Egypt4u

We took a steady stroll yesterday along the Trent & Mersey canal, we being little Annie and myself. As usual I took my camera and sad to say it is not living up to expectations, but I suppose a fifty quid point and shoot was never going to become as substitute for taking one of my bigger cameras and I am finding the lack of a viewfinder a distinct disadvantage. Anyway it was a nice day for walking, a little overcast at times, but it did stay dry so we walked for around three hours or so.

I parked up at a canal side pub (no surprise there folks) and crossed the bridge onto the towpath, then cutting down through a small wood and a meadow that has a stream running alongside of it. The first thing I noticed was the increase in the number of Butterfly’s after the warmer weather we have had, I was getting a little concerned that the wet Winter had badly affected their numbers, some species are not so abundant this year such as Red Admirals, but other like the Peacocks can be seen everywhere.

The first image is a Small Tortoise Shell and the second is a Comma Butterfly.


I did spot a couple of small blue butterfly’s, but with the little Nikon I could not get a focus quick enough to snap them so I am not sure if they were one of the rarer ones or not, but in all likelihood they were the Common Blue variety, although even they are not that common in my neck of the woods.

The strangest thing I spotted was a pig! In the middle of nowhere and happily rooting about and having a merry old time. I do not know why it was there as it could literally wander anywhere it wanted to go as it wasn’t fenced in any way. I gave it a wide berth as it may not have been too friendly towards a playful little pup, but I took a snap of it that again looked poor when I viewed it at home on my PC.

It looks like a Gloucester Old Spot, but it’s a mystery as to why it was there, maybe an escapee.


There are now signs of Autumn approaching with lots of seed heads on thistles and a deeper green colour in the leaves, this old dilapidated building always gets my attention when I pass by and I can never resist taking a snap of it, one day I may get just the picture I want.


Lots to see flower wise along the canal, this was a fine example of a Burdock plant with it’s hooked ‘sticky buds’ that we loved to throw at each other as kids, they were the devils own job to get out of a woolly cardigan. The spiky hooked bits are actually the fruit and in times gone by were used to add bitterness to certain drinks, I am sure most of you living in the UK have had a drink of Dandelion & Burdock pop when you were kids, well that was the flavouring used.


Another interesting plant that was growing in profusion was ‘Tansy’ a large plant with lots of small yellow button like flowers in clusters. It is a natural insecticide and in medieval times was spread on the floors of houses to kill lice and fleas.


In some areas large swathes of ‘Hemp Agrimony’ a relative of the Cannabis plant were growing alongside of the water, their fluffy pink flowers attracting hoards of Butterfly’s especially the Peacocks and I lost count of how many I saw in this short stretch.


The countryside was looking typical for this time of year with lots of grassy meadows and grazing cattle in the fields, many with young calves.


Annie spotted a mother duck with a couple of chicks and nearly fell in the water trying to get a closer look.


In places browning ferns, pink Rose Bay Willow Herb and yellowing giant Hog Weed signal that Autumn is not that far away.


I spotted this little feature further on and took a closer look mainly because it was chained up. Closer inspection showed it to be a drain that could be used to empty the canal, a sluice ran underneath the mechanism and emptied into a very deep spillway that disappeared down a steep hillside no doubt into a nearby stream.



As we approached a lock where we would sit and have our lunch a barge passed by, nothing unusual about that other than the name on the side which was ‘Kapenta’. The name is not unusual to anyone who has lived in Zambia as this small fish formed a major part of the locals diet. I called out to the man on the boat that I had not seen that name since I lived in Zambia may years ago and he answered in a Rhodesian (Zimbabwean) accent and told me his wife was born in Zambia. We chatted a while at the lock and incredibly we actually knew some mutual friends from that time and it transpired that he and his wife now lived in Kenya and came over for several months each year to cruise the canals, they also had a couple of boats in Kenya.


It would have been nice to tell Mrs H about meeting these people, but that was not to be, so I told little Annie instead all about Africa as we sat having our picnic lunch and as you can see she was really interested in my stories.


