One of our favourite family outings is a walk along the canal in Odiham – lovely, simple and peaceful. We pack a picnic and walk with our two-year-old daughter along the canal, looking for swans, ducks and fish in the water. She loves waving at passing canal boats and looking at the pretty flowers, and when they’re in season, we pick blackberries. If we walk one way we end up at ‘our’ picnic bench and if we walk the other, we arrive at King John’s Castle.

Once we have finished, we like to walk up into the village – a lovely place to mooch on a sunny day. My favourite places to stop into are Katherine Jane, a lovely gift and homewares shop and The Frame art gallery. We then finish up by sitting outside The Bell Inn and treating ourselves to a drink and a sandwich. If it’s a Sunday we might even stay for the traditional meat raffle!

Photo courtesy of AngusKirk on Flickr