Bye Bye Balmaha

Mo and Ness left this morning, continuing their trip up to Llangollen. They’ve arranged to meet Carol and George this afternoon near Hampton Bank, about 3 hours away.

NB Balmaha pulling out of the Whitchurch Town Arm
Mo just can’t help fooling about….
….nor can Charles!
They’ll have had a good cruise, it’s been a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Tee shirt weather outside, nearly got my shorts out….

Unfortunately I had to spend most of the afternoon with my head down in the engine ‘ole, fixing a niggly leak on the new pipework leading to the blow heater. That’s sorted now, and I tidied up some more piping down there while I was at it.

After such a fine day we had a marvellous sunset.

Sculptured clouds
Locks 0, miles 0

Lots of lift bridges and a Pancake Party….

We left the Prees Branch yesterday, heading back up to the main line and turning right towards Whitchurch. I couldn’t post while we were down at the end of the branch, my 3 MIFI modem let me down for the first time; no network no matter where I put it. Then yesterday evening we had guests….

Two nights without getting on-line and my inbox is stuffed with 162 messages, and I’ve 60 posts to catch up with in Google Reader. Guess what I’m doing after posting this…

Heading back down the branch, following Moore2Life through Allman’s Lift Bridge.
Turning onto the main line….

…..and through Morris Lift Bridge. My turn to do this one.

The day was overcast but mild, and now the half-term holiday is over, there wasn’t another boat moving.

We took it in turns to do the bridges, seven of them in all, so our little convoy plodded on without interruption.

Tilstock Park Lift Bridge, green instead of the corporate black and white of BW.

This stretch of canal is remote and peaceful, pasture on both sides with the odd farmhouse nestling in a fold in the land.

M2L following on near Fens Bank
The two Hassell’s bridges were dealt with, then we passed the hire base at Whitchurch Marina.

Still waiting for the season to start here…
We didn’t see any Viking Afloat (or Yellow Perils, as they are called by some) boats out during the school holiday. I guess this base doesn’t start until Easter.

Round the left hand bend, past the entrance to the Town Arm, through New Mills Lift Bridge and we moored on the right on the visitor moorings.

Moored near Whitchurch
I think Ann’s telling Charles off about some transgression…

We were met by Mo and Ness off NB Balmaha. We knew they were heading this way, and would have been here sooner had they not got frozen in for a few days in Market Drayton.

We already arranged for Chas and Ann to join us for a pancake party, it being Shrove Tuesday and all, so the invite was extended to include Mo and Ness as well.

Mags made the batter, I tossed the pancakes, the guests brought the wine and we all had a very enjoyable evening. Sorry, no pictures, you’ll have to go to Balmaha’s or M2L's blogs. I was too busy with the frying pan…

Today was supposed to be wet and windy, so no cruising. We had the wind but very little rain. We had a trip up into town for a bit of shopping, and Charles invested in some new technology. I’ll let him tell you about that….

Catching the bus back, Ann somehow managed to convince the driver that I should have a bus pass like she and her husband. A bit of a double-edged sword, that. I saved 85p, but must be looking a bit careworn. I’ve still another 9½ years before I qualify! Maybe the driver needed glasses…..

The Rockers seem to have enjoyed their trip on the Montgomery, not withstanding the incident with the geese. We’ll hang around here till they catch up, I reckon.

Oh, and as promised, Hi, Dad and Ann! . My Dad and Stepmum have recently gone on line and are still sometimes having a little trouble with this “interweb thingy”. They’ll get there in the end…

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Prees Branch

We had two reasons the turning into the Prees Branch; the first was to get diesel down at Whixall Marina, the second to was to have a longer walk down the remains of the branch.

We headed down to the Marina this morning, Ann opening Starks Lift Bridge for both boats to go through.

Starks Lift Bridge.
The pay–at–pump price is currently 87.3p, so both boats got fully topped up. We each needed a gas bottle so that was sorted out as well.

We moored just outside the entrance to the Marina and after lunch took a walk down the remainder of the Prees Branch to see how far we could get. The navigable section of the Branch actually ends shortly after the Marina entrance.
The branch was built to cater for the villages heading down towards Prees, but never actually reached Prees, terminating near Quina Brook. The unnavigable section down to Waterloo Bridge is now a nature reserve.
This stretch is still in water although heavily silted and overgrown.

At Bridge 4 there is an earth dam across the canal to allow the farmer easier access to his adjacent field.

Bridge 4, looking north.
The watered section ends before Waterloo Bridge, at a substantial piled dam.

End of the watered section


Even though it's now dry the channel carries on to another dam where Waterloo Bridge used to stand. The humpbacked bridge has been removed for safety, and the channel has been filled in.

Waterloo Bridge
There's another barrier further along where a culvert used to go under the canal. The channel carrying the canal over the stream has been removed, and the stream has recently been dug out. In the debris on the bank side there are several old bricks presumably to do with the structure.

Culvert crossing.