The rain kept away so I wasn’t able to test out my latest acquisition my ex US army cape which is very lightweight and fits in my rucksack without taking up any space, I was looking forward to squatting on my rucksack inside my little cape tent with Annie poking her nose out as we sheltered from the downpour. )

There were lots of barges moored up along the way many looking like they were docked up for the winter months.



A steady walk back would see us home by mid afternoon and it was nice to see the bright gardens of many of the canal side properties as we passed. The brown coloured water by the way is the result of iron oxide leaching out of the Harecastle Tunnel and not pollution, it takes it many miles into Cheshire before this discoloration eventually disperses.


Finally we approach the pub which can be seen on the left, cross over the bridge and head for home again, although we may just stop for a pint first.

A lovely account of your walk Horus and not much wrong with the pictures Good colour and certainly sharp enough for your fifty quid Nikon. I can see that, like me, you are not happy with only the screen for composing your shot and miss the EVF.

I only know the Trent Mersey canal at Stone but it looks as if it is well maintained all the way. Another bit of English Heritage that must be preserved and such a lovely place for a walk or better still to cruise a narrow boat. What a coincidence to meet those people from Kenya annd to even know individuals in Zambia....small world. I like his boat, Kapenta. Looks like one of the larger ones.

That pig amused me, he/she has obviously had a wonderful time forraging but I think by the way it was turning up that field, it started as a Tamworth, and had reached the All Spot stage when you saw it, and half an hour later it would have morphed into a Large Black

I will beat LLL with this inevitable question. Does the iron oxide from Harecastle Tunnel poison the fish in that stretch of the canal?

And finally, I swear Annies legs are getting shorter, give the poor little girl a break....3 hour walk???? But she seems to enjoy it

Lovely pics Horus & a great account of your looooooooooooooooooong walk with Annie, she is a real cutie And I agree what a coincidence to meet with people that you both know from so far small world indeed

Thanks folks for the comments and as you say Grandad I sorely miss having an EVF on the small camera and I did have to do a fair bit of Photo-shopping to get a passable image on most of them, it's probably OK for snaps and maybe I will get better with more practice or taken on brighter sunny days. In answer to your question of killing off the fish, well I think it is more of a case that the fish stay away from the source of the iron oxide which as I said is from the Harecastle tunnel. I cannot say I have seen dead fish near to the tunnel, but neither do you see people fishing there either. I don't actually think that the iron oxide itself would kill the fish, rather that it would deplete the oxygen content of the water and make it uninhabitable for them and although the contamination may look bad on those pictures the heavy pollution only extends about half a mile either side of the tunnel. It actually looks worse than it is and you would find fish happily swimming in that water in the photographs as do the ducks and other wildlife, it slowly gets diluted as it flows through the lock system and eventually settles out until several miles into Cheshire it will become quite clear again. As the fall in water level is towards the Cheshire Plain you do not get anything like the same amount of contamination on the other side of the tunnel that leads into the 'Potteries' and North Staffordshire.

Kiya, that is only a short walk for me and little Annie we did about 6 hours through the lakes and woodlands of a local reservoir on the previous Wednesday and I am currently writing that one up, but it has some spooky parts to it :witch:

Horus, you and little Annie are doing marvellously! Love the photos and the 'Tales from the fields and riverbanks'! A book in the offing?

Love the photos and the 'Tales from the fields and riverbanks'! A book in the offing?

I suppose if you bought one as well as myself we could have sales that eventually reached ............ ere ...... two

Super cool photos H. Am not sure that your little camera isn't as good as your photos sure are interesting and your story(s) entertaining.

Since Grandad asked MY question I'll think on it and am sure will come up with another.

Little Annie sure is growing and sure looks like she is an old hand at taking walks. Soon she'll have all the pathways and trails down pat and know where you both are going before you. That tail of hers seems to be growing long too.

Oh me ! 6hrs walk that would kill me hurry on with your next one..............I love a spooky story

Only spooky in parts Kiya and maybe a few satanic rituals thrown in for good measure

Now that I’ve had a chance to see the photos again this morning I’m more impressed. Great job H! The hog is definitely cute. I’d of avoided too but judging from the amount of dirt uprooted he or she is having a grand old time just wallowing around.

