What a lovely day for walking. We all met at the northern car park of Swithland Woods and after a bit of chat and banter we set off on our Friday walk.
Unfortunately, we hadn't walked far when one of our walkers felt unwell and decided to return to his car and then home.
A 61ha remnant of the original Charnwood Forest, Swithland Wood is part of the Bradgate Estate and is managed by the Bradgate Park Trust.
As a remnant of the Charnwood Forest Oak Woods, Swithland consists principally of mature oak, birch, alder and lime, which support a rich variety of butterflies, moths and birds. The famous Swithland Slate - characteristic of many buildings in the area - was quarried from the two quarries in the wood, which have since flooded.
A good network of waymarked footpaths and riding tracks extend throughout the wood and link directly to Bradgate.
The sun shone through the trees creating plenty of photo opportunities.
Our original plan was to walk up to the base of Old John Tower. This
was changed to a walk down to the visitor centre past the reservoir.
After the snake excitement someone noticed that there were a lot of stripes today.