Ropsley, Scotland and the Humbys, 24th November 2019



Starting at The Green Man in Ropsley, Phil's walk attracted an impressive twenty one VBR members and took us across fields and through woods to Great Humby the former seat of the Brownlow family until they built and moved to Belton House near Grantham.  Nearby Little Humby has old stone houses flanking a green and a Manor House dating back to 1631.  Ropsley was the birthplace of Bishop Richard Foxe (1448 - 1528) who founded King's School, Grantham where Isaac Newton was a scholar. His birthplace is marked by a plaque on a former inn close to the Green Man.
Briefing outside the Green Man, Ropsley

Coffee stop in Ingoldsby Woods

Ingoldsby Woods again

Humby Hall, Great Humby

Impressive collection of railway memorabilia at The Lodge, Great Humby
That man again, our leader

Chapel of St Anne, Great Humby, 1682

Barrowby and the Denton Canal, 20th November 2019

Brenda's walk today took us from Barrowby to Surprise View at the edge of the Casthorpe Hills and then down to the Grantham Canal; then along the canal to circumnavigate Denton Reservoir returning via Harlaxton Bridge and The Drift for lunch (for some) at The Cakehole.
The start in Barrowby

Views across the Vale of Belvoir

Grantham Canal

Denton Reservoir

Lunch at The Cakehole


Ticknall and Calke Abbey, 17th November 2019

Today's soggy walk took nineteen of us from Ticknall, through Calke Park to the Abbey and on to Staunton Harold Reservoir for coffee.   From there we walked to the Visitor Centre before passing what's left of the old windmill and following tracks to Robin Wood for lunch. The way back took us to Hangman's Stone and along the National Forest Way.
Rare glimpse of blogger in the grounds of Calke Abbey


Here is one taken earlier - approaching Calke Abbey


Near the stables at Calke Abbey


Coffee stop next to Staunton Harold Reservoir


Built in 1964 to serve Leicester and the towns of northern Leicestershire




Dates back to 1798 - the old windmill that is


Hangman's Stone - will he ever get out of the way


St George's Church, Ticknall - seen on a better day


Now don't believe anything you see on a GPS.  The walk took 3 hours 53 minutes which equates to 7.75 miles, almost exactly as the planned 7.7 miles


And here is the reason it all goes wrong - extra yards whilst having lunch!







Barrowden, Rutland, 10th November 2019


Starting outside the Exeter Arms, Rab's original walk followed the Jurassic Way through Wakerley Great Wood to Laxton, then north to the River Welland, crossing at Turtle Bridge and following the river back to Barrowden.

The Environment Agency however advised walkers to avoid paths near the river and Rab carried out an early inspection to confirm that the area was flooded (and a nearby bridge was closed for other reasons) so the walk was changed to become a linear walk from Barrowden via Laxton to Harringworth.

Discussing car shuttling outside the Exeter Arms
Barrowden duck pond
Church of St John the Baptist, Wakerley.
Incidentally, the four brick towers you may have seen from the road were calcining kilns, built in 1915 by German POWS, and used for reducing iron ore before transport to the Corby Steelworks


Lunch in Laxton (Northamptonshire)
Dry-stone walls, a feature of Rutland and Northamtonshire countryside
Flooding in the Welland Valley
I told you it was flooded
View of the Welland Valley and Harringworth Viaduct. The viaduct is 1,275 yards long and has 82 arches, each with a 40 feet span. It is the longest masonry viaduct across a valley in the United Kingdom

Entering Harringworth Village
We subsequently learned from other walkers that Turtle Bridge was covered in knee-high water which did not stop them from crossing.  Hmmm!  All in all, a safe and pleasant VBR walk given the rain of the past few days.

Scarrington, Car Colston and Bingham, 3rd November 2019

Starting at Scarrington Village Hall, this rearranged walk took us first to look at the nearby horse shoes and pinfold before leaving the village and walking north across Car Dyke (a major tributary of the Devon) to the Royal Oak in Car Colston for an early coffee stop.  Then along good field tracks to recross Car Dyke and go over Parsons Hill to Butt Playing Field near Bingham, returning across drying fields to Scarrington before driving to Whatton for the VBR AGM in the afternoon.

Now, John J uses the Relive app which shows here a 3-d fly-through view of the walk.  And if you want to see an even more impressive fly-through, this time of the walk from Hartington last week, go to John's blog here.


The largest known stack of used horse shoes in the world  - allegedly



Elaine leads the way across Car Dyke

Coffee stop at the Royal Oak

Looking back to Car Colston Hall

Car Dyke again, Parson's Hill in the background
Butt Playing Field, Bingham

Good field paths on the way back