I’d never heard of your soda pop drink. I know burdock from back east in Canada but we don’t have it here on the west coast. I remember it well from being tangled into my long hair by my brother. Probably high time to get even with him now for doing that. Am sure the phrase – ‘when you least expect it’ will catch him off-guard now.

Hope you were hanging on tight to the leash when Annie spotted the ducks. If on the chase am pretty sure terriers don’t mind in the least getting wet

The drain was interesting. Does it go up and down?

All the boats definitely add colour and interest to a walk and – isn’t it really a small world? When you can call out to a stranger and then find out you can identify mutual people?!?!

Gotta say too that I quite like stopping at the end of a walk for a cuppa.

Since Grandad took my exact question I’ve got another!

For all the houses that are built alongside the canal – are there set backs? And are the canals lined with cement or something? How does one stop the water from seeping into the basement of your house when they’re built that close to the water?

Now stopping the leaks in canals is another story LLL, they use a technique called 'puddling' to achieve a wateright seal and strangely enough I will touch on that techique in my next little saga that I am in the process of writing up as we speak. Generally speaking in most cases the canals were constructed well before any housing was built with the exception of modern housing developments and no it does not cause a problem with damp as they do not overflow due to flooding or other misshaps that may affect other water sourcses such as rivers or lakes and you do not get much in the way of ground water penetration into the surrounding soil. In fact many older terraced type housing which can be found in certain areas are actually built at a level considerably lower than the canal that passes alongside of them, the next time I get an opportunity I will take some photo's for you. You also have to consider that our building techiques are different to yours and not many houses have what you call a basement or a cellar to them, most are built on what we call a 'raft' which is similar to a large concrete slab and technically they 'float' on the sub-soil. We also have a double thickness brick and cement block walls that are tied together, but have a cavity between them and these walls also sit on top of a damp proof membrane that would stop any rising damp from the soil, although not all of the older building would have all these features such as the raft and damp course.

I am quite interested in how you're keeping the houses from dampening down, moulding up and/or floating away.

In eastern Canada most of the houses have basements - aka holes in the ground with block walls. The farm house I grew up was 'modern' by standards of the day in that at one end it had a built in sump pump that could be turned on when the basement flooded. We then went down and shoveled water into the sump pump enclosure so as to get the 6 or so inches of water off the floor.

Here in western Canada MOST houses are built on a cement pad (concrete poured onto the ground) or on a crawl space. A crawl space differs in that the floor is bare ground and the house is built UP on courses of block. Some crawl spaces are only a couple of blocks high while others sometimes have the house up several feet and you can almost walk in the crawl space.

I think terrain and water table levels are the two deciding factors. You definitely do not want a house built on a slab if the water is going to rise.

Curious to read and hear about how your houses are BELOW water level and DRY!

As I said it is not very usual for our modern houses to have cellars, but some older ones did have them and they were probably similar to yours inasmuch as they became damp at times. I think we probably have similar problems to you where cellars do exist and often water has to be removed in some way, old pubs for example will have cellars to them. We do not build on 'piles' in the UK as seems common in Canada and the US and we do not have that crawl space under our houses, our method of construction is the dig out a foundation trench that mirrors the outer profile and some inner walls of the building and then these are filled with concrete, these foundations can be quite deep (over a metre) depending upon the prevailing ground conditions. These foundations will finish below ground level so as not to be visible and a double row of impermeable fired brick will be used to continue the walls upwards until well above ground level. Once this row of bricks is above any potential ground water i.e., rain or run-off water from the property and garden, then an impermeable layer of material is placed on top of these brick and is known as 'the damp course' this prevents water or damp rising up the walls. In some properties there will be wooden beams spanning this damp course level and the floorboards will be laid on top of them, this creates a small air space below which is usually not accessible, but is ventilated using air vents in the outer walls. In more modern properties is is more common that another damp proof membrane is laid on the ground between the two short walls that were built on the foundations and continues over the outer wall damp course material, this is then filled with concrete as far as the inner brick wall and to the height of the damp course material, in this way a water proof raft is created that ground water cannot penetrate. Two more rows of brick, an inner and an outer which are separate to each other like two parallel lines, are then built up to roof height and are held together to stop them bulging outwards with a metal wire ties inserted across the gap at intervals and the two walls are built upwards to roof height. The only exception is that in modern houses the inner wall of the two is often constructed of a cheaper building material than fired brick, so something like cement blocks are used. Any other interior walls are usually constructed of plasterboard fixed to battens and refered to as being ‘dry lined’ although some will be brick or block if they are load bearing, it all depends upon the design of the building.

