Hello, I'm joining with Five on Friday for a walk on the last day of the school summer holidays in England. It was a few weeks ago now that we set off for a family walk at Hubbard's Hills, described as an area of Natural Beauty, in Louth. It was a lovely warm sunny day and a short walk was just ideal.
The paths follow along the river Lud with a mix of leafy woodland and open green land. On one side of the river you have a choice of paths, up this steep bank to follow the edge of the golf course or along the river itself. Low down you are free to cross the water on some stepping stones or bridges. The other side of the river is a wide open grass area, which as the weather was so nice and warm, people were enjoying picnics and family games.
Thousands visit this 32 acre site every year. The trust was set up to purchase Hubbard's Hills with the gift of money left in the will of Auguste Alphonse Pahud in the early 20th century. For an aerial view of the land see here. The steep hills are the result of glaciation, for more information see here.
A memorial for Annie, beloved wife of Auguste Pahud. There is much information on-line if you're interested but briefly, Swiss teacher Auguste came to England to teach German and French at the grammar school in Louth. He met and married a local girl called Annie who came from wealthy farming parents. After her death, he was devastated and sadly committed suicide. He did however leave money in his will which the trustees have purchased and gifted Hubbard's Hills to the people of Louth.
I'll leave you with a few more photos of what we saw on our walk, it really is a beautiful place. I've left off the photo of children sliding down the muddy bank. A pathway has been eroded into the hill which is wet and very muddy. There are signs up asking for parents to prevent this but... some children were covered from head to toe in mud and though they could wash themselves off in the river before their return journey home, environmentalists of course do not share their humour.
It's such a shame, as obviously the environment needs protecting for future visitors and habitat etc and of course it's great to see kids having 'screen free time'. Anyway, it's probably best left for others in official places to think more on 'how to protect' areas of natural beauty as clearly signs alone are not working.
For more info including the geology of Hubbard's Hills see here.
Thank you for reading, do leave a comment I'd love to hear from you. Thank you to all the new follows that have been reading my blog, you are very welcome. Cx
It looks beautiful, what a great find, the river is gorgeous. I'm definitely in the kids-having-screen-free time camp, it's a rare thing these days, and is always great to see them enjoying the great outdoors like we used to. My own kids are screen-addicts, and groan (to put it mildly) when I suggest/insist upon a walk, but in the end they always enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend,
Jillxo
My teens are totally lost without their screens. The phone, Xbox, laptop and tablet but surprisingly not the TV, though if we get a decent film or plan a trip to the cinema then they're interested. The memes are a great annoyance to me, it seems whatever you say is a meme. By the time you've cottoned on to what they're on about, it's so last year. Thanks for commenting. Cx
DeleteHubbard's Hill looks like an ideal place for taking a walk or having a picnic with the family. I do enjoy these local beauty spots especially if there are paths that follow a stream or river. The story about Auguste Pahud's life is sad, but it's good that he left money in his will and now others can enjoy this green space. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment which is much appreciated. Wishing you a relaxing weekend.
ReplyDeleteA lovely place indeed, thank you for leaving a comment. Cx
DeleteWhat a lovely place. How sad that Auguste Pahud committed suicide but it's nice to see that so many people can visit and enjoy Hubbard's Hills.
ReplyDeleteLouth itself has quite detailed history with Tennyson and the Meridian line which passes through it. http://www.thegreenwichmeridian.org/tgm/location.php?i_latitude=53.365841
DeleteHubbard's Hills itself, apart from the history, has the benefit of being a nice beautiful place to go. Cx
The views are wonderful. What a great place to spend the day. I love all the greenery. A lot of natural beauty there.
ReplyDeletexx Beca
It's nice when you find somewhere you can enjoy. Cx
DeleteIt looks like a beautiful place to enjoy a walk. I am grateful that Lily is still at an age where she loves being outdoors and walking with me. Screen free time is so important for all of us. X
ReplyDeleteThe teens are happy to go out for a walk, but their conversation is based largely on what they fill their minds with eg Memes, quotes from youtube etc. Still fresh air, exercise and family time is still good and like all parents, you do your best. Have a good weekend and enjoy life with Lily. They do grow up so quick. Teen 1 is 17 years old and teen 2 is 15 years old tomorrow. Cx
DeleteIt was a joy to see your beautiful photos and a lovely reminder of past days out, we have visited this area many times.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it's bought back lovely memories for you. Have you been to the other walk post I did too - At The Haven Saltfleet? That is another nice place to visit in all weathers, summer or winter. A walk, picnic or kite flying. Have a good week, Cx
DeleteIt is so lovely to run into someone from Lincolnshire :D I'm in South Australia, but four generations ago, my family took the trip halfway around the world to get here - from Lincolnshire. So it is lovely to see photos from a place I have a connection to, but have never been.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos of a lovely park. Yes, I agree with the difficulties of balancing experiences with environmental concerns. In my post for Five on Friday, I mentioned a beach at Daly Head. What I didn't mention is that one of the reasons I wanted to go there was to see the sand dunes and maybe roll down one and give the kids the same experience. But as expected, when we got there, there were signs banning anyone from playing on the sandhills at the risk of destabilising them...and it ruined it for me as I couldn't play because my conscience wouldn't let me. I know the reason for it, totally understand it, but there was much pouting. I had the kids digging holes in the beach instead :D
Thank you so much for sharing your photos. It is wonderful to see from the other side of the world.
Best wishes,
Liz
Thank you for your comment Liz, it's definitely a tricky one. I remember taking a friend and her son to a local conservation area, it was a special event put on for kids to take casts of sea creature's prints in sandy mud. Afterwards the boy had a run around in the low level scrub land eg heather etc. The man, who was nice, shouted out to stop! There were young birds, nests and eggs on the ground. I felt awful and they've not been back since. I suppose conservationists and environmentalists have protected habitats and wildlife from either development or neglect and people can use the area but with conditions.
DeleteAnyway I'm glad you enjoyed 'the walk'. Don't know if you saw the other walk at the Haven - https://hooksandneedles68.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/five-on-friday-family-walk.html
Have a good week, Cathy x
Lovely pics and what an interesting story.thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting Lee, glad you enjoyed it. Have a good week, Cathy x
DeleteWe pop over to Louth every now and then but we've never been to this part. It looks wonderful and I love hearing about the family history connections to a place.
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting, glad you enjoyed having a look at new places, Cx
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