Butterfly World


Butterfly World is an attraction in Preston Park, home to butterflies, meerkats and other animals. Butterflies were flying everywhere as soon as we walked in, with flashes of the most beautiful vibrant colours.

The first butterflies to capture my attention were the Blue Morphos, which could be seen from the second we walked in. They were darting about all over the place, showing off their beautiful blue colours until I got my camera out, and they would land and turn their wings to their intricate camouflage pattern.

Although there are strict rules not to attempt to touch or capture the butterflies, if you are very still, they sometimes land on you for a brief moment. We explored carefully, watching each step to make sure we weren’t about to crush any of the beautiful insects.

There are over 80 different species of butterfly flying freely at Butterfly World. It is also home to a few other creatures; I loved watching the meerkats and the ants that were hard at work. Butterfly World is open between 10am-4:30pm daily, costing £4.25 for adults and £3.75 for children.




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Punting in Oxford


The one thing I’d decided we had to do before leaving Oxford was go punting. We arrived early at Cherwell Boathouse and booked a punt for an hour which was £20, although you do have to leave a deposit of £100.

We didn’t need to wear life jackets, and so, after collecting our punt and an oar (for me to use if we got stuck!), we climbed into the boat and off we went.

 

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Oxford


We visited Oxford at the beginning of August. It’s somewhere that’s been on my list of places to see for quite a while. With the sun beaming, we walked into the centre of Oxford to see all the tourist spots first before they got too busy – starting with the Bridge of Sighs.


Bridge of Sighs

Also known as Hertford Bridge, the Bridge of Sighs is referred to as such because of its supposed similarity to the famous Bridge of Sighs in Venice. Even as early as we were, the area around the Bridge was very busy with tourists and students, but I still managed to get a photo underneath it. There are several walking tours around Oxford which you can pay to join and learn about the history of the city. 


Radcliffe Camera

The Radcliffe Camera is the earliest example of a circular library in England, built between 1737-49, and is one of Oxford’s most recognisable landmarks. The Camera is one of the things I most wanted to see in Oxford (not just because of its blue roof!) Unfortunately, the library isn’t open to the public, but you still get to admire it from the outside. We also looked around St. Mary’s Church, which can be found opposite the Camera.


Bodleian Library

The Bodleian is the second largest library in the UK, with over 12 million books and other items. It is also one of the oldest libraries in Europe, dating back to 1602. There are different tours around the library, but we just paid to go into the Divinity School because there wasn’t a time slot convenient for us to go into the Bodleian, so I’ll definitely be doing that when we come back. The picture below is of the ceiling’s amazing architecture.


Oxford Colleges

The University of Oxford has 39 colleges, so obviously, we didn’t look round them all! Three of the ones that we did visit were Christ Church, Pembroke and Magdalen College. Christ Church has 175 acres of land, including Christ Church Meadow, which is open to the public and is where we spotted a couple of deer as we walked round in the evening.


Botanic Gardens

The botanic garden is the oldest in the UK and one of the oldest scientific gardens in the world. Founded in 1621 on the banks of the River Cherwell, the gardens now contain over 5000 different plant species.

Punting

The one thing I’d decided we had to do before leaving Oxford was to go punting. There are a couple of places to go punting on the River Cherwell, and I’ve written about our trip in another post.





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Waddesdon Manor


Waddesdon Manor is a country house in the village of Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire. It is a grade I listed building and was built between 1874 and 1889. The house and grounds were left to the National Trust in 1957 by the owners, the Rothschild family.

When we arrived, we decided to take the shuttle bus to the manor. The buses run every 15 minutes otherwise it’s a 25-minute walk from the carpark. The grounds are lovely to walk round and include an 18th-century fountain and a cast-iron aviary which was restored in 2003 and houses endangered species of birds.



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A Walk up Roseberry


You’ll find Roseberry Topping between Great Ayton and Newton under Roseberry in North Yorkshire. Towering 1049 feet over the beautiful Cleveland landscape, the summit rewards climbers with stunning views, and on a clear day, you can see for miles.


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