Saturday, 22 November 2014

Canal boats and sweets

white bear In  a small town, past a white bear and through some iron gates decorated with bunting is a whole new world. A community of folk and boat with floating fudge and open hatches selling Pomfret cakes, barley sugar and tart pear drops. Middlewich painting bunting on a gate blue canal boat
curious canal boat fudge boat sweet boat ice cream boat A place of peace and camaraderie.  Waist coated men tend to flowers afloat in colourful pots and tubs, beside caged birds and dogs that sleep with one eye open for passers by. Roses, swirls, harlequins - a colourful life with many tales to be told.canal lock Middlewich Lock 74 Tough work, many locks to work through on the Trent & Mersey canal. A sleepy town with a big heart. Today was the floating market. I hear the Saturday was busier with a cheese and a home brew boat but today was quiet so we walked on along the canal. Past the dry dock and numerous overflow sluices with water gushing - quite scary really and I wouldn't like to totter past one after a visit to the many pubs with gardens that stretch towards this waterway.Middlewich Locks Trent and Mersey Canal Middlewich canal side sweets Middlewich dry dock  canal notice Following pathways to summer folk festivals and little gardens with gates to peer through. Quieter in the autumn but people hard at work, repairing boats, building new ones - some brave novices attracting attention as they chug along at an angle. A well seasoned boat owner laughs from the side, watch out for the sandbank and covers his eyes. autumn by lock 72 fixing canal boats canal shop Views through bridges lead to more bridges and pubs! Past hissing swans we quickly ran and past the man working on his boat with noisy tools that made LB hide his face in my coat. canal bridges autumn path rushing water under the bridge green shed Many signs tell us of the history of the canal and its local importance to our commodity - salt. Wich was used to denote salt production, hence why my local area has so many places ending in wich. Middlewich, Northwich, Nantwich....It's all about the salt in these parts of Cheshire.canal garden purple berry Such a pretty spot and with new treasures found like a summer tea garden and a shop selling plants, we will be looking out for events here next year. Perfect too for a winter walk in the coming months and if we have snow, we will be here straight away to look at the beauty of this community under a dazzling white blanket - I wonder if the canal will freeze this winter? autumn on the canal canal cafe

10 comments:

Sara (@mumturnedmom) said...

What a gorgeous walk, so much to see. Your photos are lovely and really capture the feel of the canal. #CountryKids

Louise George said...

Lovely photos of the canal and love your descriptions of everything happening on it. Sounds like it was a lovely walk and the floating market sounds great. Hubby and I used to love narrowboat holidays but haven't been on one since we had children - the photos brought back lots of happy memories though. #CountryKids

Redpeffer said...

What a fantastic place to explore-I do love canals.

Coombe Mill (Fiona) said...

What a beautiful place, I'm sure that it'll be a wonderful place to walk through as the seasons change, I can only imagine what the Spring will be like along the banks as well. It sounds like a wonderful place to spend an afternoon with LB. Thanks for linking up with Country Kids.

76 sunflowers said...

What an amazing looking area. I love the sound of the community feel and happiness, if only more 'neighbourhoods' were like this one! Pear drops as well? My favourite :)

Merlinda Little said...

When I came in here and saw this in canals and boat homes in Cbeebies I really wanted to see one! Thanks for this. The boats and the canals are pretty magical. I would want to live in one if I can =) #countrykids

Vi said...

Love the photos! Looks like you had a lovely time, it's almost like stepping back in time walking along the canals I think ;)

Emma Tustian said...

Beautiful photos. Canals are quite beautiful - we've not been along the one in town since canal day celebrations back in early October. Seeing your trip out has reminded me I promised N a canal path walk

Katie Bedlow said...

Oh my goodness, that was such a perfect little adventure, thank you for taking us with you! ;) I have always dreamed of having my own little river boat....mostly because of all the amazing crafty things I could buy for it, but it just looks like such a gentle way of life! Lovely photos as always x

Stacey Guilliatt said...

Oh wow, this looks like such a wonderful walk #countrykids

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