Strolling along the river at Fromebanks

I booked an MOT for the little car this afternoon. I dropped it off at the family run garage I've used for twenty years and arranged to return in an hour. I brought my camera bag and walked off the small industrial estate to the canal towpath which was only a hundred yards away. A short amble took me to Capel's Mill viaduct which the railway uses to cross the River Frome and the canal to reach the station in the centre of town. 

I bumped into Anne and Ian two old friends who were sitting on what is left of the millrace watching the river flow. We had a long chat  and I pointed out the kingfisher nest and where the dippers nest usually is, under the small wooden footbridge, much to their surprise.

Then i walked downstream beside the fast flowing river. I was surprised by the amount of debris in the water from fallen branches as well as the number of trees that had blown over in recent gales; much worse than I've seen before. About half way down to the next bridge I took this picture. I saw very few birds and certainly no dippers or kingfishers, which is unusual. I think the recent felling of ash trees because of the 'die back' disease has opened up the canopy and much of the ground seems to have been rather trashed by the woodworkers.