On a sunny afternoon I took a 25 minute drive to Hillside Road, on the edge of Warrington. We've been here many times before - it's a lovely walk - reported on here.
I soon reached the footpath to the left of the entrance to Hillside Farm, pictured above.
Much of the grass has been cut, but some of the neighbouring field has been left as meadow, with an area of Ashy Sunflowers, and other peripheral species.
There were lots of sunflowers
Something in the Daisy family
The flowers are hidden in the verges of the path that leads towards Bellfields. There was also lots of Crimson Clover, but the photo of that was out of focus.
At Bellfields, the brickwork indicates a fairly old building.
My dad would have searched for fingerprints, denoting hand made bricks, perhaps older than these.
I turned left down the hill after reaching the sandstone pillar said to mark the spot where Cromwell's horse was buried after being killed in a skirmish nearby in 1648.
The duck houses appeared to be empty.
Himalayan Balsam has invaded the hedgerow here.
Behind the duck houses are lots of enclosures that appear to house free range partidges.
There are a variety of routes available around here, including a circuit of Appleton Reservoir. Today I chose to avoid the usual route past the Fox Covert cemetery, instead taking the path left that leads down to the Bridgewater Canal. I'd not gone that way before.
The path doubles back after reaching the canal, which it crosses via an ancient hump-backed bridge.
Green Alkanet is evident in the hedgerow before the Red Lane Bridge is reached.
There are lots of berries to feed the birds at present, including this Hawthorn.
This mallard must have recently had a second or third brood.
The lady in the photo enquired as to what I was photograhing. This led to a long conversation and conjecture as to what this spot would have looked like with locals embarking on the journey to Manchester from the meeting point beside the London Bridge. (The canal dates from around 1770.)
Further towards Lymm, I assume a householder has planted these colourful flowers. He/she has also placed a high fence that prevents the householder from viewing said flowers.
Just before leaving the towpath beside Lumb Brook Bridge, I encountered a sight that I'd never previously observed on the towpath.
The tortoise was about a foot long. It was heavy, and not too keen on being picked up. It ran off and jumped into the canal. That worried me, as there seemed no way the animal could get out of the steep sided canal. I watched for 5 to 10 minutes while it swam around. Then it dragged itself out.
Well, that was a first, as was the presence of a Herring Gull in our garden when I got home.
There followed a few kilometres of pleasant woodland in the Lumb valley, with some side paths that I may explore in the future.
Go this way to avoid the discomfort of a new housing estate
Pewterspear Lane has the aura of an ancient Roman way, and passes through a distinctive pair of gateposts.
Just before reaching the car, the walk ends near the double headed sculpture of Janus.
Here's today's version of the route - a shade over 10km, and 80 metres ascent, taking me a couple of hours. You can see that there are many more paths that could be explored.
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