Category: David

Aldersley Junction – view from the towpath of the Staffs & Worcs Canal to the bridge across the end of the Birmingham Canal. The last of the twenty-one locks can be seen through the arch.

Clump of snowdrops at Bantock Park, yards from the ones in the previous post, and pictured at the same time. The overnight rain seems to have cleaned these flowers.

Some of the early snowdrops in Bantock Park last month. Heavy rain overnight has splashed the flowers with mud.

Bantock House can be seen peeping over the bushes in the background.

The swansfavourite stretch of the river at Stratford on Avon is between the tramway bridge and the chain ferry. That is where there are the richest pickings of offerings from tourists.

On my occasional visits to the town, there always seems to be one pair of swans on this stretch which distinguish themselves by swimming up and down this short length with their wings curled high. It looks like they are using their wings as sails. Actually, I think, it’s a threat posture – it makes the bodies look larger.

It seems always to be the same pair, a pen and a cob. Sometimes they swim apart from the other birds, separately or together; sometimes with the big group of swans which forms. Occasionally they even seem to be with groups of the geese.

View towards the aqueduct which carries the Smestow Brook across the Staffs & Worcs Canal.

This is where the brook emerges into the open air. Previously it runs mainly through underground culverts, with a short open stretch in Fowlers Park. Most recently, its course was under Wolverhampton Racecourse, which is behind the hedge on the far bank of the canal.

View looking downriver and in the direction of the setting sun from the riverbank at Stratford on Avon.