Drove northeast to Lincoln, past Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Coventry, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Newark-on-Trent. In Lincoln we parked at the top of the steep hill near the castle and had a look around the castle grounds and the cathedral. We walked down the steep hill called ‘Steep Hill’, where some of the roadside shops from …
After work we drove to the Wheatsheaf in Northleach, near Cheltenham. The evening sun cast long shadows and made the fields and autumn trees shades of orange and gold. The pub was expensive. The room was big and the bed comfortable, but all in all more style than substance. Food (steak tartare, partridge, beetroot, calves …
Crab Kedgeree, French toast for breakfast, then a good 12.4 mile walk. Blue is the planned route, red is where we actually went. Through the church yard and out of Dunster past the cemetery. Climbed up onto Exmoor through a deer park, good views back of the castle, Exmoor ponies, no deer. At the top …
Drove to Dunster stopping at WWT Steart Marshes on the way. Walked around the reserve for a bit. Birds seen: Kestrel Raven Lapwing Golden plover Linnets Stonechat Reed bunting Cetti’s warbler Wren Wigeon Teal Shoveller Mallard Shelduck Cormorant Pheasant Skylark Pied wagtail Brown hare (not a bird) Staying at Luttrell Arms hotel.
We drove 40 minutes to the car park next to Bel Tor. From there we did a 9.5 mile circular walk that took in wooded river valleys and high moorland. We walked to Ponsworthy, and a few miles further on we passed a farm and a number of dogs of various shapes and sizes ran …
We planned a walk to a pub in Chagford. It started out drizzly and misty. We walked along the side of the River Teign and watched dippers. We passed an open air swimming pool, closed now and with dark brown dead leaves on the bottom. After a steep climb up a muddy field followed by …
We left the hotel and walked along the seafront to the west, hoping to get to onto the beach to look for fossils, but at the end of the concrete walkway the tide was too high, so we turned back. We drove to Charmouth, and walked back along the beach there towards Lyme Regis. There …
We drove to Romsey, arriving at 11am. We had a coffee and then went for lunch with Vera at Prezzos. Wendy came round in the afternoon, followed by Ian and Nicky. We had a chat with tea and mince pies, but the pastry on the pies was too thick. We left at 5pm to drive …
We parked in front of a feeder in the Greylake RSPB reserve car park and watched the birds until it stopped raining. Then we walked on the trail through the reedbeds and sat in the hide. The sun came out. There were lots of ducks, some buzzards perched on fence posts drying out their wings, …
We were not expecting to see much when we arrived late afternoon at Ham Wall. It was overcast, windy, and starting to rain. However, small flocks of starlings were arriving at the same time as we were. A great egret flew past, and a young heron came very close, seemingly oblivious to our presence on …