June Afternoon

Clumber Park near Worksop falls under the stewardship of the National Trust  and a beautiful location for a stroll around the lake and grounds while enjoying the warm sunshine.  Strangely, it tends not to be a place that we go to particularly often (the last time we visited must have been two years ago when we strapped the bikes onto the car and went for a cycle around the dozens of different paths).   On a sunny Sunday afternoon we thought it would be worthwhile driving over.

We weren't the only ones who had this idea.  The place was packed out.  Hundreds if not thousands of people taking advantage of the warm weather and bright sunshine to go and enjoy the remainder of the weekend.

The Chapel

Cooling Off

Is there anything more British than a game of cricket on a Sunday afternoon?  The game seemed to be in full swing when we returned to the car.

Fowl Play

We've had a good friend staying with us recently and as we also had the week off we opted for an afternoon out and paid another visit to Rufford Abbey.  I have posted pictures from here before (you can find them here) but this time I actually brought my camera with me rather than relying on my mobile phone.

I've grouped the photos together and decided to split them into three separate posts.  This one is on the wild fowl that call Rufford and its lake home.

Park Life

 By the time you read this post, we'll hopefully have moved into our new home (I'm doing the cheat of actually writing this post the weekend before it will publish).  We were wanting some ideas for an artwork that we could hang on the walls and had taken a drive out to Thoresby Hall to look at the art gallery there.  Unfortunately we timed it badly as it was a textiles exhibition on display.  I then remembered reading on the internet that Rufford Abbey Country Park had an art gallery. As it was just a few miles away we decided to take a look.

As the trip was unscheduled, I had no camera with me so took these on my trusty iphone.  I'm quite pleased with the results and I should really experiment with it a little more.

We took the long route to the country house and abbey ruins by taking the lakeside walk.

The ducks where keen to follow us

 The country house was built next to the remains of the 12th Century Abbey.  There is a popular restaurant as well as a cafe and The Orangery also plays host to art installations like the one below.

The remains of the abbey and the amazing oak tree.

Watching the world go by

Rother Valley

Last week I had the full week off from work and my partner and I decided to stick the bikes on the car and head off for the afternoon.  We opted to go to Rother Valley, which is a decent sized country park with a large lake for water-sports a well as a wildlife reserve.  There are plenty of bike routes to follow ranging in difficulty.You can also join the Transpennine Cycle Route here. This time we opted for the main path around the lake itself.

We timed it perfectly as we had just stopped for a drink when across the other side of the water the jet-skis were just getting into the action.

The wildlife seemed used to having people on the water and close to them on the shore.  These geese weren't in the least perturbed at having me a few feet away.

You can also try your hand at water skiing, using cables around the lake instead of boats on the water.

If you like the outdoors then Rother Valley is well worth a visit.