Ribbling in a Winter Wonderland

Ribblesider Ken has sent in these stunningly beautiful pictures of the River Ribble.



Have you been down to the Ribble yet? If not, get your boots on (but not your skates - you wouldn't want to be on those ice floes when the tide turns!) and get down to the river...



The Ribble looks spectacular whatever the tide, but it's pretty special when the tide is just turning after high tide, as the ice floes which have formed while the river is still, then start to creak and break up as they are carried down underneath the gas pipe bridge and Penwortham old Bridge...



...but then alot of the ice is tending to hang about just upriver of the Liverpool Road Bridge (Penwortham New Bridge) too, right across the mudflats and riverbanks at low tide.

Shame for the wading birds though - we've seen Redshank flying around looking for their precious feeding grounds at low tide but the mudflats are thickly caked in ice.

Chris of Broadgate has taken some great pictures of these - check out our sister blog The Ribble Cycle Diaries for more pictures!!

High and low tides over the next few days are as follows:
Saturday 9th Jan - LOW tide: 3.44pm HIGH tide: 6.29pm
Sunday 10th Jan - LOW tide: 4.37am for the early birds, 5.04pm for the rest of us; HIGH tide: 7.10am and 7.45pm;
Monday 11th Jan - LOW tide: 5.48am & 4.16pm; HIGH tide: 8.22am & 8.55pm;
Tuesday 12th Jan - LOW tide: 6.47am & 7.15pm; HIGH tide: 9.22am & 9.52pm.

Don't forget that the tide rises quickly and goes down more slowly when aiming for your preferred times...

But in the meantime, carry on enjoying Ken's great pictures...



















Thanks Ken!!

...and you can check out the Duxbury Ramblers and Ribble to Amazon and The Ribble Cycle Diaries for more excellent Ribble and Winter and Wildlife pictures from around Lancashire.

Happy Ribbling!

Please email us your Ribble pictures to savetheribble@tiscali.co.uk and we'll put them on the blog.