London Zoo

London zoo was slightly disapointing.The large animals such as Elephants and rhinos have been shipped to whipsnade.The lions and tigers were in small enclosures and almost impossible to see as they slept in the long grass and many animals such as the bears were not possible to spot at all.The new gorilla enclosure was far better but was so crowded that is was still hard to see them.Other areas such as the aquarium and reptile house although interesting looked like they have not been touched since the place was built in victorian times.
Superb Starling feeding its baby.
Tree frog

African wild dog


Toucan
Giraffe

Twycross zoo

Twycross zoo is on the Leicestershire/Warwickshire border in the midlands.It specialises in primates although has some other animals.Baby orang

Silverback gorilla

Baby bonobo chimp
Asian elephant

Great grey owl

Genet the chimp reading a magazine
Red ruffed Lemur

Derby

Very short train journey from Leicester to Derby.35 mins and £7.60

The Guildhall in Derby
Water feature in Derby centre

Derby Cathedral.Not a particularly large one but in a nice setting.It currenty has a family of peregrines high up on a ledge which have even been on springwatch.
Bonnie Prince Charlie statue outside the cathedral
Derby county football ground.Pride Park.
View over the river Derwent which runs through Derby.
The Silk mill which is now an industrial museum.
The best looking bridge in Derby.

Church stretton and the Shropshire hills

It takes 3 trains and about 3 hours to reach Church Stretton from Leicester which is quite an ordeal especially as twice the 10.33 to Shrewbury from Birmingham New street has been cancelled for no apparent reason whatsoever.Last time I was on my way to Telford.This meant I had 1 hour less time there which put me off my schedule and intended route quite a bit.

This did however allow me some time in Shrewsbury before I caught the later train.The town does look interesting though and I will try and go back soon.
This is the statue of Charles Darwin outside the library.

And the castle which is now a regimental museum.
Church Stretton is a pleasant little town surrounded by hills.There is the long mynd(long mountain) on one side and Caer Caradoc the old iron age hill fort which is supposedly the place caratacus had his last stand against the Romans in AD51.

Caer caradoc
This is the most popular destination , Carding mill valley which has some fast flowing streams and a waterfall.


At the top of the valley it leads onto a flat plateau with footpaths leading south to the highest point of the long mynd ,Pole Bank at a height of 1693 feet and westwards leads to the Stiperstones .It is a bit easy to get lost here though so a map is recommended and also good visibility.
Looking back down the valley towards church stretton.

After descending back down the valley I walked towards the base of Caer Caradoc.This is the view looking back towards the long mynd and as you can see it was still very hazy with quite poor visibility.

Calke abbey and Staunton Harold

Horses in field near Smisby. I walked from Ashby in Leicestershire which took about 1 hour to reach the Calke abbey south entrance.


This is Calke Abbey. It is not possible to get any closer without paying to go inside. Unfortunately the abbey is closed on Thursdays and Fridays in June.Despite this the car park was full as people walked in the park instead.I wonder why it is not profitable to open the place all week.After all you would expect more people to turn up at the end of the week instead of Mondays and Tuesdays.



Ticknall parish church. A lovely parish church with the remains of an older building in the graveyard.


Small strange building in Ticknall.


Staunton Harold hall and church. The hall is not open but the church is accessible in a couple of the summer months(not June!).It is a popular place due to an art and crafts centre and a large garden centre behind the hall.


Gate statue at Staunton Harold



The arts and crafts centre at Staunton Harold.