The Penny Ferry

Home Alone this weekend, and a lot of things I wanted to sort out.

But the weather this morning was glorious, so I decided to take a short trip down the road to Woolston Eyes, which is one amazing place. It's in Warrington, but might as well be a hundred miles away. You can feel just a bit vulnerable here, if you disappeared no one would ever find you. In wildlife terms it is a real gem, the breeding place for one of the UK's rarest birds, the black necked grebe. The himalayan balsam was out in force, and its heavy scent.

Anyway .... the blip is of the Penny Ferry, or the Thelwall Ferry, which since 1894 has transported people across the Ship Canal (and before that, the big bend of the Mersey before the Canal sliced through it). When the Canal was constructed public rights of way had to be preserved - largely through bridges (not many required as the Mersey separated Lancashire and Cheshire), but in this case through allowing a ferry to operate. Charge for crossing - one penny. 

I am on the north bank, on the south bank a young woman is explaining to her two toddlers what swans are.

In the extra, two anglers are fly fishing in the Mersey near Woolston New Weir - which explains the colour of the water.