We love Winkworth Arboretum. Although renowned for its incredible colour displays in Spring and Autumn, it’s a wonderful place to visit any time of year. The National Trust have done a fantastic job maintaining its natural beauty. We spent quite a long time when we arrived climbing trees. Although we ticked this off our #50things list a long time ago, POD has always loved climbing. I’m sure she enjoyed waving and shouting “hello” at passers-by though just as much!
After a short banana break, the stepping stones were next on POD’s list. She quickly discovered getting Mummy to hold her hand meant she could hover in the air which was so much more fun! She said the mushrooms we saw might eat her wellies but I’m sure she was just playing me.
Having checked out the fallen chestnuts and found a suitable wand (stick), we headed off to explore the nearby trails. This involved more climbing and jumping plus a little running off.
And many a muddy puddle to jump into!
Having refueled, we set off towards the boathouse and the lake. POD raced down the steps at speed stopping only to throw leaves – mostly at Mummy. It was a great game she found highly entertaining.
Just by the boathouse we came across a man who was seemingly calling the ducks. Convinced it wouldn’t work we watched on with interest only to witness ducks leaving the lake and making their way towards him on the path.
I was relieved to see he had bread as we had very little to offer other than the end of a roll (and some brownie although that was for me). POD took it upon herself to help the duck man, under his guidance of course, only to continually request more bread.
She wasn’t best pleased when we had to leave them (mainly as all bread supplies had been exhausted!) but we found two ‘busy’ dragonflies to keep us occupied.
With the sun making an appearance it was too nice not to just enjoy the lake for a time. The ducks made their way back onto it and you could almost sense they were basking in the sunshine now they were fully fed. We found a lonesome conker just before we left which POD decided to keep safe in her pocket so ‘no-one would steal it’.
All the excitement meant POD was a little weary walking back up towards the car. With Daddy full of cold at home, Mummy didn’t make for a good piggy back replacement. With both of us back walking, we took it slowly taking in the views at the lookout tower and spotting those early signs of Autumn on the way. No doubt we’ll be back again in the coming weeks to see Winkworth ablaze with red, orange and yellow.
Linking up with #whatsthestory here on PODcast.
