This blog is ALL my OWN work , I take all the Photos myself. I use a basic Samsung PL 22 14mp camera with 5x zoom.

I travel all over the West Midlands and beyond for my work. I take pictures when out running, cycling, walking. I see so much I'd like to keep a record.

We've travelled all over in our VW campervan - I'm not a photographer, but I hope I can capture just a little of what I see. Please click on the photos for information about them and click again for a large image. Please feel free to reblog as many photos as you like - search the archive for more it goes back to March 2012.
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Hatherton Junction on the Staffordshire and Worcester canal, now a marina and canal boat storage the canal used to go on past the locks in the top Right Hand corner. But in 1955 due to mining subsidence it was abandoned and is now over grown, it’s a secure storage and you can’t access the area. I’d like to try and trace the route of the old canal, perhaps from the other direction and on foot.
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Oil lamp and flowers on a Canal barge, nr Gailey Locks. The Staffordshire and Worcester Canal.
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Riding down the Staffordshire and Worcester canal, I found it less interesting that our local canal , Wyrley and Essington. It’s wider with less plant life either on the banks or at waters edge. More boats pass up and down so there are none of the lilies and reeds that make for great widllife sighting on the other canal network. For all that it’s still a pleasant ride in the countryside - here Giant Rhubarb, Gunnera Manicata has taken hold, though still small at the moment this can grow 4 ft across!
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Living on the canal - massive tub of orange Lilies. The Staffordshire and Worcester Canal , Gailey.
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Tortoiseshell cat helps with billowing tarpaulin on a canal boat. Plus Orange lilies!!
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Canal barge - Calf Heath Marina, Hatherton Junction. The Staffordshire & Worcester Canal, Staffordshire.
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Living on a Barge on the Canal - The Staffordshire & Worcester canal, Gailey, Staffordshire.
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Living on the Canal - Lots of wonderful barges on the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal , Staffordshire.
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Gailey Locks Tower, this was used by the lock keeper when the Canal was used by Barges taking coal and other goods round Staffordshire and the West Midlands. It’s a shop now for the Barge users on the Staffordshire & Worcester Canal.
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Gailey Locks - We took the time to visit Gailey Locks just off the A5 Watling Street in Staffordshire. It has an interesting tower as the Lock Keepers cottage which has now been turned into a shop for the Canal Barges which pass through here. Nearby is a place Canal Barges are hired for holidays and many barges moor here with people living on them.

A 7 mile walk is sign posted from here and it goes down the Staffordshire & Worcester canal then loops back along country lanes. 


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Shaggy Ink Cap Mushroom, on the bank of the Staffordshire & Worcester Canal. According to Wiki this is meant to be edible, I’ll pass. This was taken in the morning but looks like midnight!
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Giant Rhubarb on the side of the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal at Great Heywood, Staffordshire. This is called Gunnera Manicata , and regardless of it’s common name of Giant Rhubarb it isn’t edible. These leaves were about 4ft across - mature in Brazil they can reach 10ft across. Impressive - if it was edible there would *never* be enough crumble.
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Living on the canal - Great Heywood, Staffordshire. The Staffordshire and Worcester Canal.
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Brightly coloured Narrow Boats on the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal, a lovely spot to moor up and drink tea!
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Canal Barge Pail - The Staffordshire and Worcester Canal