#blackpit lock

On a mid-May Saturday, we made our way up to Palace House Road to wend up pretty paths.  Even the racket emanating from an event in the park didn’t spoil our enjoyment of the resplendent floral display.  Golden poppies reflected the bright sun, bluebells drooped in the heat and dandelions were heavy with seeds.  Careful of our footing over the pesky old round beech nuts, we braved the tricky west…

Birthday Ellipse (Sustrans to Crow Nest)

Phil’s lockdown birthday started grey, but the sun made an appearance in time for a mid-afternoon outing.  Having come up with a short-list of possibilities, we dithered at the end of the street then opted for a visit to Crow Nest wood via a circuitous route.  At the traffic lights, we exchanged cheery greetings with a friend walking her dog and crossed to go through the busy memorial garden and…

Festooned (Canal and River)

In the post-Christmas bleakness, we wrapped up against the bitter cold to embark on a chilly walk along the canal.  The towpath busy, we stopped often for lumps of people to pass.   That would teach us for having an unoriginal idea!   Mind you, with a plethora of strange sights to peruse, we didn’t begrudge the delays.  A bizarre collection of carnival animals stood outside the Hebble End…

Confined walks 4 – Canalside

Early May, we struggled to leave the house before later afternoon.  Thus we did not get further than the canal.

At the start of the week, Phil cast about for an excuse to go out.  With no shop requirements, he suggested going to look for goslings, snapped by a fellow photographer on the marina.  Hoping they’d still be there we set off late Wednesday afternoon. We waited for a neighbour coming up…

Breaking the confines of the town centre, we took two small walks on successive sunny Wednesdays, in and around Crow Nest.  On the first of these, we set off quite a bit later than planned, due to mislaid keys.  Ambling down quiet streets to the main road, we waited to cross at the zebra.  An impatient driver beeped us; obviously frustrated at having to slow down from 100 mph on the clear…

New Road through Erringden

The last Sunday of June, we ascended Palace House Road planning to go straight up to Crow Nest wood.

Initially taking our usual path upwards, we made frequent stops to admire foxgloves in various shades of pink, purple and white and tried to capture bees on camera as they foraged for nectar.  Halfway up, I noticed a footpath leading off from the right with a sign pointing up to ‘Bar Cliff’ and…