We set out from Burton on Trent on a sunny morning. It had obviously been cold overnight as the was frost on the car and grass. We drove a short way to Branston Water Park. The plan today was to follow a walk called ‘Monks and Moorings’, or at least some of it depending on how we felt. The walk was on The National Forest website.

The Trent and Mersey Canal ran alongside the water park.

We walked along the side of the lake for a while.

We crossed the canal at Tatenhill Lock.

From Tatenhill Lock we then followed a footpath towards Battlestead Hill.

It was after midday when we started up Battlestead Hill but there were still patches of frost around.

At the top of the hill (more of a hillock really) we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we followed the path into Bass Millennium Wood.

We found a great tree with a rope swing and just had to stop and play!

As I was still feeling under the weather, we cut the walk short and headed back towards Branston.

To avoid the road, we followed a footpath across the fields.

Part of the path took us across the middle of a field. The further we got across, the harder it became to continue. The mud stuck to our shoes and made them really heavy!

We finally got back to near the canal and had to follow it down for a while until we reached Branston Bridge where we were able to cross the canal and then head back towards Branston Water Park.

There were so many birds when we got back to the water park.

The weekend was completey different from what we had originally planned but we got to see some lovely places and really enjoyed ourselves. The bikes never made it out of the car!