Cycling around the luxurious blue expanse of the Rutland Water reservoir, dashing past nature reserves, rolling farmland and thatched cottages, and choosing which cosy old coaching inn to visit for lunch, I can see why tiny Rutland has the motto “Multum in Parvo” – “much in little”.
Bordering Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Rutland has an area of just 382km2, making it England’s smallest historic county. But its 41,000 inhabitants know that good things come in small packages. The Sunday Times recently crowned Rutland one of the ‘Best Places To Live in Britain’, praising its “unsullied villages” as a refreshing contrast to the Cotswolds: Rutland shares the Cotswolds’ geology and gorgeous stone houses but, crucially, not its crowds or traffic. And it may well be one of the best British places to cycle, too.
Local cyclists here certainly enjoy Rutland’s own version of la dolce vita. With instant access to beautiful natural landscapes that stretch out beneath the expansive skies of the East Midlands, Rutlanders seem to have found the secret toand The Office for National Statistics rates it the “happiest county” on the UK mainland. With an annual rainfall of 681mm against the national average of 879mm, even the local climate of this landlocked county smiles on cyclists.
