Allan Bank National Trust

Charlie will be a year old on Saturday!  The time has just flown by.  It's been lovely having a dog in our lives again and we've been on some fab trips and walks with him so I thought I'd start writing a few blogs about dog friendly walks and places to visit starting with our visit to Allan Bank National Trust property on Sunday with our daughter Beth.

We have been to Allan Bank previously to see the Red Squirrels, in fact it was a year ago but we didn't go in the house as it was closed at the time.  We found the cache there and watched the red squirrels.  So we thought it was time to pay another visit to see the red squirrels and also have a look around the house this time.

We weren't sure just how dog friendly this National Trust property would be, in fact we were prepared for Charlie not being allowed into the house and Mark had already said he didn't mind waiting outside but as we approached the door we spotted the dog biscuit tin and little blackboard and knew Charlie was going to be made welcome... let's just hope we could behave ourselves 😉

About Allan Bank

Allan Bank is a very relaxed, informal National Trust home.  It's set on a hillside overlooking Grasmere lake and fells.  Its history of notable tenants include William Wordsworth and one of the founders of the National Trust - Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley.

There isn't a National Trust car park in Grasmere and to visit Allan Bank you'll need to park in Grasmere itself. It's only about a 10 min walk from the nearest paid parking.  We parked a little further afield for free.

If you're planning a visit check up to date opening times on the website before travelling.

Watching the red squirrels

Red Squirrels

After a family holiday in Cumbria in  2003 we fell head over heels in love with the cute little red squirrels.  The North American grey squirrel was introduced here as an ornamental species in the 1870s and since then the number of reds has dropped from around three and a half million to an estimated 120,000 - 15,000 of these are thought to be in England.  This is why places like Allan Bank are so important.  It's a great place for visitors to be able to see these adorable little animals.  Allan Bank works alongside the Grasmere Red Squirrel Group to make the grounds an ideal place for them to live and they apparently spend over £900 a year on feed!  The red squirrel is under constant threat from the non-native greys that carry a deadly virus.  Anyway, I could talk about red squirrels all day. There are a few others places to see red squirrels, you can check out the Northern Red Squirrels website for details.

Charlie bird and red squirrel watching

I think this is the most relaxed National Trust property we've ever been to and we've been to a lot over the years.  There's something to do in every room.  All the rooms have comfy chairs that you're encouraged to sit in and you're allowed to help yourself to a drink and biscuits (donation) and sit by the window watching the wildlife or even sit by the cosy log fire.

There are books to look at in all the rooms, games to play, dressing up for children and in the art room you can even make your own Christmas card which we couldn't resist doing.

Art room

There was even a knitting room so Beth and I were in our element.

After spending a very relaxing couple of hours in the house we went to explore the gardens where we saw more cute red squirrels.  We then went back to the van for our lunch before heading back into Grasmere to have a mooch around the shops.

There are some lovely walks to be had from Grasmere, you can head up to Silver How or Easedale Tarn.  The walks are detailed on the National Trust website.  We ran out of daylight to go on a longer walk so we took Charlie a short walk near the lake to find a couple of caches before heading back home.

Fringford

 The main reason for our trip to the area today was to do the Shelswell Loop.  A series of 17 caches plus 2 extra on a 6 mile circular walk around the village of Fringford, about 4 miles North East of Bicester.

St Michael and All Angels Church, Fringford

We were last in the area back in January 2009 to do the Larkrise to Candleford Green series so it was nice to be back walking in such lovely countryside.

A bit of a rainy start but the forecast was good so we were hopeful it would brighten up.  Some of the walk takes you through the impressive Shelswell Park Estate.

Warins Barn

To find Warin's Barn: Shelswell Loop you actually need to go inside the barn to find the cache, we were a little wary when we saw the sign but as all previous logs had reported finding the cache without injury we went in.  Interesting to note the 20 year old graffiti on the wall but it left us wondering what happened here and why it's been left derelict, further research hasn't given us the answer.  Interesting spot for a cache.

We love mud!

An enjoyable walk that is completely dog friendly, very muddy in places, mainly along the field edges and through a ploughed field but it's what is to be expected this time of year.  Completed the walk in 3 hours 45 minutes in glorious sunshine.  It really was like a spring afternoon, very uplifting to be walking in the sunshine after all the dark days, snow and rain.

Beautiful sunny afternoon

Shelswell Loop

Before leaving Fringford we stopped off for a short walk behind the church to find Deep in the Wood.  The previous log was a DNF but we thought we have a look anyway, also other finders had reported it as being a tricky to find cache.  After about 10 mins of searching I said 'that's it I give up' and went to head back to the car, Mark said 'OK I'll join you but shall I just sign the log book first' LOL!  I will have to try that method in future but sooner next time!

Stopped off in Hethe to do a couple of the Lark Rise to Candleford caches that have appeared since we did the series back in Jan 2009.

View from Hethe Bridge

Just time to do a short series along an old tarmaced road, which is now gated, looks like it was cut through when the A43 was built.  Very peaceful walk along the lane.

Gated Lane Nr Stoke Lyne

There were many fieldfares in the fields and flying overhead, a beautiful sight.

Fieldfares

 A 1.5 mile walk to the to of the lane and back.

Time to head home and on the way picked up a few more of the Just Northamptonshire caches, we've found 4 previously and #21, #20 and #28.....   7 down, 109 to go!