By the Riverbank again

Another late summer's evening walk along the river bathed in glimmering shafts of light.
Leaving the locks behind, we all head up the path to see who and what we will meet.

Lots of dog walkers, pitter patter paws and crunchy gravel. One of our dogs, Milly once jumped in the river here but scared herself so hopefully she won't do it again.

The river passes  Sir John Deane's College which has it's own leisure centre, pool and outside courts etc. The floodlit pitches are always in use by the local footballers and the fields are packed at the weekend with rugby players too.

There are a few routes to take for your stroll or your bike ride. My town is brimming with nature reserves due to a lot of previously industrial/mining land that cannot be built on for residential use, so it has been developed for nature instead and it's thriving! Over time these nature areas have been linked together and much time and effort has been put together to provide beautiful areas for us to explore. A curiosity of this area is that we have plants from the seaside growing in parts due to the underlying bedrock and the previous industries remnants - it's all about salt!

The boat yard is a curiosity. People moor here too and it 's lovely to see groups of people having barbecues and sat on deckchairs enjoying the summer by the water. I wish we could join them.

It's almost like a scene from Lost!

To return home we can cut through a new housing estate where I used to live. It's a well established community now and a lot of thought went into the design of open space here. There are several duck ponds and plenty of play areas and all are well kept. Many of the original trees have been retained and wildlife is still aplenty. Some of the grander houses have a river outlook and onto the fields beyond. Perhaps I would like to move back onto here so Little Bird can play outside more since the roads are quieter. Maybe.....