Grounds For A Shopping Trolley Flood

Today dawned gloriously sunny - and I even managed to glimpse a very healthy looking fox in our back garden before I'd had my first coffee, so I decided to take it as a good omen for the rest of the day.
We managed to fit in a very cold early run before deciding on a short trip back to Tonbridge - mainly on the chance to capture an image of the town's castle after three previous failed attempts as it had been cordoned off before, and for sometime after, a Christmas Fayre.
Once we arrived we headed straight for the castle grounds and were happy to discover that on this occasion they were actually open. We walked around the base of the castle, which had originally been the moat, and then through the main entrance and up a fairly vertiginous path with hairpin bends which led to part of the original motte with a fantastic view across to its twin towered 13th Century gatehouse and the later addition of an 18th Century mansion. I couldn't quite get the shot I wanted to do it justice (see extra) but it still felt great to finally get to experience such a wonderfully historic setting.
We then continued our walk over the town's main bridge and along the riverbank towards a sign directing us towards the town's Racecourse Sportsground where were met with an entirely unexpected sight - it had been turned into a huge lake by recent flooding, almost completely engulfing all the nearby tennis and basketball courts and football pitches, with its very own interim population of gulls, swans, ducks and of course obligatory shopping trolley. It was such an unexpectedly spectacular scene, with the light casting some fabulous reflections, that I felt it had to be my main image of the day.
As we stopped to take our shots a local explained that the area is a flood plain, that this is effectively exactly what it was designed to do and that a few years ago the waters had been even higher and we would have been up to our knees in water where we were currently standing.
We then crossed back across the river on what turned out to be a very slippery footbridge and back into the town itself in search of a watering hole where we could garner some pint based refreshment and review the images we had just taken. We opted to frequent the 14th Century Chequers Inn where were greeted warmly by the landlady and could shelter from the biting wind outside with our drinks in a wonderfully cosy atmosphere.
A great micro trip where I finally managed to capture the castle and experience an unexpected shopping trolley flood!