Why not post a message on the forum if you have found a gem that other Barnsdale visitors might like (or ask me to add it to this page)?
Rutland water
Watch out for the £3 car park charge, even if you only stay 15 minutes. A car park ticket is valid all day in all the car parks though. Barnsdale is right on the water's edge, so you can walk/cycle straight from your room.
Rutland Water Cycling (bike hire and sales at Whitwell)
Rutland Sailing Club (Edith Weston)
Anglian Water Leisure - boat hire, wind-surfing and more
Nature Reserve information - see the Ospreys.
Rutland water car parks:
Whitwell: there is sailing & windsurfing here, a big bike shop for buying or hiring bikes, and a climbing wall, and you can catch the Rutland Belle (a pleasure boat) across to Normaton - where you could have a cream tea the Normaton Park Hotel overlooking the water before walking home again.
Sykes Lane, Empingham: From here you can walk across the dam, see the Butterfly farm, play in a good children's playground, buy ice creams in a small cafe, and visit Tourist Information
More Local links:
Rutnet - lots of local information here
The official Rutland Tourist Information site
Children
For children up to maybe 12-ish Twin Lakes near Melton Mowbrayis a good day out. If it's wet, they have a very large indoor soft play area, and a small 'ice' rink.
Let's Play in Bourne is another soft play place - cheaper to gt into if it's too wet for the outdoor bits at Twin Lakes!
Other attractions:
The Nene Valley Railway is about 40 minutes drive, as is the Great Central Railway. There's a short length of track at the Rutland Railway Museum
The Buckminster Gliding Club is half an hour's drive.
For grand country homes, there is Burghley house, and Belvoir Castle, a bit further away. Lyddington Bede house is close, between Uppingham and Corby, owned by English Heritage.
The Barnsdale Gardens are very close - walking distance in fact.
Walking/outdoors
Burrough Hill country Park is an iron age hill fort, maybe 20 mins drive, with good views. It can be very windy!
Public footpaths. In the UK we're lucky enough to be able to walk about the countryside along a network of public footpaths. You can find those in Rutland by following this link. It only covers Rutland, so all paths mysteriously disappear at the county boundary! Or go to http://www.streetmap.co.uk which uses the 1:50,000 OS maps which show footpaths as dotted pink lines. Incidentally, you can buy your own OS map, centred on Barnsdale (or anywhere else) from Ordnance Survey - great if you live on the corner of 3 maps.
Foxton Locks - watch the narrow boats travel through the flight of locks here
Wakerley Woods - if trees are your thing, you can walk round the woods at Wakerly, just south of Rutland Water.
For th equestrian minded, Somerby stables are perhaps 20 minutes away.
Entertainment
Stamford Arts Centre is close, and has music, films and more.
Catmose Arts in Oakham has some things on.
The Regal in Melton Mowbray is the closest cinema.
UppTheArtshosts events in Uppingham
A series of classical concerts are held in Lyddington
There are also events in the museum in Oakham:Live@themuseum .
Further afield, Leicester has several cinemas, including the Phoenix, an 'arts' cinema', and the Curve Theatre. Peterborough is a silimar distance.
Food & Drink:
Apart from Barnsdale Hotel, Barnsdale Lodge over the road does good food. If you are circumnavigating Rutland Water, the Horse & Jockey in Manton is on the path, and well worth a visit. The Finch's arms on the peninsula is good but can get busy on a nice day.
Pubs with gardens.
There are strangely few pubs I've found with nice gardens where you can sit with a pint and a meal. Exton is a lovely village, with a pub with a homely garden too. You can also walk on footpaths from Exton too. The Plough in Braunston has a bit of a garden. Let me know where else you've come across.
Oakham
My personal favourite pubs are the Grainstore (the brewery, next to the station) and the Wheatsheaf. Angel's Cafe on the corner of the High Street & Burley Road is friendly, and excellent for reasonably priced meals, or teas & coffees.
..more stuff to come on this page when I have some more time, perhaps including places to eat or sample beer.!