that saw us bask in the sunshine, get soaked in the rain, and nearly get blown over!

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2019). A walk to Oaks in Charnwood via the Outwoods. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/05/a-walk-to-oaks-in-charnwood-via-outwoods.html [Accessed 2 June 2019]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne 

Garendon Estate water mill

Who would have believed that 2 years after first visiting, I'd be visiting Shepshed watermill again, on this their first opening of 2019! I so loved the place when I went along in 2017 that I promised the other half I'd take him along the next time I went - and so I did!!

I blogged about the mill after my previous visit, but only very briefly as part of a post about a variety of mill-related visits, but didn't include any photos as far as I can remember. When I got back from today's visit, I fished out my photos from 2017 - and what a surprise to see that I'd pretty much taken the same ones!!! So, the Shepshed watermill was once part of the Garendon Estate, but its current owners have restored the mill to working order, and they open to the public for a couple of days each year.

There really was something for everyone at the mill - the water, the mill, flowers, trees, blacksmiths, Swithland slate, milking machinery, agricultural implements - and bits of Loughborough and Wales!!! Also some vintage cars - lovely to see the Gillott's lorry again -  great to see the blacksmiths using their skills, smell the grease on the gears in the mill, hear the sound of the water flowing around the undershot wheel, interesting to see and hear traffic on the M1 which cut through the original Garendon Estate, and fascinating to hear the broadcasts being made by the Loughborough District Amateur Radio - and talk to one of their members about Edward Herbert (although I think the person referred to was actually Herbert Schofield), the transmitters on the university campus where the swimming pool is now, along with a photograph which included Mr Latimer of Latimer's the chemists in Loughborough market place.

Here's some photos from my 2019 visit, and one or two from 2017:

From 2017 visit

Swithland slate to the left, other (but probably not Welsh) to the right

Ironwork from Loughborough from 2017 visit

A coracle

The M1 bridge in the distance 

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2019). Garendon Estate water mill. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/05/garendon-estate-water-mill.html [Accessed 12 May 2019]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne