Old Mans Bridge Friday 30 December 2016

Much warmer last night but the temperature dropped and the mist came in early this morning. As we set off just after 10 it was quite misty but we were soon in bright sunshine, then you would go under a bridge and the next stretch would be mist again.
The reflection on Blake Mere we came to was quite stunning, far better than I could capture as we passed.

We saw an unusual bird, I think it was actually a Blackbird with lots of white feathers, the other Blackbirds seemed quite OK with it and didn’t bother it at all. While we are talking about birds, how do Buzzards manage to land and take off from the cross beams of power cable poles without electrocuting them selves, I would have thought their wing span would be great enough to touch both cables and there are two of them sat on this one.
We stopped for a while to see friends who live at Hampton Bank before pushing on to our mooring for the night.

Passing the Prees Branch from this direction the new piling being installed down the arm as far as the lift bridge is even more obvious. Here our timing was spot on and we arrived at the lift bridge just as the boat ahead had gone through and they kept it open for us.

 

Someone, I don’t know if its CRT contractors or local highway dept. have been chopping the young willow shoots on the offside, some they have collected up but lots have just been allowed to fall into the canal. Not only are there a pain to boaters but eventually they will find their way down to the lock bywashes, its not that far to Grindley Brook, here there are just a few well spaced stumps but in 50 yards there is a continuous hedge off them and if they let that lot fall in the cut there will be a right mess.

The afternoon light gave me a chance to catch this lovely reflection, it was at about 3 pm this after noon, just half an hour before we moored up for the night. It wasn’t planned but that mooring turned out to be just 50 yard from where we moored a week ago.

Today’s Journey  10½ miles, no locks in just over 3½ hours.