Avon Dam

When we went to Shipley Bridge 2 weeks ago the rhododendrons along the riverside were not fully out.  We realised they would be a picture when in full flower, so we decided to go back to the same area today.

There were still many of the  rhododendrons flowers to come out, but they were nevertheless a picture.  They were either side of the river Avon and up the banks towards the moor.

There was more water flowing down the river than when we visited last time, making little waterfalls, but there was still plenty of stones that were not completely covered in water.

We walked along the side of the river and continued up into the moor to Avon Dam.  Instead of taking the path to the dam itself we cut across the moor and came to the reservoir.  Along the way we came to a baby foal and its mother.  The foal was very unsure on its feet and must have been very young.

We followed the path around the reservoir hoping to cross to the other side to walk back.  We were not able to do this before the edge of the reservoir so continued walking up the river Avon.  The ground started to become marshy and we could  not see any crossing over the river so eventually turned around and came back the same way.  Looking at the map later we realised we needed to continue up the river further, but we would have needed walking boots for that part of the path.  Over the other side of the river we would have had to go up and down a hill, but the walk we did only had a gentle slope.