Along the canal

I always find plenty of things to interest me on a waterside walk. I feel fortunate to live close to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal so that I can access it as often as I want. The scene above, where the changeline bridge crosses at Dowley Gap, is in my opinion one of the more attractive stretches of the local canal. That boat has been moored there for so long that it is now almost completely hemmed in by arrowhead weeds.

There was a widebeam boat negotiating the locks at Dowley Gap. It was in the lower of the two locks, waiting for the water level to fall so it could progress on to Saltaire. That meant I could get a 'bird's eye view' from the walkway across the middle of the locks. There were several boats on the move. The drought has caused restrictions along the canal with many locks closed. It seemed that the Five and Three Rise locks in Bingley had been briefly opened to traffic that morning, letting quite a queue of boats through. 

It was near here that I'd seen a kingfisher in the spring, but the foliage has grown so much now that I couldn't see any perches where one might sit. I did, however, see quite a nice painting of one on the side of a boat! 

The bridge above is the one beside The Fisherman's pub, heading towards Bingley. There are moorings here and usually quite a few boats to be seen. 

I very much enjoyed the lyrical curves of a porthole and the marks where a muddy rope had hit the side of this dark blue boat. There's beauty everywhere if you look for it.