Attingham Park and Wroxeter Roman City

Attingham House

side view of the house

It was a dry sunny morning first thing, but clouds and the threat of rain soon developed. After breakfast Van Man drove over to the service point to empty the grey water, fill with fresh water and empty the toilet cassette. This has to be done every two days when there are no toilet or shower facilities. By the time we had done these jobs it was time to head to Attingham Park as our allotted time slot was 10.00 to 10.30.

bridge over the river

low bushes...

 There was plenty of parking and as the weather seemed good we decided to combine three of the walks which we could do on their one way system.

Our route took us past the mansion and then crossed the river into the deer park. Lottie went down into the river to cool off even though she was still on the extending lead. Van Man had to extend it to its full length to keep his feet dry.

...or resting stags

Unafraid of Lottie Lurcher on the nearby path

At the start of the deer park we could see what looked like a huge bush bare of leaves. As we grew closer we saw it was a large herd of male deer lying down under a tree. It was surprising to see so many stags lying in close company. The estate was home to 180 Fallow Deer of which we spotted several large groups.

carved peacock

This way

Before I go over that bridge...

We also saw does and fawns wandering around in smaller groups, which was a fabulous sight.
Lottie wanted to get closer but she had no choice but to stay on the grassy path as I held her lead tightly.

...I need a little dip

The city wall at Woxeter

We lengthened our stroll by entering the gate to the WW2 walk which took us to parts of the park that had been occupied by the RAF. 
This included the foundations for buildings and the concrete path their vehicles had used. 

Finally we entered the woodland walk. There we experienced two short rain showers, but we were partly protected by the tree canopy. By the time we went out across the park the rain had stopped.

looking across the site

The reconstructed villa on the roman road

 Although Lottie had to remain on the lead she seemed to enjoy the walk. It led to a suspension bridge where Lottie went down into the water to have a drink. She prefers river or canal water to the stuff from the tap which we put into her bowl. The one way system took us past the walled garden to the exit.

the heath for the villa's underfloor heating system.

Back at Sally Van we had lunch and a rest as the walk had taken over two hours. When Van Man saw Wroxeter Roman City was only a short distance down the road he went on line to get tickets. We were lucky to get slots for 3.00 today. We waited until 2.50 before moving off and still got to the roman city before 3.00. There were only a few parking places so it was good that we had not got there too early.

The highest surviving Roman wall

The Roman wall was impressive just as I remembered it. They had built a Roman villa to show what the buildings were like.

We set up for the night and fed Lottie. However she decided she wanted an evening walk even though she had been for a long walk this morning. Obviously she uses less energy when she is on the lead. We went around the dog walk past splendid views of the Wrekin then through the woods and onto the top site.

Once back at Sally Van  Lottie slept all evening.