Tag: Croft Castle

The review of 2025

My yearly review of what happened to both Lenny and I, usually doing stuff together. Sometimes we undertook shenanigans and adventures separately as, apparently, we behave better when we are apart. Who knew, beagles getting together causes fun and games. Anyway, here goes.

JANUARY

The year started (and almost ended) with yours truly in the Cone of Shame. My ears were playing me up something rotten and it would take a long time to get to the bottom of the problem. We did manage to snooze an awful lot as well as have a lovely walk along toward Lady Halton from Bromfield.

FEBRUARY

We reacquainted ourselves with Ludlow in early February, followed by a trip to the Elan Valley and then topped it off with a stroll along Carding Mill Valley. In between times we snoozed and (allegedly) got under the feet of our staff. We were very lucky that the weather was kind to us in February and we enjoyed some days out and about, despite it being a bit chilly.

MARCH

As the days became longer we decided to do some adventures separately so Lenny went for wander around Wart Hill followed by a joint return visit to Carding Mill Valley. This time however we trekked along to a place called Light Spout Waterfall which was more of a trickle thanks to the lack of appreciable rain. The path was still slippery enough for some uneven footing on the part of the assistants.

APRIL

As the year stretched before us, we decided that our helpers should take us further afield so we followed our noses on a little excursion to Croft Castle which was fun. We snoozed as you would expect in between the bouts of shenanigans and exploration. Lenny decided to take his allocated human on a trip around Stokesay Wood, Sallow Coppice and back to the house. Both were somewhat tired once they reached home.

MAY

It was my birthday so I took Lenny along to Wirral Country Park to meet with Sasha and her mum. We had a great time of course. We followed that journey up with a trip to a warm and rather verdant Attingham Park near Shrewsbury. Again it was great to get out and scent somewhere. Sadly May was also a thoughtful month Curfew took her final stroll to meet all those who have passed before, over the Rainbow Bridge. There was so much sadness among the BeagleBugClub members, which was tinged with love for having known Curfew.

JUNE

Summer was here and the thermometer was rising. We slowed down, wandered about the garden, walked earlier in the morning and generally tried to be careful in the heat and humidity. Lenny did manage to get some hay bale leaping done though, in honour of Charley, Boot and Griff.

JULY

As June melted into July the temperature remained high, the walks continued to be early and snoozing was practised quite regularly. The assistants were kept busy making sure the vegetables and fruit in our garden were growing well enough to be enjoyed once they were ready. We did manage trips to Carding Mill Valley and Mortimer Forest near Ludlow. Not that Lenny looked like he enjoyed himself much.

AUGUST

The summer seemed endless. The temperature rarely dropped and the snoozing rarely stopped. Our days out were dictated by early morning shenanigans and wooded walks to avoid the heat of the midday sun. I did get a snazzy new cooling mat to keep my body temperature at a reasonable level. We also made it back to Attingham for an early morning stroll. Both Lenny and I had numerous visits to the v-e-t in August so we couldn’t really go out too often.

SEPTEMBER

The temperature cooled and the days started to shorten. Fruit and vegetables from the garden were being harvested and we started to have later walks during the day. Lenny strolled up the hill to Dinchope, I was trussed up in the Cone of Shame and we wandered around the town all the while thinking we live somewhere with nice scenery right on our doorstep.

OCTOBER

Chillier evenings were coming back into fashion, albeit with warm days allowing for us to continue our wanderings both near and far. The trees of Mortimer Forest held many scents, we managed a 10k circuit around one of the local hills and even a return trip to Carding Mill Valley. In between all of these adventures, I was at the vet more times than I care to remember.

NOVEMBER

As the clocks went back, the evenings started earlier and our log burner was lit more frequently. Lenny and I decided to surprise Sasha and her mum, who had arranged a meet-up with our friends Smudgey & Ted at Royden Park on The Wirral. The heavens opened for a few days and the field to the front of the house became the biggest duck pond. Attingham Park called to our senses once more and the mornings became misty and ethereal.

