Following on from my post yesterday…  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that our accommodation in Cheddleton was within 50 yards of one pub (The Black Lion) and 150 yards from another (The Red Lion) and also very near to a working, narrow boat canal.  (This was after we’d booked it, I might add).

Blue skies were forecast for last Wednesday, so I opted out of some retail therapy and decided to go for a 5 mile walk along the tow path (and 5 miles back again).   Now, I’ve often thought of canals as quite boring places – being flat and, well, all very similar.  But I couldn’t have been more wrong…  Amongst the many interesting things that I saw, apart from some perfect autumn scenery, were a field full of (about 150) Canada Geese, probably refuelling before heading further south for the winter and a Kingfisher, which I was extremely pleased to photograph, albeit from 20 yards away, (see pic 13).

Not only that but I met a lovely couple, called Sue and Derek, who told me that they had sold their house to buy a boat, so that they could spend the rest of their days cruising the canal network.  That’s what I call adopting a more relaxing way of life!