Interesting H. Very interesting how we're doing things here and you're doing things there to basically address these same issue.

If I can just add to Horus's detailed description LLL, all new builds require that the cavity between the two layers of brick and thermal block on outer walls, is filled with insulation board to reduce heat loss through the wall.

There are a lot of incentives in the UK for people to take steps to 'save energy'. A neighbour opposite is just having solar panels installed on his roof. I don't know the terms of his installation but there is a lot of hype about the savings of these panels and, sceptic that I am, I think it might take 20 or 30 years to recover the intial outlay by which time the panels have become inefficient and need replacing anyhow.

To be honest we get so few SUNNY days in the UK that I would never be tempted to install them on my roof. And the generation level on average cloudy days is so low as to be discounted. But, as I said, I am a cynic.

I sat this morning writing a few paragraphs reply and now, this evening I'm checking E4U only to find that my reply isn't here!!!

No time to cyber sleuth but not happy that my reply message is gone

Always do your long reply in Word or such like and always check that it is up on the forum before leaving, a common mistake is to read your new post as a preview and you see it on the forum pages, but you then to forget to press the Submit button to make the finished submission and of course you lose everything. At least if you do it in Word you can just cut & paste it all back in again.

Methinks your right.

What I was replying about was solar panels and saying that I would use them here if they were not so cost prohibitive. If I thought I was getting some good green benefit out of them I'd be willing to give them a try We do get lots of overcast and cloudy days but I think there would be enough to charge the solar.

I have put quite a few solar garden lights about outside to decorate the backyard and to take the total stark black off. I have solar fence post caps on the top of the posts out front. Mostly the solar fence caps were decorative but also had a function so up they went. Doubt I'll ever get enough light out of them to justify the cost (although they we not that pricey - $10 each vs $2 for a plain black metal cap).

What I did do at my front door is to take a decorative outside plant pot, fill it with gravel and then sink a solar garden light into the gravel. This gives me a bit of extra light right at the front door if I'm out and haven't been able to turn on the outside light. I also have a similar plant pot with another solar light and placed it at the bottom of the post that has my house number on it figuring if there was an emergency it might help locate my house faster.

All in all I kinda like my outside solar lights. They do add a nice touch and do give a bit of illumination at night. Not much but in the dark often lots isn't needed and just a bit has helped with the pathways and walkways. Large scale solar for the house inside probably won't happen until it becomes easy for me to install it myself and be able to suck up enough sunlight to run it.

Solar panel technology will certainly improve within a few years and you will be able to get twice the energy from a given area of panels, they don't have to have sunlight as such (although that's best) just so long as it is a fairly bright day. At the moment they are cost prohibitive as far as I am concerned and they will need to come down a lot in price to justify the outlay.

The roof ridge of my neighbours house runs approx north - south, not ideal for solar panels. He has had eight panels installed on each sloping side (facing east and west) I believe these panels have a 'peak' generation of 250watts but that is only with direct mid day sun.

His installation is nominally 4Kwp (killowatts at peak) but due to the direction of his roof he can never achieve this. I am waiting to have a chat about what his expected savings are. From the website of the installers they predict a saving on energy of £350 per year. Other companies predict a much more modest £150 from 4Kwp. I shall wait with interest to see how much HE says he saves.

There is another element, Feed In Tariff (TIF) but if the company installed it for free they would keep that estimated at around £600 per annum. If he paid for the installation (around £7000) at best he might recover his outlay in 8 or 10 years but I think it will be longer.....

I will stick with my manageable energy bill and avoid a monstrosity on my roof.