Blogtober 2022 : Day 13

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?  I did enjoy reading about what you were having for dinner yesterday, thank you, and there are a few suggestions if you are short of something to go on your menu this week 🙂 !  I thought that Jess’s idea of cooking with a friend whilst their children played together was a great idea too!

Tonight, we’ve had shepherd’s pie, although it should probably be called something like poultry keeper’s pie as we swapped our lamb and beef mince for turkey years ago.  I’ve made extra to go in the food flask for not so small daughter tomorrow (she sent me a text today telling me that she thought the flask was the best thing we’d ever bought as her soup was still warm at lunchtime) so we’ll see how that goes.

It was foggy this morning when the dog and I set out.  Where I wanted to walk is a short drive away and we were sitting at traffic lights when a motorcyclist came towards us, and then suddenly fell off his bike as it slipped sideways!  Oh goodness, it was lucky that the huge lorry in front of us hadn’t moved and the van behind the motorbike stopped – the rider picked himself up and ran across the road quickly; I’m assuming it must be a safety technique to get yourself out of the road as soon as you can because it’s better for your bike to be squashed than you.

I was about to get out of the car when I saw that there was a couple with some large dogs helping the rider so I didn’t need to.  Someone else picked up his bike, the lorry had stopped the traffic until it was all safe and when I drove past, the young man was sitting on the floor next to his bike, surrounded by people helping him.  I was sorry that he’d had the shock, but it made me happy to remember that despite the news headlines which make you think that there’s not much to be happy about, the world is full of good people who want to help others.

By the time we got to the place where I park the car, it was still foggy and I wondered what on earth I was going to talk to you about today – and then I remembered that my blog’s strapline is “Looking for the extraordinary in the everyday” and that’s what I would do.  (Putting my specs on helped 🙂 )

A misty footpath leading under a tree and alongside a brook.A footpath leading into the distance. It's misty and you can't see the end of the path. Trees and shrubs border the path on each side.

There’s something about walking along paths into the mist; eerie and exciting at the same time.  It was quite noisy too, a constant dripping sound as water dropped from the leaves.  There were a surprising number of people out walking and it was odd to see them on the path and then just disappear as the mist swallowed them up.

There were so many cobwebs this morning and they looked beautiful.  They were everywhere – they probably always are but you don’t notice them when they’re not outlined by drops of water.

A large cobweb in a dried flowerhead. It is outlined with droplets of water. A large cobweb in a dried flowerhead. It is outlined with droplets of water. A large cobweb in a dried flowerhead. It is outlined with droplets of water.

It was even misty in the woods, and that felt quite odd, as if the trees were somehow lower than usual but of course they weren’t.

A leafy wood, the colours subdued by mist.

Out of the woods, we made our way across a large expanse of grass.  There’s a pond behind those trees but you can’t see it today.

A green open space with trees in the distance, disappearing into mist.

Even the bandstand looked ghostly.

A bandstand half-hidden behind some trees in the mist

As we headed for home, we crossed the bridge where I’ve taken a few photos recently.  I like seeing the same view in different weathers – one of the photos from my first Blogtober post was taken here and it looks like a completely different place!

I had just got my camera out when the swans swam out from underneath the bridge.

A view across a misty canal. Two swans are swimming away from the bridge where the photo was taken.

It was so still and so quiet, and their reflections in the dark water looked lovely.

Two white swans on a misty canal. Behind them are trees in autumn colours

There’s another bridge at the other end of the footpath which we had just crossed when I noticed that more of the disused canal seemed to have been cleared.  A few years ago, there was awful flooding in this area and since then, there has been work done to clear the overgrown disused section of the canal that links to the bit that you can see the swans swimming in.  The plan is that if the brook ever floods again, then the water can flow into the old canal and it has somewhere to go that isn’t into people’s houses.

I hopped over the fence to take a closer look, having checked that it was safe to do so.

An old stone canal wall lying below the more recent footbridge. The land to the right of the wall used to be a canal but is now overgrown.

I’ve never noticed this part of the old canal bank before.  That wide stone section is part of the canal structure.  It’s lower than the section that I was standing on which I think might have once been the towpath and was probably built as an overflow for the canal.  On the right is where the water used to be and that’s where the flood water goes, and on the left is a brick slope and that goes down into another overflow channel – I had always wondered what that channel was for!

A brick slope which leads to an overflow channel underneath a modern bridge

It’s all full of leaves now because it’s not in regular use, but you can see the overflow channel at the back of the photo underneath the bridge.

And look what I saw when I turned around!

A large grey stone with the words "Bewsey Lock, October 2nd, 1865" inscribed on it

I’ve been walking this path for over 11 years now and I’ve never noticed that before!  That was what made me sure that this section of the canal had been recently cleared – I’m sure I’m not so unobservant that I would never have seen it.  Wow, it felt a bit like finding treasure, even though it’s there for everyone to see.

That properly made my morning, I can tell you!  🙂

 

I hope you’ve had a great day today and noticed something extraordinary too!

 

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20 Responses

  1. Glenys Riggs. says:

    Is that the Sankey or St. Helen’s canal??

    • winwickmum says:

      It’s the St Helens canal in Sankey Valley 🙂 xx

    • Joan says:

      What a lovely blog. Thanks Christine didn’t know about these so another thanks for the email!!
      When we lived on our Narrowboat these sort of mornings were the best, secretive and quietly revealing hidden beauties
      What a super shot of the old canal. Such history

      • winwickmum says:

        Oh yes, you would see all kinds of things from your boat that you never see from the towpath. I really felt like I had discovered something when I spotted the carved stone! 🙂 xx

  2. Simon says:

    I saw a Buzzard across the road flying below roof-top level, following the pavement before going behind an Oak tree.

    • winwickmum says:

      Wow, that would have been quite something! Buzzards are really big, aren’t they? We have a few around here and they always make me think of cowboy films with their call 🙂 xx

  3. Pat Bridger says:

    I’m so enjoying reading your daily blogs Christine, amd this one is really interesting as well as atmospheric. Thank,you.

  4. Rachel says:

    What a pretty walking path! Thank you for inviting us along on your everyday happenings!

  5. Barbara says:

    Fabulous post. Nothing like an eerie misty walk and your photos are extra special. There’s always something to talk about if you look carefully as you say. Glad that boy on his bike was ok. Must have given him a fright. B x

    • winwickmum says:

      I bet it did! I just kept thinking how lucky it was that the vehicles first in line around him were ones that couldn’t race off from the lights, it’s no wonder he ran for the pavement! xx

  6. Susan Rayner says:

    I love those misty mornings which so often then turn into lovely sunny days! I miss the dogwalking more at this time of year! And gorgeous shots of the swans – and the old canal!
    We have been using turkey mince for years too – and turkey chunks for what used to be Beef stew!

    • winwickmum says:

      I hadn’t thought about using turkey for beef stew – I do miss that and lamb hotpot from time to time but not enough to want to go back to eat it again. I’ll have to give the stew a go, thank you! 🙂 xx

  7. Jenny says:

    I truly enjoyed this walk with you this morning! Misty mornings are the best and you brought so much more through the musing and discoveries you found along the path. Thank you for this quiet experience this morning!

  8. Helen says:

    I do think most people are nicer than are credited with. Beautiful walk today.

  9. Karen says:

    I especially enjoyed the cobweb photos. As a little child I knew what spiders and their webs were. BUT, cobwebs were huge, and I never saw the “cobs”. I was very leary about cellars and attics where the “cobs” lived.

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