Gout and Pennywort

Sounds like a firm of solicitors! But, sadly, the canal is suffering from the latter and I think I may be suffering with the former. I've certainly got a bit of a sore foot at the moment, whatever it is. Add to that waking up this morning desperate for the loo only to find all three cassettes needed emptying and you begin to imagine the start to the day I've had! Luckily, we are tied up just short of the services at Burscough otherwise things would have been serious!
We arrived here yesterday passing this nice restoration at Lathom

and will be staying for a day or two, enjoying great connectivity with canal and town centre amenities  right on our doorstep.

Going back to the canal, it turns out that weed I photographed the other day is floating Pennywort and  I have since day learned a little about it. It was all around us when we set off from Spencer's Bridge

but Burscough is clear, thankfully. It was introduced from South America as a decorative oxygenator for ornamental ponds in the Eighties but is now spreading like wildfire in our ecosystem. Banned from sale in 2014, it is also an offence to do anything that encourages its growth. Not that it needs any help as it grows up to 200mm (8" to you) in a single day!

C&RT have sprayed it in places to little effect but will be using a specialist cutting machine (just one?) to tackle it in May. I fear such an operation will be a regular requirement from now on, and might still prove to be inadequate.

Right, it's paracetamol and coffee for breakfast then hop (almost literally!) on the train to Manchester for the Christmas markets!