A medley of Animals, Part 1.

Always nice to see a lamb in spring. This one was somewhere on the Shropshire Union.

This timber horse is found by Nantwich Basin and services and really looks like it is leaning into the traces to set off. It is made up of old lock gates and John Merrill did the timber work and Justin Taylor the metalwork. There is a sculpture trail along the canal and I think it was put in place to celebrate the restoration of the embankment and aqueduct.

These young lambs were reall enjoying life as they ran helter skelter, hither and thither. It really lifted the spirits as we approached Macclesfield on that canal.

This Canada goose chick delayed us a bit as it took a swim in the lock as we entered it, just after the Manchester Velodrome and the Etihad Stadium. No.4 of the Ashton Locks I think. They weren't very grateful after I had managed to fish it out with a bucket.

This Canada goose chick delayed us a bit as it took a swim in the lock as we entered it, just after the Manchester Velodrome and the Etihad Stadium. No.4 of the Ashton Locks I think. They weren't very grateful after I had managed to fish it out with a bucket.

Not what you expect to find at the summit lock of the Rochdale Canal. Just another of the surprises that the canal offered us.

This family came to see us as we were moored up at Viking Marine in Goole. In 2007 there were around 22,000 mute swans in the UK, a bit down from their maximum of 26,000. They are called mute not because they make no noise, but because they make less noise than the other species.