On a lovely sunny morning 32 of us are almost ready for a flat 5 mile walk led by Enid
And off we go past Sandfield Bridge
A new waterside estate has sprung up
Full of happy looking residents
We continue
A swan seemingly unaware of our progress
This will slow down the bikers (and us)
Zooming in to a wind turbine across the Severn near Lydney
We reach Frampton opposite the church
Is that an egret?
Also across the river is Cinderford on the sunny hilltop
We cross the canal and make towards the church
What a way to go!
We head into Frampton with its grand houses
And one in need of some TLC
We head towards the park
Quite large sheep keep an eye on us
The big house
We stop by the lake for our coffee stop
Bernard has his own seat
Lovely willows
We head off across the fields with a well marked path
A queue forms
To cross this dodgy footbridge
And Franceska tests the gap to demonstrate how dangerous it is
We spot some natural daffodils, like those near Newent, much smaller than garden types
With pale outer petals
These lock gates will need restoring again soon (we hope)
We head back
The water waiting for the canal to be restored
We head to Walk Bridge
There will need to be a new bridge here, either a lift or a high one
Back along the existing bit of the Stroudwater canal
Passing the newish marina
Wonder if Brian has spotted his namesake?
The two Willow Trust boats await their busy season
Junction Bridge has a new safety surface
Lots to learn around here
In the foreground a derelict lock on the old course of the canal which used to lead direct to the river Severn. Now boats use the Gloucester Sharpness canal
Photos and captions by Mike