Walking along the towpath (shown left) opposite the National Indoor Arena (NIA) yesterday, I spotted a large bird in the near distance perched on the edge – a heron. A rare sight mingling with people and built up areas…..

I ran into the pair today at bridge 68 in Stratford-on-Avon. They had been forced into taking an inside line around the acute bend leading North to the bridge by an oncoming boat and got stuck. It took some fixing, but onlookers helped.

I encountered two friendly Canadian visitors at Gloucester Docks in June – amazing who you might walk past on the canals if you don’t say hello!

While I was photographing part of the the Kennet and Avon in June this year, I met a family from England and Australia who were having a reunion after 29 years.

I was glad I decided to take a chance on the weather and head off to Droitwich early. The next day was forecast as showery (didn’t happen) and the day after as sunny and dry. As I write this the forecast for the day after is now cloudy! So that’s why I’m happy – I [...]

If you weren’t included in my Photos by Canal/Oxford/FennyComptonToCropredy page, maybe you appear here…..

A mixed day of weather with some warm sun and equally some dull periods with gusting winds – fairly typical of the week so far – greeted me when stepping out from my local apartment to see what was going on in the vicinity (Brindley Place, Birmingham). (Click on image for larger view.) First boat [...]

It was another lovely sunny day in May when I drove from central Birmingham to Radford Semele, 3 mile East of Royal Leamington Spa. I had not been to the local locks before but had high hopes of serene rural scenes – and I was not disappointed [...]

It was clear blue skies that looked down on me as I alighted from the train from Birmingham at Wilmcote station. Wilmcote is where Mary Arden’s house (she was William Shakespeare’s mother of course) is located and a must trip out for tourists staying at Stratford. The Stratford canal at bridge 60 is just 50 [...]

Barry and Pauline and their dog Monty live on their narrowboat Copperkins in the Machine Arm off the BCN at Smethwick NW Birmingham. They are retired and can go crusing whenever they want to. The weather today is hot and sunny, so off they set without any definite plans of where to head for, but they [...]