Wednesday 30 January 2013

Lancashire

Well had a trip down into Lancashire, or to put it in the modern parlance, Mersyside, and to be more precise St.Helens my old home town. However it was a visit that for once I wished I wasn't making, as I was going to the funeral of an old friend. Someone I use to work with at Victoria park. There was people there I hadn't seen for nearly 40 years, some I no longer recognised and reintroductions were necessary.
     When I arrived in St.Helens I had a bit of time to spare, and close to  where Dave (a lad I am constantly in touch with) lives, is a place called Carr mill dam. I spent many a happy hour playing around the dam when I was a kid, and at about the same period it use to used for hydro plane racing. It has always been a popular place for fishing, and more recently birdwatching. I remember at the age of 14 myself and a mate built a raft sailed it right across the dam, all good fun. At the Northern end of the dam is a place called the 19 arches, the arches now carry a footpath, and as can be seen there are 19 arches-----

The 19 arches Carr Mill, on the other side of the arches the dam continue to a road, then on the other side of the road an area of water called the Dig pit, which also use to be used for fishing.
Going to a funeral I wasn't exactly dressed for birding, and although the weather looked good, it was extremely windy and cold, so I  didn't linger, but it was nice to see the old place after more years than I care to remember.

pic from the top of the arches, not much to be seen apart from a few mallard.

And lastly looking South along a good portion of the dam.
A day of mixed feeling and memories.        More on the history of the dam can be found on various web sights and Wiki.

3 comments:

  1. What a lovely spot to fish and play the day away. I love those arches and ducks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Gordon, nice you were able to visit your hometown; sorry to hear of the circumstances, though. The dam looks like quite an intriguing structure! Take care!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for your kind words ladies, and good birding.
    All the very best Gordon.

    ReplyDelete

A big thank you to everyone for looking in and leaving their comments, much appreciated, Gordon.