European Beaver’s lodge
Once through the farm yard we followed Bob in the small 4×4 buggy down a bumpy track and then across fields. We stopped at the top of a field with a slope down to woods. Some of the group went down the hill in the buggy and the rest of walked. I had umbrellas in the car which were useful because by now it was raining steadily.
The plan was to get to the beaver’s lodges just as dusk was approaching as this was when they were likely to be out and about. We had to be quiet so as not to disturb them. The rain proved the biggest obstacle as the noise the rain made on the ponds was enough to keep the majority of the beavers in their lodges.
After the first man-made pond we crossed a gully and came upon a second pond. Below us, to our right, we could see a stream at the edge of the wood. The beaver’s had a couple of lodges at the side of this pond and we could see where recently beaver’s had left and gone down to the stream.
Opposite to where we stood was one of the lodges under reeds.
The dam on the stream was over a couple of metres high and the resulting pond stretched away out of sight into the wood. We could see ripples as the beavers swam about under the water working on the dam. None of the beavers appeared out of the water. The dam was difficult to see as we looked down and the bank was too slippy to walk down.
We waited but the beavers did not appear and we walked back to our cars.
Dinner at the Village Inn
By the time we were all back at the cars we were all rather wet and we decided to go back to the cottages and change before heading off to the Village Inn in Ashworth for dinner.
Just as the previous evening we shared cars to get to the The Village Inn in Ashworth. The pub was not as busy as the previous evening. I had breaded mushrooms followed by steak and ale pie washed down by Timothy Taylor’s Landlord pale ale.
Once back at the cottage I packed ready for the next day and went straight to bed for a relatively early night.
Village Inn on TripAdvisor
A welcoming local with great food
This pub’s food was excellent and the portions were generous. There is a large selection of beers and lagers as well as wine to accompany your food. For the really hungry the desserts are equally as good and again generous! The food is locally sourced where possible – so what’s not to like!
Everyone who we met was friendly and helpful and took their time to especially welcome strangers.
I would recommend booking a table if going on a Friday evening as the restaurant was full.