Wildmoorway lock, Cerney Wick

(Note:   I am not very impressed with the 'normal' images as now displayed above in my blips, since the new site was created.  Try clicking the 'Large' version and see if you can notice the much sharper and better presented colour image?  Let me know in a comment if you agree?)

I drove to the far side of Cirencester at lunchtime as I wanted to see a special waterproof coat which I have been thinking of buying.  I haven't had a good coat for a while and the attraction of a Sale price was very tempting.  Helena went to the Cotswold Outdoor centre a few months ago to buy some climbing shoes and I accompanied her and was impressed with the staff knowledge and help they gave her.

On the way I did a bit of shopping and had hoped to get a special bacon roll at Waitrose in Cirencester, but for some reason their cafe wasn't selling them today, so I went hungry.  But at least the weather which had started out wet and windy, was now only windy.

At the shop a young assistant came to help me and was intrigued when I described my particular requirement of having the right protective clothing for playing disc golf.  I was swayed by his technical advice and bought a slightly different product than I went in for, but one which will be more waterproof.   It turned out that Bob was a keen photographer using old SLRs and film.  I did mention Blip so he might have a look at this.  Thanks Bob for all the help. 

Another attraction of this spot which was always part of my plan, was to walk a few yards from thew shop to the lake, or actually a flooded gravel pit which forms the basis of the extensive Cotswold Water Park.  I had blipped form there on my earlier visit when I shot a diving bird entering the water vertically.  I had brought one of the lenses that Bruce lent to me yesterday to try out, a Canon 70-300mm DO IS USM.  

I went to the edge of the lake and sheltered from the wind behind a building, and wondered how the new coat would feel (it has to be delivered by courier).  The sun was still shining between gaps in the scudding clouds, but there weren't many bird subjects to test the camera out.  After a while I walked back to the car and then decided to walk along the adjacent towpath of the old abandoned Thames and Severn canal.

A new bridge had been built over the canal to provide access to the Water Park's lakes but after passing underneath it, I spotted the remains of an old lock a few hundred hards up the path, which I have found was called Wildmoorway Lock.  When I got there the weather began to really get worse, rather fittingly given the name, so I quickly climbed to the top of the lock and where the old top gate would have been and stood beside the empty lock looking back towards the south in the direction of the Thames.  The old canal company's building on the left has been fully restored and you can see solar panels on its roof, but it looked completely uninhabited.  The old bridge just beyond the position of the lower lock gates is still an old grass covered track, originally built for horses and carts to cross over the canal as well as the horses used for towing the barges.

There are plans to restore the whole canal in due course and you may have seen many of my blips showing various parts of the restoration process of this same canal on the far side of the hills, where the canal leads down to the river Severn.  It won't be finished in my lifetime, but I think progress is definitely underway.

I must bring Helena back to these parts to explore the canal as well as the lakes, but probably it will be when the weather is better in the springtime.

PS
I am tagging this with the 'Derelict Thursday' tag, as I think it just about suits the criteria for that challenge.  It is derelict, but not without hope, nor the friends and admirers from the Cotswold Canal trust.