Day 2 Friday 18 May 2007

Acton Bridge to Church Minshall Lock. Mainly sunshine all day. Cloudy for about an hour just before lunch. We managed to miss the rain today, probably because it was so windy. It’s been blowing a gale all day. Whenever the wind drops it is quite warm. The countryside is gorgeous at this time of year. Lots of different shades of green interspaced with pink and white hawthorn blossom. The banks are full of wild flowers, including wild garlic, which has a very pungent smell. We have seen plenty of ducklings and cygnets. We also saw a kingfisher, a pair of buzzards, plenty of swallows, herons and a sparrow hawk.