A little further on the local kids have made a camp in the canal bed, then there's a short wider section before the canal disappears under overgrowth. The channel continues but is almost impassable with brambles and small bushes.

Lord of the Flies?

Charles standing in the wider section of the canal bed.

Some timber edging still exists on the far side from the towpath.
This is as far as we went. It didn't seem worthwhile fighting our way through the vegetation further on.

As well as the channel, the first few hundred yards of the towpath is also in very good condition. It seems unlikely, however, that this section of canal will ever be reinstated.

At first glance, it seems odd that the first mile of the canal is in very good condition and still navigable, but then it deteriorates rapidly. The reason for this is apparent once you know the origin of the basin which now contains the marina. This was originally a clay pit, the clay used for repairing and re-puddling canal beds. The clay would have been transported by boat, hence the need to maintain the first mile of the branch in good condition.

Returning to the end of the navigable section near the marina.
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The North Wind doth blow….

...And we shall have snow.

Snowy Ellesmere.It's our first dollop of snow for sometime, in fact we have not seen any since November. It wasn't much, maybe an inch or so.

Meg always enjoys herself in the snow.

Snow dog.

She also gets quite ambitious about the size of stick she can manage....
 
Big stick.

It's been a fine day today, blue sunny skies this morning, but a bit more cloud and a cold wind this afternoon.

It was about 11 o'clock by the time we got away from the services. The gulls had breakfast while we filled with water.

Hungry birds.

Leaving Ellesmere services.


After leaving the moorings behind we had the 87 yard long Ellesmere tunnel to negotiate before running alongside the meres.

Out into daylight from Ellesmere Tunnel.Blake Mere appears on the left first…

Blake Mere…..Followed by the larger Cole Mere. Sitting around 300 feet above sea level, these were left over from the last Ice Age. 

NBs Shropshire Lass II and Shropshire Lad will be leaving their home moorings in May, to make the trip down to London. Part crewed by disabled service personnel, the Lass will be taking part in the Queen’s Jubilee Flotilla on the Thames in June.

The ”Shopshires” at Lyneal WharfI do like the paragraph from the Shropshire Star article “More than 1,000 boats are expected to take to the water, led by the Royal Barge baring [sic] the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and other senior royals. “
Should be an interesting spectacle. I hope it’s not too cold…..
 
The canal crosses a valley on the sweeping Hampton Bank, giving long views towards Chester and The Wirral.

Looking north from Hampton Bank.
Fine views indeed, but cold too! That’s where that fresh wind was coming from!

Shortly after we crossed Whixall Moss on the straight embankment that keeps the canal above the nature reserve. Looks like good wood foraging there, too.

Over Whixall Moss

At the end of the straight we turned right onto the Prees Branch, under Allman’s Lift Bridge and moored behind Moore2Life.

Moored on the Prees Branch.

All the snow has gone, now. The last bit melted off our roof as we passed Bettisfield.

Tomorrow we’ll head down to Whixall Marina, at the end of the navigable section of the branch, to fill up with fuel.

Locks 0, miles 7

Return to Ellesmere

We decided to up-sticks and move on to Ellesmere today. Charles and Ann on Moore2Life were there already, and George and Carol on Rock’n’Roll were stopping at New Marton another day.

It’s been a fine day, mild earlier but getting a little cooler when a northerly breeze blew up later.

A canalside householder near the junction has a wry sense of humour….
You don’t see many of those up here!

They’d been a few boats about in the morning, but by the time we got going the traffic seemed to have eased. Just as well, with the blind bridges and tight bends around Val Hill to contend with.

Twists and turns near Val Hill

Someone needs their fringe cutting…

Nearing Ellesmere there’s a trio of young swans, two of them are not quite confident enough to share their patch of water with a noisy lump of tin…

Lift off!
I was ready for them, as they’d taken off in front of us when we went up a couple of weeks ago. It was still a bit of a snatched shot, though. I always find amazing the amount of effort that goes into getting off the water.

Arriving at Ellesmere we pulled in one the moorings near the sanitary station for a change, instead of going down the arm. Moore2Life and Jandai are just around the corner.

Chas and Ann and Molly, and Meg and I had a walk along the canal to the footpath across to the mere, chatting with Colin and Tina on NB Go-For-It on the way. Then on the way back, walking along the arm, I spotted a boat that looked familiar. We’d not seen Glen and Nigel on NB Ami Bovard (say it out loud…) to speak to  since we met them in Paddington Basin over two years ago. They’re passing through on their way up to Llangollen.

I picked up our mail from the Post Office on the way back, so now we’ve got our voting papers for the C&RT boaters representatives. I think we’ve made our choices…

We’ll stay here tomorrow, then move out on Saturday, weather permitting.

Locks 0, miles 3

Different Agendas

We all spent a windy yesterday tied up below New Marton Locks. There were a fair few boats out braving the elements, though. Mostly hirers out of Ellesmere or Trevor.

Today we had a chat and we’ve all got different priorities. Charles and Ann wanted to get to Ellesmere to pick up some mail, so they got off first.

Moore2Life gets under way….

