IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Lockgate West, RUNCORN, WA7 6LF

In its heyday the canal carried more than 3 million tonnes of traffic, today it forms part of the popular boat cruising route known as the Cheshire Ring. The Bridgewater connects with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Preston Brook, Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Leigh, The Rochdale Canal and The Manchester Ship Canal in Manchester. http://www.bridgewatercanal.co.uk/

The Bridgewater Canal seen from the southern end of the woodland park at Norton Priory. The site of Norton Priory now comprises of the remains of an abbey complex dating from the 12th to 16th centuries, and an 18th century country house. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Priory

The site of Norton Priory now comprises of the remains of an abbey complex dating from the 12th to 16th centuries, and an 18th century country house. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Priory

The European Eagle Owl is the largest owl in the world and a small number breed in the wild in the UK - many sightings however are lost ‘pets’. This bird was a guest at the Norton Priory Museum and Gardens, near Runcorn which opened the doors on a brand new museum on August 1st 2016. Thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the £4.5m new museum covers the 900 year history of the site, displaying many of the medieval and later objects discovered at Norton Priory during archaeological excavations. Over this weekend medieval visitors to the priory included pilgrims, craftspeople, cooks and knights in the undercroft and camped out by the herb garden.

This scene is taken from the grounds of Norton Priory Museum, Runcorn. If you walk to the bottom of the gardens, they end at the Bridgewater Canal. There are always plenty of narrowboats to be seen as they pass continuously.

Bridgewater Canal - Runcorn Section

Bridgewater Canal from bridge south of Norton Priory. Castlefields Lake in the background.

The Kneeling Monk sculpture, in Scottish red sandstone, by Thomas Dagnall overlooks the medieval herb gardens at Norton Priory. The present garden at Norton Priory was made as part of the BBC’s ‘Hidden Gardens’ programme. The skeletons in the Museum collection were examined to discover what diseases they had. This information was then used to choose herbs that would have been used to treat these diseases. Some of the most common diseases had specific herbs to treat them. The most common diseases among the skeletons uncovered at Norton Priory were: · Tuberculosis (Symptoms: Coughing blood, fever, sweats, large lymph nodes, boils, scabs). · Leprosy (Symptoms: Blindness, scabs, swollen feet, clawed hands, gangrene) · Paget’s Disease (Symptoms: Pain, soft bones, fractures, swollen skull) · Rickets (Symptoms: Non­fatal bone pain and teeth defects). The garden was planted using plans from other monastic sites. There is room between each bed for one canon to kneel and another to walk behind.

The power station in the background is Fiddlers Ferry on the other side of the Mersey