Meandering in the Midlands.

We had three fab walks in The East Midlands this week.

First was Bradgate Park in Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire: https://www.bradgatepark.org/

Weather was a bit moody but held out:

Second was Kingsbury Waterpark Warwickshire, lying on the River Tame: http://countryparks.warwickshire.gov.uk/country-parks/kingsbury-water-park/. Lake walks, bug hotels and a fab little railway:

By far my favourite was the Quarry walk in Mountsorrel. We started walking up the canal and river from Loughborough:

The industrial past of the region was obvious from the riverside buildings:

Then we hit the public footpath running through Mountsorrel Quarry: https://www.tarmac.com/mountsorrel-quarry/

We got talking to one of the foremen as we walked through who told us that: this is Europe’s largest hard stone quarry- producing pink granite; 50% of the granite is transported by the railways; quarried land is restored in and around the quarry for the community; it has been identified as a potential site for public water supply.

I live on the south coast and we have little or no heavy industry so was really interested to learn about this part of the Midland’s past and present.