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.

Rutland Water Cycling (bike hire and sales at Whitwell)
Rutland Sailing Club (Edith Weston)
Anglian Water Leisure - details of other facilities on Rutland Water
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.

 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.
Catmose Arts in Oakham has some things on.
The Regal in Melton Mowbray is the closest cinema.
UppTheArts hosts evetns in Uppingham
A series of classical concerts are held in Lyddington

..more stuff to come on this page when I have some more time, perhaps including places to eat or sample beer.!