Walked 20 September 2008
The last time I walked around Anglia Water's 3100 acre reservoir (the largest man-made lake in western Europe, folks) I didn't have time to walk the optional loop around Hambleton Peninsula.
Today I did, and it was a fascinating experience. You'll see from the maps at the bottom of this post that the reservoir is a U shape. You can just walk a circle around the outside, or you can add the inner circle. I walked anti-clockwise around the outside, and had walked almost all of the outer circle before arriving at the peninsula, so while still keeping the water's edge on my left, I found myself changing direction and walking clockwise, and seeing all of the paths already trod, across a stretch of water.
Today we're in the middle of what might be an Indian summer; it really does feel as if Summer has returned (some might say 'arrived'). It was a perfect day for a saunter around one of England's beauty spots.
I started in Manton, and the first mile or so is along a road, with glimpses of the water. The first real views come as you descend towards Lynton nature reserve. Note the rosehips on the hedge. I noticed so many red rosehips and the red berries of the hawthorn. It's either been a very good year for them, or I've just never noticed them before.
This is Normanton Church Museum, which I've not stopped to investigate so far:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGR755gpNsSNEfGEr_FD_tKQgK7nyKJzDGJrMbB82Xm7Ym8pOVp1YgN2GZRxB-xYXxA3U3mNl-xzhYhjkMruNSAHbcWgonVVDtc-u-gZj5Kqy64EbxEs6ahTVF_3uJ0xGQLLFzg/s320/PICT0374web.jpg)
A long straight path takes you along the top of the dam at the eastern side of the reservoir. It looks like a huge dry-stone wall, and the village to the east is much lower than the water level.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmn09X1scVTCy9sVOlvIrdnh9RwmWJTaEcT-JpREG2k_dbcNCuTobqO4Cr4LiPbzmoQoeIriXxkOOEgmLDkWAekPqGf6ZEEM2YWnuPQr_VamDl27rvCXjhxjan8FNxM-6ezEjwHQ/s320/PICT0376web.jpg)
The big surprise on arrival at the peninsula is the long busy road. For a couple of miles I was dodging surprisingly heavy traffic. It was well worthwhile, because once off that road, the views are excellent, and as I mentioned before, across the water I could see the paths I'd already walked.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMveHK-jv8G7ssvazMuj2cH2su7cNSHwIq5eVid7Aa4m68R2iNW5CLLYdQvKfZiSFBUVFCz4htqRxGLLanZytv1wN02A3mLbABsy2r9rJKJZvrJxciTTS5zbZBsM_dr9KRzM0RwQ/s320/PICT0381web.jpg)
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This is Normanton Church viewed from the middle of the peninsula:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDAQGDtN1_evCcgDB2z6-KZenw0IVFJlURo2PznKke7fPe_rW9vGahxQa289ZN6GoP_HQ3ElPopqaqqKaanpMdPVeJ9ZNo1oFX5j8eUb0aEZjyqBJd7GuEWOT5E-Cp6YQwUFyyZQ/s320/PICT0384web.jpg)
My car is somewhere in the distance across the water:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRUZPTyRr61C5-6HZ09O3mPhSreceDOiAJbeSGUJJH8FptwV8X8AmOH6qqsXs49sMgctfEY-9C04jKpRrmPhuYrE2gEioJ-x6Dzxh0AWRogsrOj88QugDmvLnbDi2_mOpGX_IAKw/s320/PICT0386web.jpg)
I don't know the story of the Old Hall, but I loved this view, and the old tree in the foreground.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCnTwtat0b30wQmWMhIubPrWT131I2BGLG_B7Nxim_D_l-ycerzlwv70dYNH8of-frNPzzNEn0VyNeJZew6YJinCAH68_pFYXpvmfp9n_Mu1LW7oRGKYsipkGN5Pd73gPagsNw/s320/PICT0389web.jpg)
At the bottom is my route created and measured using Meander (the extra loop is in green, and my start/finish point is at the extreme south-west) but I have to include Anglia Water's own map from their hand-out leaflet because it made me laugh out loud while I was walking. You'll see that the Rutland Belle is marked on the map. When I saw the pleasure boat, it was parked near Normanton museum, which demonstrates the folly of printing a moving object on a map!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJF21cl0A80R99vEkuTd8qeNaaAx-eRHR7eXXJT1iVd8ReYDsw4HjZB9pK6iWw8YWd0ubCB7b1LtfwGh4-h5d9dX-O5lIzCtfBiI60HGA2_Ty2sKyEfHDgegHy16dkfdZLyPo/s320/RutlandWaterSketchMap.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyfbrfGOivyS6wvKS3fVW0u2wyR1zNMOCw-mBioiA_l6DhJ5IkFdTEQ6DEqL-b0pEzuxod9zeurgjBWbSAcoflB5N1sr6vxgtrHzm11SGlf-BC82ksLq7jllkzjKZ8S3rx9aLv/s320/map.jpg)
1 comment:
Sunday was such a glorious day, Pea. I am so glad you got a great walk in (though you simply MUST get to the little museum one of these days).
The last time I was there, the Rutland Belle was somewhere else when I went to catch it. Hey ho.
As we've had such a stinky wet summer, let's hope this last weekend's fabulous weather will be a precursor for a fine and sunny Autumn so you can do more posts like this.
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