Thursday 20 September 2012

Moors Valley Country Park and Moors Lake



Yesterday Mom and I visited Moors Valley Country Park and Walked around Moors Lake, it is a much more commercial park that the others we visit but because of its large size its easy to escape the crowd especially at this time of year after the tourists have gone home, we purchased a "quiet times" permit which means we can visit any time during the week except when the kids are off school and we would not visit then anyway.

The Moors Valley Country Park is a 1000 acre Park and woodland with miles of trails and opportunities to see wildlife, it was formerly known as Kings Farm.

The 82 acre Kings Farm was purchased by East Dorset District Council in 1984. Work began to develop a 9-hole pay and play golf course, the narrow-gauge steam railway, play area, lake and Visitor Centre. This first phase of Moors Valley was officially opened in 1988.

The park was much more popular than had originally been envisaged and was bursting at the seams with the half a million visitors by 1990. An additional 170 acres were purchased to allow for expansion of the golf course and a second lake to be built, the Visitor Centre was extended to make way for a Country Shop and new toilets. At the same time the Tree Top Trail and Play Trail were constructed in the forest. Over the following ten years the parks popularity grew still further with approximately 750,000 visitors each year, making it one of the most popular parks in the south of England.

The Forestry Commission and East Dorset District Council are continually looking for ways to improve Moors Valley to ensure it stays as one of the best countryside recreation facilities in the country. In recent years a new toddlers play area, cycle hire centre, high ropes course and orienteering course have been added and there is a rolling programme to improve and replace structures on the play trail.

The Moors Lake was dug in 1985, primarily to help control flooding along the lower reaches of the Moors River south of the Country Park. The northern end of the lake was de-silted in the autumn of 2003. It is fed by the Moors River, has a maximum depth of 2 metres, a natural clay bottom and covers an area of 9 acres.

Here is a slide show of some of the many shots I took yesterday I hope you enjoy them, have a great day;)




Music?


Prior to 1969 I was a dedicated "Tamla Motown" fan, but in May of that year a belated birthday gift changed all that forever!

The gift an album ( yes we are back in the days of the black disc) from for me an obscure group that meant nothing to me.


The Album  Abraxas, the group Santana.


A small event you might say, So What?


The music sparked something in me like a light going on.


My love of music took a new turn nothing was out of bounds from the classics to classic rock and every genera in between.


But the Music of Carlos Santana has stuck with me over the years and seems as fresh and vibrant as the day in 1969 I put that black disc on the Danset Bermuda and musically never looked back.


I was reminded of this today as I worked out on the turbo trainer with Se a Cabo (now on the Santana Ultimate Collection) playing through my headset

Music a memory maker for me.

How about You?