By Christy Lau
There are quite a few good country parks in Leicestershire, and Bradgate Park would definitely be the easiest one to access from the city centre area.
It is about a 30-minute drive away from Bede Hall, where I am living while on a study exchange at De Montfort University. It would have been nice to go there by car and park in the car park outside. Unfortunately, I don’t have my own car but public transport was not a good choice to get me there, so I just requested a taxi. It cost me around £16-17 for a single trip. I think the price was acceptable for the distance between Bede Hall and Bradgate Park.
Bradgate Park was brilliant for a day trip. The 830-acre park is a ‘historical site’ in which nature is well mixed with historical landmarks. When it comes to nature, wildlife is one of the most important elements, and the park can overfulfil expectations for animal lovers.
It is known as the only remaining Medieval deer park in Leicestershire. Three quarters are Fallow deer with the remainder being Red deer, who together have formed the famous deer herd with 550 animals in total.
Nature has also left the park with unique geological features and plantings, including a craggy landscape, irregular rocks, the shortest river in Leicestershire and 500-year-old oak trees.
I arrived at the Newtown Linford Entrance at noon and spent around three hours there.
Starting from the entrance, the first attraction that I saw was the River Lin together with the Little Matlock. Ducks were swimming relaxingly in the water, and I met a deer after a period on the slope opposite me.
Finishing greetings with the animals, I continued my trip on the comfy concrete road. The main road was surrounded with vast grassland and exotic trees with golden leaves on both sides. Without any planning, while I kept going straight, I found one of the historical buildings, Bradgate House.
The broken walls and ceilings showed the age of the house. Red bricks plus the architectural style giving a smell of the old time. Always paying attention to the surroundings, I found that deer might be just around the corner! Many of them were eating and baby deer were playing next to me when I was on my way to the Old John Tower.
It was quite a long way to go, and the way to the tower was mostly rugged. I needed to walk on wet mud topped with grass too. The building was not a special one, but it was worth a walk on the hillside as the scenery there was perfect. I rounded up my day off on the dramatic return route, there was always so much more to explore in nature.
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