THE MILL AT CONDER GREEN

A really lovely day today, well until the frustrations of the laptop going extra slow again, but that's another story for tomorrow.

Mum's Neighbour has been so good to her and my sister, especially during lockdown and recently after her accident that we decided to take him out for a nice lunch as a thank you.  In the extras collage is a photo of him and also my Mum and sister.

He had recommended this place before and had taken my Mum and sister their himself and they loved it.  So I wanted to try it for myself.  Where the Mill used to be is an a modern Inn with a rooms and a lovely restaurant.

The meal was lovely - I do think my gravy was a little salty for my taste but still delicious.  The home-made chicken and mushroom pie was excellent (shortcrust pastry too, not just a puff pastry topping).  
Everyone enjoyed what they had.  The service was rather slow at times, partly because there were only about 3 other groups of 4 in besides us and so they let a waitress go home early.  Still we were in no hurry and they were so friendly and helpful.  

I thought we would arrive early so I could wander around to take some photos of the canal, lock, bridges etc.  There were two beautiful swans and family of ducks on the pond.  There were also four horses in a field across the way.  I went to take a photo of the dappled horse when this rather large one poked his head around the fence at me (see in collage in extras) - a great photobomb.

I heard a racket and it was a rather large gaggle of geese flying overhead.  On the way out we saw the two very young signets in a corner of the car park.  They had somehow got out of the riverside but couldn't find their way back.  I tried so hard to direct them but they totally ignored me.  They would be too heavy for me to lift over the fence and anyway I didn't want to frighten them. It looks like somebody else was trying to help them too as there was a trail of bread leading them round the corner and through a gate which they had opened specially to let them out - they just wouldn't go.  No idea where the parents had gone.

Conder  Green is not far from Glasson Dock in Lancashire.  For those that like tha sort of thing here is a little bit of info about The Mill and Canal Lock, which apparently is still in use in the summer months by barges.

Outside the Mill and you will see lock No 6, built between 1823-1825. The sandstone and timber lock serves the Glasson branch of the main Lancaster canal way.  The Mill was at one time fed by canal water. The canal company purchased the Mill in 1824 for £1,100 in order to obtain its right to take water from the River Conder and divert it into the canal and thence to the mill wheel, the tail race returning the water to the canal below the lock. The canal ends at the basin at Glasson Dock, that served as a reservoir for the outer dock at low tides. It is now full of seagoing yachts. There is a large boatyard and British Waterways mooring
 The Mill
Built around 1740 the building was purchased by The Canal Company in 1824 for the sum of £1,000 for the purpose of feeding water from the river and into the canal. The mill was in a state of disrepair and sold to the Western Railway Company who re-built it in 1826 for the princely sum of £750. The railway company then leased it to William Pye for a bi-annual rent of £57! The mill had three pairs of stone, a drying kiln, two cottages and a garden. An "Iron Cistern, "Clows' and "Rack' (mechanical gears) were erected to control water from the river to the mill wheel, the tail returning to the canal in the 'mill race' below the building.