Caen Hill Locks

I called at Caen Hill Café today on my way back from Melksham. I wanted to see if the cygnets had struck out on their own yet to find their own territories, and as I approached I could see the parents on the top side pond on their own. I enquired in the café and after some thought the lady thought they may have gone, as she hadn't seen any of them for three or four days. She had also been told that the cygnets of the pair further along the canal at the Black Horse were there no more.

The Black Horse pair and the Caen Hill Café pair had had a few run-ins during the year, and care had been taken to make sure they didn't get shut in a lock at the same time as they would have gone for each other with probably fatal consequences.

I visited the adult pair in the side pond, both friendly and tolerant towards me as usual, gliding contentedly on the waters and coming on land to peck at the grass.

I then strolled up the canal to the Black Horse and walked by the tables, now empty, that are placed in a row alongside the canal. I didn't see either of the parents but to my surprise there was a sole cygnet on the canal there. I imagine this was one of the Black Horse cygnets and not Eeeny, Meeny or Miney from Caen Hill, but it could have been one of them.

I never know which image to blip and usually play safe with an image that sums up the day in some way, but I was rather taken with the contrasts in light and shade in this picture taken against the light. A man was working on the narrowboat in the background and smoke was swirling from his chimney.

The light was already failing rapidly and the golden side lighting at the Black Horse had been replaced by chillier hues as I returned to Caen Hill.

L.
3.12.2014 (2040 hr)

Blip #1434
Consecutive Blip #002
Day #1714
LOTD #669 (#789 including archived blips)

A Visit To Caen Hill Locks, 3 December 2014 (Flickr album)

Lenses: Pentax 17-70 mm, Pentax 55-300 mm

Caen Hill series
Canals series
Kennet and Avon Canal series
Swan series

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Small Faces - Almost Grown (recorded February 1966)
R.I.P. Ian 'Mac' McLagan (born 12 May 1945, Hounslow; died 3 December 2014, Austin TX)
Mac McLagan joined the Small Faces after they had released a couple of singles but played on all their major hits after that, including All Or Nothing and Tin Soldier. When Steve Marriott disbanded the group he was a founder member of the Faces (initially known as the Small Faces in the US, confusingly). He's since played with many bands, including the Rolling Stones, and toured with Bob Dylan. He died suddenly after a stroke in Austin TX, where he lived. Almost Grown is a Booker T-style studio jam led by Ian McLagan, released on the B-side of Hey Girl.