Last week, we found ourselves in Wigan for a very special family wedding. We had a lovely time and made some very happy memories. We spent the night of the wedding in a hotel in Standish, near Wigan and awoke to enjoy a gloriously sunny morning ahead of our flight back home to Gibraltar. The hotel was set in beautiful landscaped grounds so we headed out for a wander after breakfast.

Regular readers to this blog will know I have a bit of a thing for trees, especially the mature deciduous varieties and there were plenty for me to enjoy (and a rather fetching evergreen too).

At the very edge of the grounds was a footpath leading to Worthington Lakes, a series of lakes maintained by North West Water. Do you fancy joining us for a walk by the water?

How luscious and green… Those moss covered rocks are so inviting to touch, just like green velvet.

At the end of the path, we caught our first glimpse of the water through the trees.

The rhododendrons were looking stunning in the late spring sunshine.

I’m not a huge fan of rhododendrons to be honest, but their blooms were very pretty in the dappled morning sunlight.

The woodland path lead us along the edge of the lake. I think the Little Postcards enjoyed it as much as I did, going on a woodland adventure – it’s not something we get to do unless we are over visiting family in England. We really should seek out some woodland and countryside near to us in Spain.

The path brought us to a raised bank which divided the body of water into two. To the right there were yellow iris growing in the marshy banks.

To the left, there were fishermen enjoying the peace and quiet.

Oh, and there were some ducks too…

Across the grassy divide and we were back in amongst the trees again.

Did I mention, that I like trees? 😉

These hawthorn blossoms are a lovely shade of coral pink aren’t they?

The lake we were walking around appeared to be the central one of three. We could hear a waterfall not too far away through the trees, but we didn’t want to venture too far off the beaten track though as we had a plane to catch and I didn’t want to be having to change muddy clothes at the last minute!

The lake at the other end was completely different and had a bountiful show of water lily pads. You may just be able to make out the yellow buds of the lily flowers almost ready to burst open. I bet this will look glorious in a week or two.

There was much excitement when a heron was spotted sitting in a tree surveying the water.

We passed this water course with little brick bridges over it – do you know what they’re for? I have no idea.

We were then back on the bank of the central lake which would bring us back to the hotel.

We spotted a few trees with horseshoes nailed to them – perhaps this is a bridle path…

A highlight for my little botanist was the sighting of this grey squirrel in the branches overhead.

This rather fat fish was basking in the sunny shallows at the opposite side of the lake from the fishermen!

Just look at that blue sky!

And we were back at our hotel and it was time to head off to the airport… Goodbye Wigan, and thank you – it’s been lovely!