Tonight was a social run along my home stretch of the Leeds-Liverpool canal. Since I started my plan to run its length, I’ve not really been out along this section Even though it’s lovely, repeating the same stretch doesn’t get the miles covered and so (just like running without your Garmin) doesn’t count…. However, my friend the Running Bully (who got me into this whole running lark in the first place) and I have just resumed our weekly Thursday nights and the canal is a far more scenic route than the normal town centres we plod round in the winter.
Being stuck in the office all afternoon, I hadn’t noticed the day changing from overcast gloom to bright blue skies and after a quick change in the ladies, I was haring down the motorway towards the towpath ready to enjoy the sunshine.
On the way, we saw some cows.
Moo!
The Horse Bridge was inhabited by this fellow.
Magic Horse
There was an assortment of waterfowl, but these chaps were the best.
Goosey goosey gander
And then we turned round and came back again. On the way back, the Bridge Horse had multiplied…
And then there were two (well actually three, the third is hiding)
We had some shouted encouragement from an Australian man on a narrowboat, who was drying his shirts on hangers in the hedgerow (luckily his pants were on a maiden, not a branch). His is not a boat that is usually moored there, so I wanted to stop and ask where he had been and where he was going, but I think that would have raised eyebrows with my companion (so hello Aussie Mossie if you’re reading!).
Next up was an older gentleman who well-tanned and stripped to the waist whilst operating a lock. The odd thing was, he didn’t actually have a boat. Now, I’ve read enough information notices on the towpath to know that operating locks willynilly is A Bad Thing (it wastes a massive amount of water), so I’m not sure what he was up to. There was another bloke taking photos with a proper camera, so maybe British Waterways are doing some kind of topless calendar. Hmmmm.
And that was about it (apart from running through a stand-off between a cat and two collies), 3.5 miles done.
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Travelling Hopefully 
“Maybe British Waterways are doing some kind of topless calendar” is a simply stunning thought, by anyone’s standards. Lovely pics too.
Wow – that’s a lot of horseys – and not once did you use the caption “why the long face” (something I was hard-pressed not to do!) Will your cornet-o-meter be cumulative? If so you could replace a couple of ice-creams with a roast-dinner??
Your runs are always so picturesque, and the ice creams are looking delicious.
I declined ice cream tonight (after gorging on Ben & Jerry’s on May 31st…) – I’m not sure that this has ever been known before.
Multiple bridge horses! Cute. Not sure a British Waterways calendar is a good thing though.
The views on this run were spectacular! Thanks for sharing that! Goose babies… oh, the cuteness 🙂
Nice pics. Looks like a very pleasant run indeed 🙂
Ive just typed in aussie mossie and its come up with your running page.
I was riding my he canal on wedneday evening and stopped and chatted to the man on the aussie mossie.
Some of my runs are along the Bridgewater Canal in South Manchester. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for Aussie Mossie!