Rutland Water

On Wednesday we went up to Rutland Water, a reservoir for Anglian Water and one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe. It is also the location of Normanton Church.

We spent the afternoon there and walked all the way to the reservoir's dam before returning to the car. While our main activity was walking, there were other things to do at the eastern side of the lake: there is a cafe, at least one restaurant, a hotel, areas to hike, and boat rides. We only saw a part of the lake, and did not even get to explore all of that area, so Rutland Water is definitely a place we will be visiting again.

In the meantime, here are some of the pictures I took (all were done with my phone as I forgot to take my main camera with me):

A view of the lake taken from near the parking area. We were on the eastern side of Rutland Water for the duration of our visit.

Another view of the water, taken from the vantage point at the mini-peninsula Normanton Church is located on.

This is Normanton Church; I have read that it is a museum nowadays but the doors to enter the building were locked. It looks a fairly large structure from a distance but up close it is not that big at all; from the outside it looked like there were two, perhaps three, rooms in there.

Another shot of Normanton Church; I like taking pictures of buildings at this type of angle, providing that I have a head-on capture of the structure as with the previous image.

Believe it or not, this fancy building is a Best Western hotel. I was surprised to learn this myself, as I am still used to United States-style Best Westerns!

Along part of the path was an area for sheep to graze; at night they sleep underneath this tree. Looks like a fun little hideout!

This ewe allowed me to get several pictures of her and even decided to follow me for a little bit as shown in this image. She did not come too far, though, and as I walked further along she stopped, stared, then went to re-join the other sheep.

Another shot of the lake, taken from the dam end of the path.

When the weather is much more clear we will go up to Rutland Water again. It is a good place to walk and the cruise boat that travels around the lake looks fun. If you are ever near Rutland I recommend paying Rutland Water a visit!