Following the Safari Park we stayed in an absolutely delightful family run hotel in the small town of Minden. (Hotel Exquisit if interested). I think the club had taken most of the rooms, making this probably the first Exclusive Hotel Session.
With a bit of time in the morning to go explore I decided to do just that. I'd not researched this place at all and a quick chat with the owner revealed that the city is famous for having a waterway junction where the river Weser crosses the Mittelland canal. So that's where I decided to go.
Random art piece en route.
Weser Pils must be the locally produced beer brand. I don't know if they use the river water in the brewing process though.
One of the many bridges that crosses the waterways in this area. As with the last few days it was raining again, and having already done a stupid rainsoaked walk a few days earlier I was doubting myself in doing it a second time, I mean how stupid must I be to be out at 5.30 in the rain to go and look at a bridge?
After a 5K walk I ended up at the canal. Yep, just a canal. It runs east/west.
But this is where it crosses the river and the river runs north/south.
On this map I'm at the yellow markers over on the right hand-side. What it's illustrating is that via a lock gate its possible for a boat to move down off the canal onto the river. What it also revealed to me is that I was also on the wrong side of the canal to be able to go over to that easily. Yes I could have crossed the bridge and doubled back but it was closed and I lacked the time to find another route.
One of the main pumping stations in the area. The water would have been a significant source of power to the town, and water for the beer obviously.
After a detour through an industrial estate I came across this little rail line and decided to follow it Stand By Me style. Altogether now, "Lollipop, Lollipop..."
It was about 20 minutes walking along this rail line that I suddenly realised I was walking away from the hotel, not towards it. Looked like I was following the railway in the wrong direction into the centre of town.
Buildings like this do not exist in the outskirts of Minden, they're in the centre. I was totally in the wrong place.
So with no time for any more photos after this one (for the graffiti) it was time to focus on heading back to the hotel at pace. Turns out I was about 3K away, not too bad after all but enough at the time to panic me into running and as someone who can't run the urgency was there and I was getting a little morning exercise for free.
Fortunately I made it back with enough time to grab a quick breakfast before heading off to the next park.
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