Peter & Margaret (nb Kelly-Louise) had mentioned there was a large discount retail outlet called Boundary Mill which was located close to the canal near Nelson. We are currently moored just short of the bottom of the Barrowford flight of locks and within walking distance of Boundary Mill. My expectation was to see a former cotton mill converted into small retail outlets. That seemed a logical assumption as we’d already passed Botany Bay (a converted mill) and the local area is well known for its involvement in the manufacture of cotton cloth. So it was somewhat of a surprise to see Boundary Mill is a very modern building.
In a moment of madness I splashed out on a new kettle for Jan. Not as cheap as the previous one (same make & model) but now there can be no excuses for not receiving those cuppa’s! 
On the way back to Waiouru Jan was able to point out the nearby Officers Swimming Club
Last night Waiouru creaked and groaned on her moorings. Well it was actually the rubber fenders doing the groaning! Jan slept like a log but I was awake until 1.30am wondering if every groan was the sound of the local fairies undoing our mooring lines. Foolish really as the weather wasn’t conducive to nefarious activities.
This morning I was able to complete a reasonable local walk capturing 10 pieces of public footpath on the gps for uploading to the Open Street Map.
The location of Waiouru is the blue flag in the bottom right of the above map
It was a most enjoyable walk. The weather was a mixture of showers and sunshine with a strong wind on the hilltops. The first thing I noticed was the water level in the pound above the bottom lock.
The crew of a boat had entered the bottom lock and were scratching their heads wondering where they were going to get some water from. Fortunately a CRT worker arrived and told them to wait while he went and fixed the drought!
I found the part of Barrowford I walked through to be a rather attractive.
The old stone bridge across the stream has been replaced with a modern concrete structure but the original has been retained as a pedestrian way. My planned route took me north-west out of the village and onto the hills. The assent took me past a former mill chimney standing forlorn amongst the surrounding trees.
There was a folly on a far hill which I would have walked to except I couldn’t see any access by road or footpath on the map.
In the valley on the far side of the hill I walked past an attractive lime washed cottage.
North Farm. Times can’t be too tough for UK farmers as there was a Bentley parked in front of the garage. Perhaps a visitor? The route back to Waiouru ended on a hill overlooking the canal.
Top lock and former lock keepers cottage
Barrowford Reservoir with the canal in the foreground. I was quite surprised to see how low the water level was in the reservoir.
The bottom half of the flight. I used the phone camera to take all the photos on the walk. Well that;s my excuse for them being so poor!
4 comments :
The good news is there doesn't appear to be any man-made rubbish in the empty pound.
That's particularly good news as it doesn't look deep enough to hold much water so you will be very near the bottom all the way.
Boundary Mill did in fact used to be located in old mill buildings across the road from the present site. In recent years the business's has expanded and they have another outlet in the Midlands that is exactly the same as the Colne one.
Paul
There was a 50 gallon drum in the pound but not much else! However it will be empty again tomorrow morning because the top gates won't stay shut and the bottom leak badly.
Peter,
Margaret must have told others about the iPad covers as they had all gone! :-)
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