Waterway Wonder – Following on from two excellent talks by James Long of CRT and Paul Hindle, chair of MBBCS, this week we were treated to a fascinating talk by Russ Hedley of Nature Talks and Walks (https://www.naturetalksandwalks.co.uk/) who told us about the wonderful wildlife you can find on waterways. Russ told us that canals are a solution for the need that animals have to move when under stress from heat, drought and other pressures. And, of course, access to nature is good for people’s wellbeing which we will be hearing more about on 20th August when Phil Helm, psychotherapist and psychodrama practitioner will lead the session.
But first, next week on 13th August we are very pleased to have the Director of Community Engagement, Michaela Howell of Groundwork Greater Manchester to tell us more about the diverse communities along the canals and how waterways can help create connectedness.
Russ Hedley gave us many insights to the behaviour of wildlife, much of which can be seen locally. For example, the Waterboatman, an insect that spends its life upside down on the water so it can catch its prey while also keeping an eye on potential predators underneath it. And the beautiful dragonflies and damselflies that fly around our waterways.
The library at Little Lever is a lovely inspiring space for learning and MBBCS is very grateful to Bolton Council staff facilitating our use of the library for the talks, making it a comfortable and welcoming location.
This series of talks will end on 27th August with a presentation by author, musician and canal boater, Tom Kitching (seen below on boat at left) who will tell us about his travels on the canal network from Manchester to London, including his recent trip to Middlewood Locks on the MB&B Canal.