With no urgency we decided to toddle along for a bit and moor at Frankton Junction, leaving George and Carol behind. George was still making repairs to Rock’n’Roll’s damaged rear canopy.

We follow a little later, leaving Rock’n’Roll behind.

Leaving New Marton
There’s a gap behind R’n’R now as well, Jan and Dai had also set off this morning, heading for Frankton.

Last night we had six boats moored along here, a hire boat had moored at either end of our four. We’ve left George and Carol in splendid isolation now.

The canal seemed unusually low today, I’ve no idea why.

Dry overflow weir near Bridge 9W
You’d have thought that low water levels would be the least of this canal’s problems, with all that water coming down from the Dee.

Lower Ridge Farm seems to specialise in black lambs….



By 13:00 we were tied up at Frankton Junction. NB Jandai is moored here too, as expected.

Frankton Junction moorings

After lunch Meg and I took a walk down the locks onto the Montgomery Canal.

Looking down from the top lock
The top two are a staircase, followed by two individual chambers. Access to the Montgomery is restricted as a lot of the navigable length is a SSSI, so the locks are chained up and have to be pre-booked.

Looking back from Lock 4

The Montgomery was proposed to take advantage of the Ellesmere Canal, joining it at Carreghofa on the Llanymynech Branch.
The Ellesmere’s original route was from Chester to Trevor, then to Frankton, turning right at the junction, down the locks then heading off towards Shrewsbury. The Llanymynech Branch left the main line just below the locks.
The Chester to Trevor bit was never built, the difficulty of the terrain would have made it uneconomical. And it never actually got as far as Shrewsbury either, terminating at Weston Lullingfields, 8½ miles short. 

The Montgomery was seen as a link from Carreghofa to Newtown, to carry limestone and agricultural produce up to the main line. The project was under-capitalised, and it was not competed until 1821, having taken 30 years to build. It was never really profitable and effectively closed following a major breach in 1936.

Below the locks, the main line comes in from the locks on  the left and heads away to Weston dead ahead, while the Llanymynech Branch heads off under the bridge from where the photo was taken.

Llanymynech Branch Junction

This branch has now become known as part of the Montgomery Canal, and the original main line of the Ellesmere Canal is known as the Weston Arm. This now ends at the building in the distance.

End of the Weston Arm, the original main line.
There are good moorings and sanitary facilities here. The line of the navigation from here is now a linear nature reserve, mostly dry.

Up to a couple of days ago the moorings here were completely iced up. Not a sign, now, after the mild weather we’ve had.

Back up onto what we now know as the Llangollen Canal, looking east from Bridge 1W, the main line comes from Trevor (behind) and makes a right turn down the Frankton Locks. Straight ahead is the route to Ellesmere, Whitchurch and finally the junction with the Shropshire Union Main Line at Hurleston. This was intended only as an arm to Whitchurch, but was extended to the (then) Chester Canal when the Chester to Trevor section of the Ellesmere was deemed impractical. 

Frankton Junction from Bridge 1W



The Montgomery, as we know it, was reopened to navigation in 1987. It’s currently viable to Gronwyn Bridge, 6½ miles from Frankton. There are several disconnected sections along it’s 32 miles, the challenge now is to join them up!







Locks 0, miles 3

Not much happening…..

It’s all been a bit quiet on the activity front. We spent the weekend moored just outside Crick, only 10 minutes over the border into England. The weather has turned around, cold, frosty nights and sunny days have been replaced by mild nights and days. It’s supposed to stay like this all week, giving some hope to those other winter cruisers who’ve been iced in for several days.
We’ve been OK, the constant flow of water down the Llangollen keeps it ice-free in all but the most severe of conditions.

Well, almost ice-free….

A few bits of thin stuff near Moreton Bridge.

Just around here there was a sight that made me want to get the saw out again, but it was on private land behind a barbed-wire topped fence…

Enough there for all winter!

There are quite a few boats about at the moment, it’s half-term so some families are getting an early season break in. We’re between two hire bases, Blackwater Meadow Marina at Ellesmere is home to a few Canal Cruising Club boats, and Trevor basin has an Anglo-Welsh base. So we’re seeing hire boats from both directions. And there’s the odd intrepid crew who’ve come all the way from Wrenbury!

We had an uneventful short trip today, filling up with water above New Marton Locks before dropping down them and mooring below. Jan and Dai (NB Jandai) are here as well.
After a cup of tea and a bite to eat I set to with the chain saw and sliced up the logs on the roof. The rings are now back on the roof, but looking a lot tidier!

We’re now starting to think about short-term plans. Long term we’re heading for the Fens, but before that I’ve and event in Liverpool in March, then another in Manchester in May. So we’ll be hanging around north Cheshire till then, before making a bee-line south and east to Northampton and the link to the River Nene. Sometime we've also got to get Seyella dry-docked for hull blacking. Not sure whether to go for a DIY job or pay someone this year. Anyone know of any covered dry docks for DIY use around Middlewich or Northwich?

Locks 2, miles 3