Walk around Shugborough Hall

Another beautifully sunny day.  No cruising today so a walk seemed to be on the cards.

Several years ago when we first came this way we visited Shugborough Hall which was well worth it, nowadays it costs £15 to gain entry to the Hall, Gardens and all the ancillaries so we decided not to repeat the experience.

First we crossed the River Trent

The narrow, but made up, road follows the boundary of Shugborough Hall and passes through the farmland belonging to the Hall.

The surrounding fields are awash with buttercups 

and full of cows

with very large horns!

We contented ourselves with viewing the Hall from a distance

Eventually we came to the village of Milford and an extremely welcome cup of coffee in the local hostelry.

We could have ventured next door.......................................................

I thought Wimpy was a dying breed....this must be the smallest one ever...

Through the village we eventually found our way back to the canal.  This was not easy as there were no signposts and only Geoff's unerring navigational nose led us to the tiny tunnel underneath the railway and bingo...on the other side was the canal.

It was a further mile at least along the towpath until we came to the Tixall Wide where had originally planned to moor for the weekend.   This is a very popular mooring spot and was surprisingly empty.  However this was probably due to the fact that it was the middle of the day.  Chatting to someone on a dutch type barge he said it had been full last night and no doubt it would be again later today.

On the far side of the wide is Tixall Gatehouse which is all that is left of Tixhall Hall

.....and so eventually back to the junction

When we eventually reached Petroc we had clocked up just under 5 1/4 miles which for me is a bit of a marathon, but for Barney & Geoff.........a mere stroll I was told......

Still it was  a lovely day and a great walk and I could relax for the rest of the day.   I spent several happy hours sitting on the towpath beside Petroc reading.   The only sour note was when a man walked past with his dog who proceeded to leave a deposit on the towpath which the man just ignored.   I was forced to ask him if he was going to clear up after his dog to which I received the reply  'No I am not....not on the towpath'  I was flabbergasted and moved to inform him that he was very antisocial but needless to say I was ignored........I shall look out for him tomorrow if I am sitting out...............................