The Vale of Belvoir

It's picture perfect and for the artist a patchwork quilt to sketch

The resplendent views of the Vale, as seen from Stathern edge

Maybe take a pen or pencil and pack some perfect parchment

And draw on natures bounty, from the airily placed escarpment

Savour the scene below, for you're one hundred metres higher

Note and name each sleepy village, under their church's spire

Rambling through shady woods, the sun will creep and dazzle

As you cross teasing undulations, on the way to Belvoir Castle

There flags will fly, upon its bogus ramparts, atop a hidden hill

And maybe you'll hear them jousting, as they fake another kill

Or take in the verdant landscape, when the days are summer long

For there's a copious heart to the Vale, that lies beyond West Wong...

Below Hickling Standard a canal meanders across to Brewer's Grave

Navigating through the crops and pasture, in a water parting swathe

Barges no longer pass, only quacking ducks and misanthropic swans

Watched by grazing sheep and transient dogs with lolling tongues....

So stay awhile, or even longer, or just wander an extra couple o' miles

To another county, over a babbling brook and sporadic wooden styles

There you can climb an enchanting hill, or walk to Woolsthorpe wharf

And return to the Vale of Belvoir, on the towpath, initially west by north