Black and white

Cheshire, says Lonely Planet, is a black and white county. Tudor architecture; rebuilt Tudor architecture; mock Tudor architecture; Friesian cows. All of which we can now verify from personal experience.

It was also in Cheshire (Nantwich, to be precise) that we met our first black and white boaters. She is from Nigeria, though she's lived in London from age 15. He's a white Brit. I got chatting to her at the water tap, as they filled up before starting off for Gloucester. We talked about there not being many black people on the cut, and why that was. She was still a relative newbie, like ourselves, but enjoying it.

Black and white is also the realm of the silhouette. Trees against an evening sky. I love them. In a tandem of contrast, they create something special. You need them both.

My world isn't often black and white. You have to live with the greys. But there is black and white, and it matters.