Our Riverside

We have a beautiful riverside area which the locals know well. The landowner, Severn Trent Water, estimates that 50,000 people visit their Stoke Estate each year. Anglers, bird watchers, nature lovers, walkers, joggers, horse-riders, cyclists, dog-walkers, wheel-chair users – on your own or with a group - there’s something for everyone.

Which do you like best?

The River Trent

Loved by anglers, swimming dogs, canal barges, motor boats, gulls, swans and a multitude of geese, ducks and other birds.

The lakes

Designated as a Site of Interest to Nature Conservation because of its wide variety of overwintering birds, surrounded by willows, loved by quiet anglers, and perfect for spotting a wide variety of dragonflies, damselflies and carpets of blue coenagrion.

The dykes

Providing homes for water-voles, moorhens, mallard – with occasional visits from kingfishers and herons when the fish are plentiful.

The trees and hedgerows

Dominated by hawthorn and ash but with dozens of varieties of trees and bushes. A delight in May when the hawthorn blossom is at its best, or in the autumn when crab apples, hops, blackberries, elderberries, hawthorn, sloes, guelder rose berries all vie for your attention.

The fields

Ever-changing through the seasons. The corn is a great favourite as it grows rapidly from a small shoot to become big, strong and “as high as an elephant’s eye”.

The footpaths

The delightful sheltered ancient track known to some as Trent Lane, to others as Green Lane, with its wide variety of trees and hedges. The cross-field track from the car park down to the lakes and the river with its exceptional hedgerows and creaking willows popular with the local hedge birds.

Open vistas round the Burton Meadows loop - braving the winds on some days, welcoming the relief from the heat on others, with a fine view of Shelford and its church and another Site of Interest to Nature Conservation on the unspoiled river edges and typical riverbank flowers. One of the many permissive paths. The full monty - the big hike from Stoke Bardolph Lock along the river edge all the way to Gunthorpe Lock, and beyond, if you want to go further. Others may describe this walk as from the Ferry Boat Inn (Stoke Bardolph) via the Lord Nelson (Burton Joyce) to the Anchor or Unicorn (Gunthorpe).