Microcosm

When you're alone at the tiller in the locks there's not much else to do but control the boat (to avoid sinking it!) and look at the lock walls and gates at close quarters. I am fascinated by the wealth of life that you only really see when you're down there.
Mosses, leafy and flowering plants, tiny creatures clinging to slimy walls, stalactites.

The flower in the photo is Skullcap which does grow in wet or damp areas by rivers, streams and wet grassy areas. Some seeds must have been blown or carried along on the water and taken root among the brickwork of the lock walls.
The flowers are tiny and such a pretty shade of blue.