Testing, testing!

I arranged to meet Helena to go for a walk along the canal when she had been to the Farmer's Market in town today.  She was going to ring me and we would then rendezvous on the other side of Stroud.  But when the call came, Helena wanted to meet nearer to town as it was less far to walk, which was understandable.

We plumped for going to the new section of the canal built to replace the section where the bypass had used the old line of the canal's cut.  I decided to park on the road outside Waitrose supermarket and to walk though their car park on the old footpath which had to be maintained when they built the supermarket about twenty years ago.

I carried my camera in my new padded bag and once I had passed the actual shop I stepped down onto the footpath down to pedestrian crossing over to Capel's Mill and the canal.  I didn't get that far unfortunately because I tripped on the edge of the badly marked step down on the path.  The whole of this Waitrose was rebuilt this summer, but no-one seemed to have bothered to mark the edges of the steps as they have done in a very bright fashion on other steps at Waitrose.

I went flying and landed in a heap a couple of steps further down.  I managed to get up slowly and could feel a bit of damage to muscles and my chest, as well as a couple fo grazes on both hands.  But I was able to walk gingerly and managed to get to the road and across it to the edge of the new canal embankment.  I found my phone and rang Helena who it turned out was actually in Waitrose buying some bread. I still felt winded so sat on a bench to wait for her and and she joined me within a few minutes.  I told her what had happened and felt very stupid to have fallen like that.  

I couldn't walk easily but still wanted to take a couple of pictures to check that I hadn't damaged my camera or any lenses again.  So I walked a couple of yards to the edge of the embankment and looked towards the sun and across towards the Capel's Mill railway viaduct.  These arches are on the town side of the main section of the viaduct, where the new section of canal now comes underneath one of the arches a short distance from where the river Frome cascades over the ruins of the old mill race still lying beneath the arches. Apparently the camera and my main zoom lens are working normally, but I will have to do some more tests!  I wish my body felt ok.  It probably will in a few days.