DECEMBER

The year was rounded off in some style. I was allowed out of the Cone of Shame as my ears were beginning to feel better after numerous visits to my second home, aka the vet. I must say that the vets are very nice, even though I appear to complain about them. We went for a walk up to the gliding station on top of the Long Mynd, on the recommendation of our friend Griff that we would be able to see all the way into Wales. Sadly it was so foggy that we hardly saw the paw in front of our noses. Christmas Day saw us on to of the Long Mynd via Carding Mill Valley. for the second year running it was a lovely day although somewhat breezy. We finished December with a trip to Erddig National Trust near Wrexham with five of our friends for company. It was a lovely walk, just right to round off the year.

What does 2026 hold? Don’t ask me. Lenny and I have had an excellent year, met up with so many friends, travelled quite widely and explored more locally. Hopefully we will get out and about more often in 2026 albeit with the caveat that it’s not too strenuous for an older beagle like myself. I have to be careful not to overdo stuff now that I will be 16 in May. We have again lost far too many pals over the year so we remain mindful of our mortality. Our grief over their loss is tempered by contentment that they have been friends and we are honoured to know them.

Whatever 2026 holds for you, please make sure you try to get out and about to enjoy yourselves. Be more beagle.

There is life beyond Ludlow

As we yawned and stretched this morning we had no idea of the impending shenanigans we were about to perform. It started like most other Friday mornings and we strolled around the house trying to wake ourselves up to face the day to come. Somewhat strangely we were allowed out into the garden without being shackled to a parental. Lenny and I took the opportunity to scent the grass, eat the gifts left to us by visiting rabbits and get huge eye rolling from our watching staff. We then had a small breakfast and found ourselves each being strapped to a parent. We never made it past the car despite our efforts at trying to reach the field in front of our house. Duly loaded into our travel crates, we were taken down the lane, right, left, along the road for a good distance and then right, left, bear right, turn right and parked.

We had arrived at what I can only describe as a stately home in somewhere called Herefordshire. This was south of our previous southern travels and we had even crossed the county borders and, what’s more, we didn’t need our passports. As we leapt from the car we looked up to see a kind lady coming toward us saying “Welcome to Croft Castle, is this your first visit?”.. Lenny and I told her it was but we were told to sshh by our respective parentals. We went through the big archway in the wall and off we wandered (read pulled, puffed and strained on our harnesses) finding ourselves quickly in a very pretty walled garden full of flowers that Lenny clearly decided needed to be watered.

Once we had explored the walled garden we strolled along to, I think, the main house where the posh people used to live. There was a lovely view away to the south of the house the grounds swept down to a big lake.

We started to walk toward the lake but there were far too many sheep snacks lying about and we were quickly turned around. This was to become a bit of a theme unfortunately. Back past the house and along a small footpath we went, turning left at the end and through the gate. We were going to follow a “green” route which was deemed flat and easy to walk around. This was going to be fun thought Lenny and I at the same time. As we strolled along the fruit trees were protected by barriers and we assumed this was due to deer eating the bark. This was not the case as we saw the cows loom into view and our respective leads got severely shortened. Now I am afraid to admit that I have “history” with our bovine pals so as soon as they started to walk toward the people in front of us, it was deemed too dangerous for me to be walked amongst them. I would point out that I had already started to whine and whimper in anticipation of meeting some ruminants. Again we were hastily turned around and followed another path, this time through an outdoor play and discovery area for children to learn about nature and the environment.

Far too soon we found ourselves back in the vicinity of the car and our ride home from a morning of fun. Having arrived home we were pleased to see that our second breakfast was provided.

Croft Castle looks like a good place to visit. There are many walks through woods, fields, around lakes and up or down hills. Off track walks are mixed with strolls along gravel paths, there is plenty to see and do so I think we will return soon. Whether we will be mixing it with the cows, that’s another question entirely. Dogs are allowed in the majority of the grounds and the cafe, apart from the bit where the parentals pay for things. The big house is also off limits for us dogs which is fine as there are plenty of outside sniffs to keep us amused.