Today I was back to wearing my favourite boots; on my previous walk I couldn't wear them because the laces were digging in to my right instep as soon as I put them on. After prising open a couple of the hooks on my right boot with a pair of scissors the laces aren't so tight now and the boots are just as comfortable as they've always been.
It's only twenty five minutes on the bus to Maltby, a good base for starting walks from. As soon as I got off I walked the few yards over to the Wetherspoon's pub, The Queen's Hotel, and ordered a large breakfast.
I started by walking along the High Street, buying a couple of Scotch eggs for later from one of the shops. The church is a few hundred yards further on; a good opportunity to take some photographs.
It was only a short walk across to the other side of a small valley to reach Hooton Levitt. The only shot of the village I've included is one that I took as I was leaving.
It was a pleasant walk, partially along the top of a ridge, to the hamlet of Carr. I needed to walk along the road for a while until I reached Slade Hooton. I was joined for part of the way by a local man out walking his two Alsatians. One of the dogs kept walking in zigzags, in fact it couldn't seem to be able to walk straight at all. I think it was quite unwell; he said that it had always walked like that since he found it as a stray...he described it as 'being like a typewriter.'
When I reached Slade Hooton there wasn't much to see. I specifically wanted to go there though because of its name; there are four 'Hootons' in this part of the county, Hooton Pagnell, Hooton Roberts, Hooton Levitt...and of course, Slade Hooton. I've now visited all of them.
The path to Brookhouse went right alongside the railway line for part of its length. I didn't see a train; I doubt that's unusual though since it's only a single track freight line that's now little used since the collieries closed.
The footpath from Brookhouse was near to the pub and almost leads right to the main church at Laughton en le Morthen. This church has been granted Grade I listed building status due to its outstanding architecture. I don't think it's anything special myself; I saw three other churches today which I thought were much prettier. The photograph's in black and white because it was cloudy, unlike most of the walk, which was undertaken in brilliant sunshine.
At the other end of the village there's another old church, St John's. I much preferred this building...and the overgrown churchyard.
The walk across the fields to Letwell is quite flat; it's three miles though and so takes some time. The approach to Letwell up a sunken lane is lovely and the first building I saw at the top of the hill was the church; a perfect location.
After visiting my fourth church of the day I walked through the village and took photographs of some of the more impressive properties.
I'd walked nearly nine miles by this point and was feeling a bit tired and so continued walking in an easterly direction until I reached Langold. I would have liked to have taken the longer route back to Maltby via Roche Abbey, but after Sunday's walk in the Peak District it was bit too much for me.
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