Lovely Little Lymm.

 Monday 11th July 2022 in Stockton Heath.

M, up with the lark as usual, was fortunate enough to capture the early mornng mist rising over the water as the sun rose. Always a magical sight and one which initially caused us irrevocably to fall under the spell of this boating life. The mist is like a living thing, with tendrils rising and weaving into the air above.

What is the collective noun for a line of fishermen all dressed in blue? Answers on a postcard please!

Lovely little Lymm, one of the treasures of the Bridgewater Canal. Clearly it is rush hour!

Sextons deli and bakery. Last time we were here (in 2017) it was a classic tea room with a collection of teddy bears everywhere. M was a tad disapponted to find it had been "modernised" and changed into an upmarket deli with only a take-away coffee service. But the bakery was still superb, with a line of customers queuing for the bread and cakes.

Lymm is proud of its dinosaur heritage, including Chirotherium Kaupii dinosaur footprints, 200 to 250 million years old, found in a local quarry and displayed in a glass case in the square.

The view across the mill pond and dam.

The village cross and stocks. Last time we were here, R obligingly posed for a photograph in the stocks! Sadly only the two posts now remain and the actual stocks have gone.

The temperature rose dramatically in the afternoon so we found a cooler mooring under the shade of some oak trees in Stockton Heath. We could hear peacocks calling from the nearby park.

When in Skipton in May, M had bought some pretty ladybird windmills for our geraniums - and has only just remembered to "plant" them out!

Today: 10 miles, 0 locks and 4.3 hours.

Trip: 254 miles, 161 locks and 135.4 hours.