Today we decided to do a little stroll along the River Soar. Starting out from home, we can quickly get onto the path alongside the Grand Union Canal which, after a mile or so, merges with the River Soar. Following along the river bank took us up to Zouch (pronounced Zotch by most of the locals, unlike the Zoo-shh in Ashby de la Zouch… which is normally pronounced Ashby!).

I’d anticipated the outward journey to be about 2.7 miles but we saw a sign saying “no unauthorised access” and took a bit of a detour. On reflection, I think that meant “don’t try to get down to the river bank by jumping over the fence” (steep drop and deep water) but, as we approached the Rose and Crown pub, we were ready for some lunch. That worked out just over £10 a head, including drinks which I think was not too bad. Jane enjoyed her ham baguette (two mini baguette rolls but she said the ham was excellent) and my burger was one of the best I’ve had. I think the slice of bacon had a lot to do with that, working as seasoning for the whole thing.

Heading back, we followed the path I originally thought we could take but ended up with another detour to visit the local Go Outdoors, which has been ‘temporarily closing down’ for months. Big discounts but it was busy on a Saturday afternoon and we left without any new toys.

All in all, I think we ended up doing the best part of seven miles (5.4 was my original estimate) but the crown was definitely the Rose.