Logging on in England

Meg had a relaxing evening after out guests left yesterday….
Both the girls in my life like a good fire!

Today was so much better than yesterday. After a cold night it was bright, calm and dry. What a shame we couldn’t have had yesterday’s company today, but then we might have had to put up with yesterday’s weather today.

Our first tunnel for the day, Whitehouse Tunnel.
Fine brisk lining in this and Chirk Tunnel.

Just beyond the tunnel we pulled in on the offside for the first of our two log stops. Contractors were cutting back trees here as we went up and there was still plenty of smaller stuff to be had. There’s more still, but it’ll need to be sawn on the bank to make it manageable.

A bunch of towpath walkers advised us of a fallen tree in the cutting leading to Chirk Tunnel, something to look out for.

Chirk Tunnel cutting….

…and the fallen tree.

We just scraped over the upper branches in neutral, then I had a “shall I, shan’t I” moment. In the end my altruistic nature won out, we moored just before the tunnel and I walked back toting my trusty bow saw. Of course, having retrieved the tree from the cut, and cut it back to clear the towpath, I deserved something for my trouble, didn’t I?

Heading for Chirk Tunnel, two good-sized lumps of birch on the roof

Mags has just put some wood on the fire, maybe not such a good idea at this point….

Cough!!
See the nice brick lining? No, I couldn't either!
We bumped our way through as  I couldn’t see much with my eyes streaming, and I knew what a kipper feels like by the time we got to the other end!

Relief, out into the basin before the aqueduct.

Back across the aqueduct…

….and into

We had fine sunshine as we headed along Chirk Bank then turned right to head south towards St. Martin’s.



We only met two boats all day, of course one of them had to be at a bridge…

St. Martin’s Moor Bridge

We’ve left the hills and valleys behind now
New Marton Locks were in our favour after passing that boat at Bridge 14.
Even though we love our life aboard, I can’t help a twinge of envy for the couple who live in the beautiful Top Lock cottage.

New Marton Top Lock

Meg and I decided to walk the ¼ mile between the locks, leaving Mags to negotiate another fallen tree.
Someone had already cut a chunk out of the trunk so the towpath was clear, a piece of which looked very tempting…
Trouble was I couldn’t lift it, my shoulders were aching by the time I’d rolled it 200 yards along the towpath to the bottom lock! At least I was able to roll it onto the roof as Seyella dropped down the lock.

We moored below the locks, roughly where we were on the way up, after a long day with the stops and starts. But very enjoyable.

Moored below New Marton Locks 

After a cup of tea I got out the chain saw and set to. By dusk I’d got about half of the logs cut into rounds. Early start tomorrow to get the rest done before we move.

Locks 2, miles 7