Stutton Walk and Village Fete

It was a lovely morning and everyone was up for going on a walk. I decided to do a version of a favourite that would keep it to less than 7 miles. We gathered together a picnic lunch and set of for Stutton... only to find, when we got there, that we couldn't park at the Community Hall today as it was the Village Fete from 12pm. But we did managed to park just round the corner and started walking just after 10:30.

This was our route.

We went clockwise via Alton Water and Holbrook before following Holbrook Creek down to the River Stour.

Here are a few of my photos.

As we passed the community shop, we saw them getting ready for the fete later.

As it was a Saturday, Alton Water was quite busy.

It wasn't too early for an ice-cream.

We came across a huge gaggle of geese.

In Hobrook we saw this and wondered what it was about.

We visited   All Saints, Holbrook church,

As we were looking at the Clench Memorial...

..one of the ladies serving teas and coffees in the church came over and told us the story, which is also in the church guide book... "The imposing Clench Memorial. set in the corner of the south aisle is a silent reminder of the stirring days of the first Elizabeth. When Margaret Clitheroe, one-time Yorkshire wife and mother, was canonised on 25th October 1970: Holbrook's church came into the news, for Judge John Clench, who very reluctantly condemned her to death in 1589, lies buried in this church. As the Law then stood, 

she could not escape the death penalty, she being a devout practising Catholic. Judge Clench gave her 

every opportunity to recant, but she refused even to plead for fear of incriminating others. The tomb 

carries the recumbent effigies of the Judge and his daughter-in-law Margerie, as the inscription 

beneath them shows.".

She also told us there was a "Storybook Weekend" going on in the village, which explained what we had seen earlier, and suggested we take a walk through the viallge to see the displays. This had to be Great Expecations.

This one was interactive. Can you place the organs in the body in the right place?

Pinocchio decorated the postbox.

Heading for the mill we saw some giraffes.

Dawn and Sarah looking at what they can see in Holbrook Creek.

As we walked along the path down to the river we could hear the sound of cheering and a marching band. Something must be happening at the Royal Hospital School.

Now we were walking along the river path with a pleasant breeze to keep us cool.

As we got a view of the school, we could see they were parading.

Hello alpacas.

A favourite view of mine of Markwell's Farmhouse.

Our lunch stop was at the church of St. Peter, Stutton.

Then it was back past the pretty cottages of Lower Street...

...to the Summer Fete.

Alas we were too late to see Gryff Rhys Jones open the fete, but there was live music...

...and plenty of stalls. My favourite was the human fruit machine. The fruit machine people tumbled their arms to imitate the spinning of the wheels and then picked a fruit out of the box in front of them. Hilarious!

But before we went, we had to visit the beer tent.

Another lovely walk and the bonus of a Storybook weekend, the sounds of a marching band and a village fete!

You can see more details of our route here on MapMyWalk and more of my photos here on Flickr.