Evidence of years long past

Extremely subtle lighting this morning (= very foggy). I visited Brewood on the way to work and went up to the Shropshire Union Canal. I say up because it sits on embankment for part of its route through the village. The engineer, a certain Thomas Telford, used cut and fill to build the canal and so reduce the need for locks. From its start near Wolverhampton it is over 6.5 miles before the next lock.

I love the cast iron posts you find on the corner of bridge walls. I always wondered why they had these deep grooves, until someone explained they were made by the ropes that the horses pulled the boats along the "tow" paths.