Bunbury Mill.

It rained most of last night but seemed to stop about 0500 and we haven't got wet for the rest of the day, so far. After breakfast we walked down the tow path to a garage to get the Sunday paper. On the way back I picked a few more black currants to have sufficient for a recipe.
 We read the paper until after lunch and then decided to go for another walk.

Footpath to Bunbury.

There is a community owned water mill at Bunbury that is only opened on Sunday afternoons The walk was cross country and on some very little used roads too. We came in to the back of the museum site. There are guided tours so we had a cup of tea whilst we waited for the next one. There was a little excitement as there were some pipestrelle bats in the toilet. It seems that they do roost in the loft but the young or something had got 'lost'! The mill had been 'lost' for a while until rediscovered by a local. It is right next to the sewage farm for the village who wanted to demolish it but were persuaded to spend the money on refurbishment. That was back in 1977. A couple of years ago they wanted to get rid of it and the locals developed a trust to take it over. It is a working mill and the flour is for sale. We bought some to make some bread with.

Grinding floor with three sets of stones.

Power flour with the big drive wheel being driven by the over shot water wheel.

The tour was very good and informative and it was obvious that all the volunteers were committed to the project. After the visit we walked into the village and passed the church. St. Boniface. It is a Grade 1 listed building and is one of the best of its kind. The church mainly dates from the 14th Century and has some very important tombs inside. It had some very fancy pinnacles and gargoyles. 

St Boniface Church, Bunbury. The gate and piers are the war memorial for the village.

Gargoyles and pinnacles with the flag flying.

Neat graveyard at St Boniface Church.

After the church we went to the pub opposite, the Dysart Arms that is the Cheshire eating pub 2013 and several years previously too. We then walked round the village and checked out the houses etc and it seems a nice little place with a nice mix of houses. We were going to walk over the firlds back to the boat but the paths appeared to be blocked with nettles etc so as we didn't have a machete, or long trousers, discretion was the better part of valour so we continued down the road to the tow path and walked back along that. Whilst Helen was getting the lasagna ready I did the ironing to show my domestic skills off.