Friday 6 June 2014

Exploring: Thornton Reservoir














Last Sunday, I finished work at 4pm and the sun was beautiful! Mark & I decided to head out to Thornton Reservoir and make the most of it. Thornton Reservoir is a 20 minute drive from where we live, and it's about 2.5 miles walk all the way around it. Being part of the National Forest, it's very pretty and there's a track through the woodland and all the way around the reservoir itself. We saw plenty of fishermen fishing, and a few other groups of people feeding the ducks, taking a stroll or enjoying an ice-cream.

Before setting off Mark chose a real (his words) ice-cream complete with sprinkles, strawberry sauce & flake and I chose a delicious cola lolly from the little ice-cream van parked outside. There are plenty of benches dotted around, including picnic benches - it's a lovely destination for a family picnic, and we'll definitely be returning sandwiches in hand!

There were lovely birds everywhere, including ducks, swans and many more. We saw a big fish leap out of the reservoir and horses in the adjoining fields. We decided to walk along the bike track for a little way, closer to the water and all the pretty wild flowers. I picked up as many pine cones as would fit in Mark's pockets (much to his dismay!) and enjoyed stopping at regular (perhaps too regular) intervals to point things out and take photos. Mark read out the information sign to me, just like our first date in the museum in Liverpool over four years ago, ahh!

When we were over halfway around the reservoir, and into the more wooded part of the walk, a lovely gentleman on a bicycle saw my camera and asked what I was taking photos of. Of course my reply was everything! He told us that there had been a swan nesting for a while now, and that she had not long had her little baby swans. He pointed out the route to us, which we ended up following him on anyway! When we reached the point where the swans were, we all stood and admired the swan and her 8 babies. The gentleman was very sweet and helpful, and we hope to spot him again on our next walk around as he's a regular!

We spent so much time cooing over the baby swans that we had to rush a bit around the last stretch as the car park closed at 7.30pm and we hadn't realised the time! We had a lot of fun, and saw baby cows on the way back too! We can't wait to explore more of the local villages and National Forest when the sun is shining.

Do you enjoy walking? Where is your favourite local walking spot?

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7 comments:

  1. Haha I agree with Mark - he did have a 'real' ice cream ;) These pictures are stunning - such a wonderful place to enjoy some minimal good weather! xx

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  2. Spending a day amongst nature is simply the best when the sun is shining. I've just logged on after spending a technology-free 3 hours in my sunny garden reading, and I do believe that's what summer is all about. It looks so pretty, this post is making me want to take a stroll by the Common near my home where there are some ponds and lakes. and mmmm ice cream- YES *insert ice cream emoji* xxx

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  3. I love your day out posts! This sounds like such a perfect day, all the little things about it just sound so lovely! Completely cooing over those baby swans! x

    Josie’s Journal

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  4. Oooh, those cygnets are the cutest. I love going to walks! <3

    Tara x

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  5. It looks so peaceful out there! There's loads of national parks where i live (in good ol' north yorkshire!) so I really should make the most of it. Ha, I want to jump in the computer and steal mark's ice cream, it looks so good

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  6. Ahh Hannah, this location is so me. I love doing things like this. It looks beyond peaceful there. I can almost smell the fresh air through these photos. Aw, the mother and her baby swans sounds so precious. You know what? I've never seen a swan in real life-ever. I don't even know if we have them here. I can imagine they are so beautiful. I've been seeing so many baby animals lately- it's unbelievably adorable. The other day I saw a baby calf that had probably been born a few hours before I saw it and it was stumbling as it tried to learn to walk- cutest thing ever. I also saw a baby horse walking along side its mother happily. And I saw a baby sea lion snuggled up to its mother. And the other day I saw a baby deer with beautiful white spots and it was uh, squatting/going pee but it was still the cutest thing ever. haha :) xxx

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  7. I don't think I have ever seen so many bb swans before! What cuties. I hope the parents weren't mean to you. Swans can be really scary! I love that picture of Mark with his ice cream, I don't think he could look more excited if he tried! I hope you two had a great day out!

    Emma x

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Thanks for your lovely comments! I try to reply to them all :) x