End of the world!

Well, not quite. But this is Knott End and how we came to be here today is a bit of a story.

Briefly about the picture – There is a ferry goes from Knott End to Fleetwood and it is Fleetwood that you can see across the water. The water is the Wyre Estuary and the tide is just coming in. The ferry is waiting on the other side until the water is deep enough for it to start crossings – around 1pm today. You can see a few people waiting for the ferry at the end of the jetty. The sculpture is of course a ‘Matchstick Man and his Dog’ and was created in memory of L S Lowry who used to stand at this spot sketching the ferry and its occupants. I liked the way the piece reflected the colours around. It was a lovely sunny day.
 
******************
So, why we were there?
 
Quite a few years ago now, when I had first retired from my ‘proper’ job, I did some work for my son-in-law – distributing magazines. This entailed my travelling around northern counties to various outlets, sorting out magazines sold, collecting money and delivering new batches. The magazines were things like ‘Country Kitchen’, ‘Poultry Keeping’, Horses Today’, ‘Tractors’ – etc. So the outlets ranged from big garden centres, through agricultural suppliers and farm shops, to little teashops and cafes. I loved the job – wandering the countryside, visiting these interesting places and meeting lovely people. I made very little money and what I did earn I tended to spend – I knew the best places for coffee and scones, the best places for vegetables, meat, flowers, bread. You get the idea! On occasions, Gordon would come with me and we knew the best places for breakfast. So, in the end, reluctantly I had to give it up. But I will always remember happily many of the places I went to.
 
So, what had this to do with today? Well, one place I used to go to was a small agricultural suppliers at Cockerham. It was rickety building that always had tractors parked outside and I had to climb some steps to get to a tiny office that would not have looked out of place a hundred years ago. It felt like the end of the world, in several ways. I was not far wrong. The road I was on went further, but I never explored it. Instead I took a weird road through the marshes to Garstang.
 
Yesterday we were looking at the map, as we had decided to go to the sea on the West Coast near Fleetwood. It was then that I realised that the road led to Knott End and the ferry, which we had seen on a previous occasion from the Fleetwood side. And I also remembered that this was a place sheilwill knows well. It all linked up.
  
So, we set off for Knott End. Sadly, a little teashop I used to go to had closed and the agricultural suppliers had turned into a Pet Store. But it felt very familiar going along that road again. And we continued to Knott End. What a great place. We went across on the ferry to Fleetwood and back again. Then we came back home via Glasson Dock for smoked delicacies. A good day in the sunshine, happy memories and a new place found.