Wonderful Wild Flowers

Wonderful wild flowers

Could this possibly be the best time of the year to cruise? I think so, but ask me again in the summer or autumn. And why? Because wild flowers are at their best in late spring, and Bluebells are simply the best.

but just look up close at a dandelion, it’s surely a Chelsea gold medal

Even when they have gone to seed

And you can’t forget the forget me knots

Or the loveliest natural landscaping along the towpath when the flowers  come together with a bit of sunshine.

Sometimes the fresh spring smell outbeats any commercial laundry “enhancement”, but sometimes its more suited to the kitchen when you cruise through swathes of wild garlic. Of course I picked some to make wild garlic pesto, which was delicious with some fresh pasta.

I even came across a cultivated garlic, which didn’t smell until you rubbed the leaves

Not all bluebells are blue,

Not sure how you snuck in there

Daisy daisy give me your answer, do.

Another cultivar that was growing alongside the towpath

And I believe this very pink flower is red campion

One thing I love about the late spring flowers, is the quantity that they grow in. As we cruised past Marbury woods, (just before you get to Anderton) you get a tantalising glimpse of a blue carpet.

So while Eric was filling up at the water point, I walked back and strolled through the woods. My photos just don’t do the bluebells  justice.

But you dont always have to get off the boat to see fields of gold, even if this isn’t a wild flower meadow

I saw the buttercup meadows at the Anderton nature park

And the cowslips en masse

And what would be spring without the lovely lime green leaves on the oak trees

And the Hawthorn blossom that runs from white to pink

Of course I’ve barely scratched the surface with the just how many flowers we’ve seen. What some people call weeds, I count as blessings from heaven. And while its easy to marvel at the big magnificent things around us, there is so much beauty and wonder in the little all around us.

Spring Greens with a sprinkling of salt

Plan C is to travel south, aiming towards Rugby by mid summer. We might take a detour through some of the Birmingham canals that we’ve not yet cruised but we’re taking full advantage of our new found freedom to decide later.

First we were going to call in to Uplands Marina for an overnight stop. We had completely forgotten to include the side hatch window inserts in the repaint contract, and honestly who would want blue curtains on a green boat. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ As soon as we realised, Nick offered to do them whilst we cruised up to Lymm.

Sometimes blue and green make the perfect combo

Plus we still had some electricity left on the meter so we might as well charge up the batteries, especially as we still haven’t replaced the solar panels that were removed before our repaint. Not having our full solar capacity was most frustrating when we were enjoying a mini heatwave.

Enjoying the evening sun at Dutton

Leaving the lovely spring greens behind

Marbury woods, Northwich

we travelled through the 2000 year old salt mines and brine pits of Eastern Northwich, past the Victorian Lion Salt works, which is now a fascinating museum and well worth a visit.

The Lion Salt works museum

Through the modern day chemical processing plant currently run by Tata

From the ancient salt mines to the modern chemical works.

Onto Middlewich, where we moored against a perfect painting edge for Eric to touch up the blacking

Another opportunity not to be missed

Whist I kept a  eye on the wildlife

Or were they keeping an eye on me?

One of CRT’s new volunteers for checking boat licences
Wont be long now

Bluebells, Breaches and Bridgewater

Back in 2012 the Trent and Mersey suffered a significant breach in its structure at Dutton,  the T&M society have a very interesting summary with some dramatic photos.

the Dutton Breach, photo taken from the T&M society website

And whilst the plaque marking the spot is understated,

the consequences of the repair are some of the best moorings in the vicinity, with views over the Weaver valley and the impressive rail viaduct

Dutton Viaduct

And if you’re lucky a rainbow as well

looking over towards the Welsh hills

A few hours earlier the sun had been cracking the flags and we took the opportunity to walk up to the Bluebell Cottage nursery, a small family business, that also opens up the garden on Wednesdays to Saturdays in the summer.

A beautiful garden


And yes there is a beautiful bluebell wood

We’d booked our passage onto the Bridgewater canal from Monday so on we went.

Preston Brook Tunnel

The Bridgewater canal is owned by Peel Holdings, rather than managed by Canal and River Trust, so we had to doff our caps and book a week’s passage before we were allowed transit through the tunnel.

Preston Brook wharf,