Locks

It has been a warm sunny day walking along a canal with the sounds of chiffchaffs, willow warblers and other birds with butterflies and bees seekiing nectar in the bluebells, wood anemones and primroses beside the water. We chatted to several people as they worked the locks and many said that they lived permanently on the boats and couldn't think of a better place to live. The 12 Bosley Locks on the Macclesfield Canal in Cheshire rise113 feet in a mile and take a long time to negotiate so they appeared grateful for any help to open the sluice gates one of which had a bird sitting on two eggs on a ledge just above the water. The locks are a marvellous tribute to those who constructed them two centuries ago and are enjoyed today by those seeking peace.