Newark is within easy reach of a lot of interesting places, and we've had some great days out this week.

1.

Budby Antiques (in Budby, obviously) is a fun place to browse, even if you're not looking to add antiques to your rucksack burden.

And the on-site Crew Yard Cafe is superb. There's a blackboard in the dining area which reads: "All our food is freshly prepared to order... We do not do fast food; we do good food as fast as we can." Sticking by that principle has obviously stood them in good stead, and we were all impressed with our various choices. (Dad-in-law even pronounced his ploughman's to be the best he'd had in 87 years, and you can't do much better than that...)




Not far away is Thoresby Park. We managed to visit when most of it was shut, but even so, it was nice to stroll the grounds, check out the courtyard shops, and visit the Bay Tree Cafe for coffee and Thaymar ice cream (elderflower and gooseberry -- delicious).

2.

Another excellent day-trip destination is Rutland Water. This man-made lake covers a pretty large area, and you could profitably return several times to enjoy its different possibilities.

What we did was walk. And eat ice creams -- this time from Yarde Farm, down in Devon. Mine was cherries and custard... Delicious. (And for more of these excellent farm ice-creameries across the UK, see the map here.)







3.

Two hours away on the train is Birmingham. It's being dug up in a fairly comprehensive manner at the moment, in order to extend the Metro. Nevertheless, we really liked what we saw, and again there's lots of potential for return visits.


We lunched with friends at the Indian Brewery Snowhill, which offers "street food" and interesting beers. The rest of the party lapped up ales with evocative names like "Bombay honey", but I stuck to the pleasantly flowery "Birmingham lager".


The city centre is an interesting blend of old and new. There's an impressively modern Library, complete with terrace and garden; and for me, the crinkly-foil coating of the reworked New Street station is the last word in shiny exuberance (although apparently it's had to be toned down somewhat).








The dense network of old canals makes for fascinating strolling. Covert canal-fancier that I am, I find it all extraordinarily photogenic.







The new/old composition of Victoria Square is worth a look too. Relatively fresh to the Square is the travelling Knife Angel. This very moving sculpture travels the country with the goal of publicizing the problem of knife crime.




I have family connections with Birmingham, and once considered going to university there. Yet this trip constituted my first real experience of it. I know I say this a lot, but this is definitely one for following up...

In the meantime, this afternoon we're off to London...