Duxbury Ramblers: Monday 25 October

Had a day at Moses Gate Country Park/Crompton Lodges and Nob End along the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal. The Canal has lengths that are not in water plus a lot of the Bolton part have been filled in. There has been some work done on the Manchester & Bury side - I hope they get round to the Nob End locks as they would be a sight worth seeing.

Nob End is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Local Nature Reserve. The contamination of the land from the old chemical works has resulted in an alkaline soil which supports a variety of plants, many types of orchid, amongst these are Fragrant orchid - Gymnadenia conopsea, the Northern marsh orchid - Dactylorhiza purpurella, the Early marsh orchid - Dactylorhiza incarnata and other species.

We could not make out what this was our best guess was algae.

Broad-leaved Pond weed - Potamogenton natans

Carline Thistle - Carlina vulgaris

Common Polypody - Polypodium vulgare

Confused Michaelmas Daisy - Aster novi-belgii

Coot

Lots of Canada Geese

All seemed too friendly

The lodges were full of bird life.

They have plenty of swans and a Tern Raft.

These lodges were part of a paper mill which dated back to 1674 it ceased that in 1883 and reopened as Farnworth Bleachery in 1894 this finally closed in the 1930s, there is nothing left of it apart from Rock Hall which was restored in 1982.

Fool's Parsley - Aethusa cynapium

Fool's Watercress - Apium nodiflorum

Hard Fern - Blechnum spicant

Hedge Mustard - Sisymbrium officinale

Lesser Swine-cress - Coronopus didymus

Walking along the canal

A sculpture made from CDs

The road to Canal Wood.

This was the entrance to the lock - the wooden gates are long gone, it is a three lock staircase. It was used to lift the barges up to the next part of the canal or down. One day we may see them restored and working again.