Belton - part 2

Two days later, travelling home from our short break, we called back in at Belton. The skies weren't so blue this time (in fact there'd been rain that morning) but as we wandered around the clouds started to clear, and by the time we left the weather was sunny.

We'd stopped briefly earlier in the day at Burghley, and arrived at Belton in time for lunch - baked potato with chilli beans and coleslaw - before heading into the gardens.

We by-passed the formal gardens and headed straight to the point at which we'd abandoned our walk the previous visit, and meandered onward through the wilder areas towards the lake and boat house.

It was a slow walk, with lots of time spent sitting on seats, but there was something new to see at every turn, with the grass beneath the trees studded with bluebells and daffodils, and a small brook running down from the lake.

Eventually I got there, and found a spot to sit for a while longer watching birds on the water. I could probably have spent longer doing this, but, having walked that far, I had to walk back again. 

We followed a different route back, past a clearing filled with daffodils, and more bluebells. 

Finding our way through the maze didn't go as planned, as after awkwardly jumping a couple of puddles we found the centre completely flooded.

The day had been far busier than I'd expected and after all this exertion tea and cake were in order, before heading home.