6th May 2017 Lydney Deer Park

Today is a good lesson in double checking you've not actually been somewhere before. It's easy when planning a route to cross a path you've already covered before. It's not always a bad thing but it's certainly nicer to cover as much new ground as possible. Thankfully a quick diversion meant we weren't on the same route for long and ended up being a much nicer walk than I had anticipated.

A sea of bluebells to frame these two lovelies.

We started from Lydney town parked up neat to Tesco. The path heads up towards the grounds of Lydney park woods. We walked past a field of very curious young bullocks who seemed intent on playing with Chuck. He seemed more intent on barking at them. Both parties seemed to be fairly satisfied with this outcome. As we hit the woods this is where I realised we had taken this path before.

A burst of colour appeared from between the trees.

A quick detour past a house in the wood and we entered a beautifully manicured garden which I had neither seen nor heard of before. 

Some Japanese influenced horticulture.

A small stream fed a series of ponds surrounded by large floral bushes and trees. Out the back this led into a deer park in which was a fabled White Hart. Apparently an extremely rare beast. 

This garden is a real hidden gem.

Following the path we saw a large stately home up on the hill which must be the house of the grounds. The whole park was left very natural and was simply a lovely place to be surrounded by deer.

The deer didn't stick around once Chuck appeared.

As we came to the end of the path we went through a gate which took us into The Taurus Arts and Crafts center in Aylburton. On the other side of the gate in large letters were the words 'No Entry'. Oh well. It certainly didn't say that on any of the other fences the way we came. The Taurus center contained some arts and crafts shops, wool, chocolate, incense and art stuff. It also had a rather nice farm shop. We didn't stop long because we had a rendezvous with The George Inn in Aylburton.

The grounds to the house are private we found out upon leaving them.

This was a charming little place. Don't expect quick service. The lady serving was half deaf as were here very elderly locals. But we're patient people and enjoyed the banter between staff and customers. They were also fairly busy serving lunches in the other room. Prices were very reasonable and the cider was nice and crisp. This was a nice end to walk that hadn't gone quite as planned but probably ended up being better by discovering a new place. Thoroughly enjoyable walk.


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