Today, I decided to start off with the town of Dudley. I visited the
Pierpont Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary first. The parking area is on Marsh Road close to its intersection with Dudley Oxford Road. The route I took is highlighted in pink below.
Walking from the parking lot, I reached the junction with Meadow Loop and turned into it.
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| View of the meadow |
Walking along Meadow Loop, I then turned left into the Link Trail, which leads to the Woodland Loop.
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| Walking in the woods |
I turned into the George Marsh Trail when I came to it. The pond viewing area has a rock to stand on with a view of the Pierpont Meadow Pond, although it is pretty much marshland here.
On the way back, I happened upon a few trees that had their bases pretty much chewed out or something. I believe it is the work of beavers.
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| Beaver chewed tree trunk |
Back onto the Woodland Loop, I turned left onto the main path to head toward the rental cabin area. The view of Pierpont Meadow Pond from here is much better.
I then followed the main trail back out to my car. Along the way, I spotted a boxelder bug.
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| Boxelder Bug |
Done with my morning walk, I explored several other places in Dudley, including the town hall at 71 West Main Street, Merino Pond along Sawmill Road, the
Do-Right Flea Market, and
Nichols College.
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| Merino Pond |
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| Do-Right Flea Market |
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| Dudley Town Hall |
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| Dudley War memorials |
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| First Congregational Church at Nichols College |
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| Nichols College |
The next town on the list was Charlton. I first went to the
Capen Hill Nature Sanctuary. Maps are provided at the Visitor Center, but there really isn't much to see here though.
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| Pond at Capen Hill Nature Sanctuary |
I then headed into downtown Charlton, where there are some historical buildings here at the town common on Main Street between Burlingame Road and Old Worcester Road.
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| Charlton Town Hall, 37 Main Street |
The Town Common
Done with Charlton, I headed to the town of Spencer. My first place of visit was the
Spencer State Forest. I decided not to do any trails, but parked at the parking lot on Howe Pond Road near the junction with Lyford Road. This is also the location of Howe Pond, the focus of my pictures in this place.
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| Howe Pond |
I next headed into downtown Spencer. There is a lot of nice architecture in this area.
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| Old fire station behind town hall |
Spencer Town Hall,
157 Main Street
The Bemis Memorial Park on West Main Street close to its junction with Podunk Pike was hard to find, being on a small knoll right next to the road. The views from here were pretty good though.
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| The Bemis Memorial |
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| View from the Bemis Memorial Park |
Another place worth going to for its serene views of the surroundings from the top of the hill it resides on is the
St. Joseph's Abbey.
Other places I visited in Spencer were various ponds and lakes.
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Cranberry Meadow Pond,
Cranberry Meadow Road between
Jolicoeur Avenue and Briarcliff Lane |
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Brooks Pond,
Brooks Pond Road between
Washburn Drive and Oakham Road |
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Thompson Pond,
Thompson Pond Road between
Westland Drive and Oak Lane |
Done with Spencer, I decided to head home, but while passing through Worcester, I saw several interesting buildings, including some abandoned churches, and decided to take pictures along the way. Pictures follow.
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Old Notre Dame des Canadiens Church,
5 Salem Square |
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| Sculpture outside the YWCA |
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Leprechaun Hat
outside Emerald Isle Restaurant,
49 Millbury Street |
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| Downtown Worcester |
I saw a nice building on top of a hill and decided to go check it out. It turned out to be the beautiful campus of the
College of the Holy Cross.
With that, I was done for today. Looking at the buildings of Worcester, I decided it was time to look at churches and schools/university campuses as well. More backtracking to do in the days to come.
I then followed the main trail back out to my car. Along the way, I spotted a boxelder bug.
The next town on the list was Charlton. I first went to the Capen Hill Nature Sanctuary. Maps are provided at the Visitor Center, but there really isn't much to see here though.
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