Summer morning

I pass this spot most days on my way to the station to catch my train to work. But I had never stopped there... until today.

And, yes, it's a beautiful place. But I did discover one thing - it might look idyllic when viewed from a car, but the scene isn't so idyllic when standing in the beauty spot trying to shut out the passing traffic.

This is the Stroudwater Canal at Eastington, Gloucestershire.

A major project is just getting under way to reopen a long stretch of the Stroudwater, plus part the Thames and Severn Canal.

It's an exciting scheme and, with the canal passing literally 10 metres from my front door a few miles further east, I'm quite looking forward to seeing narrow boats sailing by.

Unfortunately, there is one major hitch. The stretch of the canal they are planning to restore is landlocked because it is the wrong side of the M5 motorway - and the plans don't include any means of crossing the tarmac terror.

So I have a horrible feeling the whole project might end up as an expensive white elephant. We'll see.