Karen Wright: Enjoying the Autumn leaves and local gems

The first day we had an afternoon visit to Newmillerdam, our local beauty spot. It was spectacular with all the trees in leaf still and the colours were so Autumnal against a clear blue sky. The kids were keen to get up in the woods and off the main path and I had no option but to climb up there with them. It was great to be feeling fit enough to do that without all the puffing and blowing that would have been the case a few months ago before my healthy lifestyle changes.

The next day I suggested that we visit Nostel Priory, it has been a few years since I visited and a first for the kids. Again, the weather was beautiful, and we spent most of the day enjoying everything. Firstly, we sat in the courtyard for a drink and a snack before going into the house. We were all captivated by the huge adult sized dolls house that is a couple of hundred years old. After looking at that for a while we did the tour of the house. As it was Halloween week there were pumpkins hidden around and about, there were 15 in total and the kids scurried around hunting for them while their Mum and I took in the splendour of our surroundings.

After the house we went into the gardens. Again, there were Halloween challenges to have a go at, including guessing the weight of a gigantic pumpkin, I couldn't resist a photo of me standing in front of the blackboard with the information on. The adventure playground was a real hit, especially the zipwire where both children excelled.

We finished off with a walk down to the lake and the children ran around burning off the last of their energy reserves. It just goes to show that we have real gems all around us in the Wakefield district and you don’t need to go far afield to have a grand day out.

I am still enjoying my new lifestyle and finding tweaks and recipes to help me to stay excited and I am certainly starting to reap the benefits of the changes that I made way back in July!