Monday 11 July 2016

Goats in the churchyard

When the morning's rain had died down enough we set off for Frankton Junction, about a mile away. After lunch we were admitted to the locks and quickly descended the staircase pair and the other two, then turned into the Weston Branch to the services. I was surprised that the boats below the locks weren't allowed up before a couple of boats went down. All the locks were empty - with a bottom paddle raised - before today's locking operations started.

The hoop in the wall in the above photo would have prevented tow ropes snagging.

We walked to Hordley to see if we could find any further remains of the Weston Branch. The OS map indicates a footpath along the line of the canal, but it seems to have disappeared. To the west of the road the old canal is discernible in the trees - just - but to the east it's a mere slight unevenness in the farmland.

At Hordley Church we were surprised to see two goats in the churchyard. They don't seem to have done much in the way of lawn mowing.

On our walk I saw these multicoloured flowers. Anyone know what they are?

As David hadn't been on the Montgomery Canal before, and as he is departing in the morning, we pressed on to Queen's Head where we had tea on board and walked to West Felton.

2 comments:

Herbie Neil said...

Without seeing the whole plant I can't be sure but it looks like comfrey to me. And are you sure they were goats? Looks more like a sheep in the picture, one that has recently been sheared.
Kath (nb Herbie)

Halfie said...

Thanks Kath. Er, yes, it does look remarkably like a sheep! I only wrote "goats" because that's what my brother called them. I blame him. I'm happy to go with comfrey ... unless anyone knows better ...