At the beginning of May we went on a trip to Whipsnade Zoo – one of two zoos (the other being London Zoo) that are owned by the Zoological Society of London, a charity devoted to wildlife conservation. It’s the UK’s largest zoo covering over 600 acres and we were very impressed with how much space the animals had to roam around.
Carsington Water, located between Wirksworth and Kniveton in Derbyshire, is a reservoir operated by Severn Trent Water. It’s definitely somewhere you could spend the whole day though we only went on a short walk around part of the grounds on this trip; there is a parking charge which you pay on the way out otherwise the site is free to visit. There were lots of trails towards the water we explored though do be mindful of important safety notices and don’t enter the water unless at a designated spot (the site has an Activity Centre with a watersports facility for sailing, canoeing etc. as well as for the hiring of bikes).
We had assumed when booking a combined ticket for Alnwick Castle and garden, that the gardens were part of the castle, but in fact they are also an attraction in their own right and a registered charity created by the Duchess of Northumberland.
Stanton Moor Edge is part of the Peak District in Derbyshire that is, as you can tell by its name, to the edge of Stanton Moor and under the care of the National Trust. Here you can find many natural sandstone rocks and see some fantastic views of the surrounding countryside as well as the intriguing Earl Grey Tower.
On a sunny day last year we headed to Derbyshire and Hardwick Hall, a stunning Elizabethan house built by Elizabeth Shrewsbury, best known as Bess of Hardwick. Rather than explore the house on this visit we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go on some of the walks around the Estate and the gardens, which did however bring us close enough to admire the Hall.
Whilst visiting the Bressingham Steam Museum we also visited the gardens which are next to it. There are six distinct gardens laid out over 17 acres, and as such were much more impressive than we had expected.
The Jungle Kingdom section of Longleat Safari Park is the area you travel around on foot and has a whole range of animal species – more than a few I’d never met before. One of the my favourites of these new creatures has to be the binturong, which we first encountered curled up asleep but which became more active and alert once we were on our way out of the park. One of only two carnivores with a tail capable of grasping, they are slow-moving animals that live in forests and are on the vulnerable animals list.
Louise Jayne's Blog 