A close-up of a family of swans on the water: two adults and three cygnets.

Lindrick Dale

by

This week, Oliver, Mum and I went for a five mile walk at Lindrick Dale.

While we were going up a road to the woodland, Mum spotted a topiary of a rooster.

When we got to the woods, we spotted a ram called Arthur. In between parts of the woodland there was a golf course. Part of the golf course was very popular with dragonflies.

  • A photo of a black ram looking towards us.
    Hi, Arthur!
  • A photo looking downhill to a golfing green.
    Anyone for golf?

When we were in the woodland, we came across a bridge, called Monk’s Bridge, which went over a watercourse. On leaving the woodland, we arrived at the farm, which belonged to the local monks. This is where we saw the watercourse that we discovered at Monk’s Bridge.

  • A small tunnel over a watercourse.
    Who built this and why?
  • A view of a straight stretch of the water channel passing through woodland.
    The mysterious watercourse
  • A small watercourse behind a brick wall.
    Water channel near to the old monks’ farm

Next, we walked between two fields. One of them was used for growing crops while the other one had horses in. One of the horses was a speckled white horse, while the other was brown with a pink coat. When we were out of the fields, we came to bridge 37, which was just after a lock. Going past the bridge, we came to the first bit of canal. When we were walking on the towpath beside the canal, we went past Shireoaks Marina.

  • A photo of two horses, one brown with a pink coat and the other a speckled white, approaching.
    Two of the horses in the adjacent field.
  • A red-brick bridge spanning the canal.
    Bridge 37
  • A photo of narrow boats moored at a marina.
    Shireoaks Marina

Coming away from the canal, we came to a pea field. Then, we went past Shireoaks Hall, which looked like it hadn’t been used for a while. After going past the hall, we came to a field with hay bales in. A lorry was collecting the hay bales; it looked like it would take a while to collect all of them. Next, we came to a pond. This is where we saw a Grey Lag goose in a flock of Canadian Geese.

  • A photo of a pea pod growing on a plant.
    Peas everywhere!
  • A photo of the ruins of a grand castle-style house behind a gate.
    Shireoaks Hall … needs a bit of work
  • A photo of a golden field with hay bales, a flock of geese and a lorry collecting the bales in the distance.
    “We need more lorries!”
  • A large willow tree in the centre of a pond.
    A lone willow
  • Three Canadian geese with a grey lag goose.
    Odd one out!

Eventually, we came back to bridge 37, where we stopped to see a boat come through the lock.

  • A photo of a person opening the first gate of a lock.
    Push!
  • A photo of a canal boat coming out of a lock.
    It’s coming!

Then, we went past the bridge again and walked on the other bit of canal. When we were walking alongside the canal, two swans and three cygnets came to see us. The swans didn’t mind us being close to their young even though we had our dog, Billy, with us.

  • A photo of a family of swans approaching on the canal.
    Sailing to see us
  • A photo of a young and older boy watching the swans on the water.
    Watching the swans
  • A view of the canal going into the distance, surrounded by countryside.
    Nothing but canal and countryside

At the end of the walk, we very carefully crossed over a railway, which had two tracks, to get to some barley fields. Finally, we joined a lane leading back to the cottage with the rooster topiary in Lindrick Dale.

  • A photo showing the railway crossing.
    Stop, look and listen!
  • A photo of two railway tracks going into the distance.
    We made it!
  • A young boy running along a path through field of barley.
    Fields of gold

I can’t believe how many things we saw and how many different areas we walked through. It was an extra special walk because I did it with Oliver.