On this palindromic day, there were two walks of 5 and 6 miles to the north of the village as well as a historic walk round Bottesford. Nottinghamshire Area Ramblers AGM, organised by the VBR Committee, then followed in the Village Hall.
Neil Fortey, a local historian, took one group from Bottesford's Victory Commemoration Hall to Easthorpe Manor, the site of a medieval manor house and residence of the Lords of Belvoir and later Earls of Rutland, then on to Easthorpe to cross ditches and raised mounds which are the remains on an abandoned medieval village.
We then crossed the River Devon past a terrace of 18th century workhouse cottages named after the Battle of Bunker Hill, fought in the American War of Independence. After some muddy fieldwork we reached Beacon Hill, set up for the Millennium Celebrations. We descended from the Beacon to St Mary's Church with is distinctive 65m spire and famous for its monumental Elizabethan and Jacobean tombs of the Earls of Rutland before crossing the medieval Fleming's Bridge across the Devon to return to the Village Hall.
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| The History Group near the Village Hall |
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| Crossing the remains of the (alleged) medieval village |
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| Bunter Hill Cottages |
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| Beacon Hill with 360 degree views to Bottesford Airfield and Belvoir Castle |
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| St Mary's Church |
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| Fleming's Bridge |
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| River Devon, looking upstream from Fleming's Bridge |
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| The Long Walk and the Historic Walk shortcuts (green) |
The long walkers
