A walk at Stourhead

Yesterday was a glorious day in Somerset UK. The sun was shining and it was beautifully warm. There was a fabulous blue sky with fluffy white clouds. A perfect day for a walk. The drive there was enjoyable even though we got held up with traffic going to Frome show. We last visited in June and I took this photo of the gateway covered in Virginia creeper.

Just three months and this is how it looked yesterday, such a beautiful colour.

We headed towards the house as our walk started very close by. As we arrived this was the view we got of the livestock in the meadow. We walked around the metal fence until we came to a kissing gate. It warned us to keep to the path and ignore the animals which included a bull and cows with calves. I'm not sure what their meeting was about but they didn't bother us at all as we headed diagonally across the field.

Looking back we could see the animals and house across the field. We climbed over a stile and into a small wood before reaching the road.

Once at the road we walked a few yards and crossed the road in front of Drove Lodge. This lodge was built in 1811, with 5 rooms. The lodge is situated on the eastern side of the park in front of Stourhead mansion. Alongside it is a track or drove which may have been used by drovers before the park came into being.

The path we now walked along was fairly straight with beech trees on either side. This is the route the drovers took.

A little further along I could see this hill. I had to take a photo as it looks like it has a face. Two eyes with bushy eyelashes, a nose and a wide mouth.

We were gradually climbing and came to Beeches  Clump where we found this memorial to a RAF crew who al lost their lives when their plane crashed having left Raf Zeal.

Looking around there were a lots of patchwork fields with a town in the distance.

We had been walking up hill but now we were heading downhill before we climbed the hill in front of us.

There were blackberries in the hedgerow.

and very pretty harebells 

Looking back we could see the route we followed. In places the path was very steep.

We watched  a paraglider for a while and also watched several gliders being towed up to then enjoy the thermals. There were also enthusiasts with their remote control model aeroplanes.

At the top of the hill there was a trig point. Trigpoints are the common name for "triangulation pillars". These are concrete pillars, about 4' tall, which were used by the Ordnance Survey in order to determine the exact shape of the country. They are generally located on the highest bit of ground in the area.

As we started our walk back we came across this mile stone. It was a little difficult to read.

We spotted this cute donkey in a field with sheep.

There was a second donkey hiding in their shed.

I like the shape of the dead tree and it still looked majestic.

One last view of the hill with a face plus I loved the colour of the stubble.

By now we were walking in Stourhead village, where I saw this green dog.

We entered Stourhead garden to have one last look at the lake before we headed back to the hotel. 

We also saw this tree that had decided it wanted to be the first to change colour for autumn.

    

Back at the main visitors centre we treated ourselves to some carrot and orange soup. It was delicious. Our final visit was to the garden centre and gift shop. We found three plants that we wanted and also some biscuits to take home . Our walk was 6 and a half miles and very enjoyable. 

Today we had a slow day as we were a little tired. Rather than visiting somewhere on the way home we decided to drive straight home. However we did visit my favourite quilt shop. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. When we got home older daughter and husband plus son were visiting. It was lovely to see them all and we planned an outing for next weekend.

I need to get myself organised and then get ready for bed as I am in work tomorrow. I've done a little knitting this afternoon but I want to try and finish the book I'm reading before I go to sleep. Only a few pages left.

Take care

Lyndsey