Staunton Harold Reservoir

Just a hop over the Leicestershire border, between Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Melbourne, and you'll come across the lovely Calke Abbey; get lost while trying to find the car park and you'll come across the equally lovely Staunton Harold Reservoir.

This happened to myself and friends this weekend. Undeterred by our mistake and blinded by the glorious spring-time sunshine, we found a spot to park our car and took ourselves (and an indulgent picnic) to a beautiful spot overlooking the water.

There are plenty of places to park along the reservoir; we found an area at the end of Broadstone Lane, near the village of Ticknall. Just a short walk in one direction took us past the Staunton Harold Sailing Club and onto the busy, ice cream-selling visitor centre. If you have children they will love the play area and there's even a mini beach. If you're more of a bird watcher, you'll find cormorants, terns, gulls, buzzards and ducks-galore! The path runs through some woods and follows the waterline, but is paved and easy to walk, cycle, scoot... whatever your preferred method of transport. The actual dam isn't accessible to the public, which is a shame because the view over the water would have looked beautiful in the sunshine. But you can carry on along various footpaths around the reservoir. There is also another parking area to the south of the reservoir, which would give you a bit of a longer walk as well as supberb views looking north.