Say 'beaver'. The name is derived from Norman-French meaning 'nice view' but, apparently, the Anglo-Saxon peasants couldn't pronounce it.

Belvoir Castle has been the home to the Dukes of Rutland’s family since 1067 and home to the Manners family for more than five centuries.  The present castle, built in the early 19th century, is the fourth to stand on the site. High on a hill, it commands magnificent views over the counties of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire and is considered one of England’s finest Regency houses.  The house is packed with artwork, period furniture, tapestries and other treasures. And you may hear tales of witches and seiges.

The Belvoir Estate of almost 15,000 acres includes formal gardens and woodland, as well as a retail village, the Engine Yard, in restored Victorian buildings.  Belvoir has also featured in several film and TV productions, including the Netflix series ‘The Crown’, as well as films such as ‘The Young Victoria’ and ‘Victoria & Abdul’ starring Judi Dench.

Image credit: Historic Houses

Burghley is a grand 16th century house and estate on the edge of the charming East Midlands town of Stamford. The house was built by Elizabeth I's chief advisor and Lord High Treasurer Sir William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, and is still lived in by his descendents. The house contains an extensive collection of artwork and painted murals, including Verrio's 'Hell Staircase' (seen in 'The Da Vinci Code') and the hall has a magnificent hammerbeam roof. There are extensive gardens, statues and a fine park. Burghley is also famous for its annual Burghley Horse Trials, held in the autumn (best avoid visiting then!).

The Cork Stone is one of a number of natural stone pillars on Derbyshire’s Stanton Moor. It is a well-known landmark, a piece of weathered sandstone that has stood for thousands of years, eroded into a mushroom shape resembling an enormous cork.  It is covered in graffiti dating from at least the 19th century and has step holes cut out of one side to facilitate climbing to the top.  Metal rods were added later, possibly in Victorian times according to a nearby information board.  There is a hollow bowl on top of the stone.

There is no postcode.  The address is for guidance only.  The Cork Stone will be found a short distance from a lay-by and information board on the east side of Birchover Road.

The Dambusters Memorial in Woodhall Spa commemorates members of 617 Squadron Royal Air Force who lost their lives in World War Two.

617 Squadron was formed at RAF Scampton in 1943, specifically for attacking dams in the Ruhr Valley using the ‘bouncing bomb’ designed by Barnes Wallis.  The Dams Raid, Operation Chastise, took place over the night of 16/17 May 1943 and was led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson (1918-44) flying modified Lancaster bombers. Two dams were breached, the Möhne and the Eder, at a cost of eight Lancasters, with fifty-three of the participating crew being killed and three becoming POWs.  The raid also killed an estimated 1600 German civilians and Russian POWs.

617 had a distinguished record after the Dams Raid, which included precision bombing based on targets being marked by low-level flying Mosquito aircraft.  From RAF Woodhall Spa, 617 Squadron began dropping the 12,000lb Tallboy and, later, 22,000lb Grand Slam bombs. The squadron also supported D-Day by the precision dropping of ‘window’ to spoof enemy radar. Between them, IX and 617 Squadrons, both employing Tallboys, sank the German pocket battleship Tirpitz.

The memorial at Woodhall Spa was erected in 1987 on the site of the former Royal Hydro Hotel and Winter Gardens which were destroyed in a Luftwaffe bombing raid in 1943. Shaped to depict a dam the memorial features a slate slab which represents water flooding through a breach, upon which the Squadron's crest and battle honours are engraved. It commemorates 204 aircrew of 617 Squadron who died in the Second World War.

A newer memorial to 617 Squadron in Royal Square commemorates members of the Squadron who have lost their lives in service since World War Two.

Après moi le déluge.

Exton in Rutland is one of those villages that could be described as ‘quintessentially English’.  It probably isn’t, because it is too picture-perfect, with a large number of chocolate-box cottages much loved by Instagrammers, an attractive tree-planted village green with a pub, the Fox and Hounds, and an interesting historic church dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, which dates from the 13th century.  Nearby is a large country estate, Exton Park, and Barnsdale Gardens, created by Geoff Hamilton of the BBC television series Gardeners' World.  Exton is also very handy for Rutland Water.

The village has an interesting history going back before the Norman Conquest, and is mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086, but the current buildings are mostly Victorian.