Dodging the showers and a bit of a queue at Grindley Brook.

We finally got away from the moorings at Roundthorn Bridge on Thursday. Amber’s tummy was still a bit uncertain, but stable enough to be able to move on without fear of any “accidents”.

A couple of miles on we had to negotiate the lift Bridge at Tilstock Park.

This is unusual in that it’s not painted the traditional black and white of most of the canal infrastructure. A little research led to the fact that it’s actually owned and maintained by Shropshire County Council, and not the Canal and River Trust.

During construction of the section from Frankton to Whitchurch (originally to be the Whitchurch Branch) the work stalled at Tilstock Park. Until the digging started again there was no need for a bridge here, when it did the Ellesmere Canal Company conveniently forgot to build one. So the local landowner made his own, and the current one is adopted by the local authority.

After the bridge we toddled on to moor between Blackhoe Bridge No. 40 and the disused Cambrian Railway Bridge 39. This carried the branch line to Ellesmere from the main line at Whitchurch, across the mosses.

Friday saw us tied up near the Whitchurch Arm, just a couple of miles and two lift bridges further on. Moving on in the morning and being moored by lunchtime meant that we missed the showers that tended to develop in the afternoon. We spent a wet Saturday here, and on Sunday morning I had a walk up into town to collect a package. I usually follow the footpath that roughly traces the route of the filled in Whitchurch Arm rather than taking to the road. There’s little evidence of it now, just an overgrown bit near where it ducked under Smallbrook Road.

The terminal basin, once bustling with boats, is now a park. In the wet weather though it’s origins are evident in the form of large puddles in the grass!

When I got back, in need of water and with rubbish, recycling and loo tanks to empty, we moved on to join  the queue above Grindley Brook Locks. We were seventh in line, not the worst that we’ve seen but it was still a couple of hours before we were able to start the descent of the triple staircase followed by the three single chambers lower down.

Staircase locks, where one chamber drops directly into the next, are a solution to a rapid change in elevation, but tend to be a bottleneck as boats can’t pass in the flight. The duty lock-keepers operate a three up, three down policy to keep the traffic flowing fairly freely.

Having negotiated the staircase we had an easy run down the three singles with boats coming up. Until we came under the bridge at the bottom lock where there was a bang under the counter and the engine stalled. We drifted out while I restarted the engine, but the prop was well jammed and it stalled as soon as I engaged gear, forward or reverse. With the help of the couple on a boat waiting to go up we got tied on the lock landing, where I managed, with a big hammer and a mooring pin, to dislodge a lump of wood which had wedged itself between the blades and the underside of the hull.

No damage done, luckily.  

We waited for Richard and Ruth, on Mountbatten and Jellicoe today, who dropped us off a gas bottle and topped up the diesel tank. They’re going slowly, Richard is still suffering from a bad fall several days ago, leaving him with broken ribs and painful bruising. but he’s soldiering on, bless him.

Sorry, I seem to be very short of photographs to accompany this post, must be out of practice.

Here’s one though…

 

Tomorrow we’ll continue on towards Hurleston where we’ll rejoin the Shroppie main line and head south.

Thanks for all the welcome back messages, by the way.

Locks 6, miles 6¼  

And we’re back, with a clean, shiny bottom too!

 I left you several weeks ago as we came out of Llangollen, heading back to Chirk and our appointment with the bitumen brush at Chirk Marina. We steadily worked our way back downstream, arriving outside the marina a day or two before we were due in.

It all went a bit pear-shaped, though, pretty well straight away. The marina uses a slipway to haul boats out, and with limited headroom we had to remove the large top box from the roof. That turned out to be a waste of time though, as Seyella was too deep to get onto the trolley to be hauled out! To be fair they did try hard, but I got a call at Val and John’s (where we were staying) on the Tuesday afternoon saying that they couldn’t do it.  So John dropped me off to collect the boat again on the Wednesday afternoon, after I’d had my second Covid jab (Hurray!), and we were all back aboard later that afternoon.

We cruised up to Fron to fill the nearly empty water first, then turned around to head back downstream. Ringing round secured us another slot, this time at Ellesmere’s Blackwater Meadow Marina, but not until the end of June.

Amber making life a little difficult as we cruised along…

Back over the Ceiriog into England for the last time this trip – hopefully!

So we spent the time pottering back and forward, a few days near Frankton Junction and back to Ellesmere, then a few more at Hampton Bank and Prees Junction and back to Ellesmere. Now you can see why I haven’t bothered to post! We seem to have been doing that a lot!

Our first cygnets of the year near Ellesmere.

Amber enjoying the sunshine…

Feeding time for the moorhen chicks.

Ugly little blighters but their mother loves’ em!

I’ve not been idle though. I bought a recovered oak restaurant table top, then cut it, planed and chamfered it, and finally oiled it, and it’s now our dinette table.

A lot better than the one we had before made from a piece of chipboard with an edge glued on!

While we enjoyed that period of fine, dry, weather towards the end of last month I also repaired a few spots, mostly around hinges and fittings, where rust had bubbled the paint. They should be good for another year or two.

We spent the last weekend of June around Ellesmere, then Seyella finally went in for blacking on the Monday morning. John picked us up to spend the duration of the work with them.

I spent the first couple of days waiting for the phone to ring, them telling me there was a problem. The expectation was too much so I made the call on Wednesday, to be told they were running a bit behind, but the hull had been washed, scrubbed and scraped, and the first coat of Intertuf 16 had been applied that afternoon. Hallelujah! Hull, stern gear and anodes were in good condition, requiring no immediate remedial work, although the edges of the baseplate at both ends will need to be reinforced the next time she’s out of the water. No big deal, that one.

Mags enjoying the sun in Val and John’s garden.

It was Saturday afternoon before we could get back aboard, they’d applied two coats all over and an extra one along the water line. They also coated the inside of the weedhatch, a place where another boatyard I’d entrusted the work to conveniently forgot…

By half-two I’d paid the bill and we were heading out onto the cut again. 

We pulled up at the moorings near Hampton Bank for the night, then moved on down to past Prees Junction to meet a Tesco delivery to top up the cupboards on Monday evening.

Out on the moss yesterday morning.

Moorings near Roundthorn Bridge.

We were intending to move on today but Amber has been poorly, neither of us got much sleep last night as she needed to go out every hour or two. A bad case of the runs… probably something she picked up. But she seems to be better today.

And that’s about it, all up to date. I promise I’ll try to keep up now.

Locks 2, miles 61½  

All the way up

We left it till last Wednesday before moving on from our mooring near Chirk Marina. With no definite plan in mind apart from filling with water below the aqueduct we didn’t know where we’d finish up. As it was we pulled in opposite the water taps, pinned in almost with sight of the spectacular structure.

Heading to Whitehouse Tunnel

Along the channel above the River Dee

I’d been looking to part company with John Sage, the bike I’d bought in Macclesfield when Mags was hospitalised following her stroke way back in 2012. I’d not used it for a while and it’s just been taking up space either on the frame mounted on the counter or on the roof, steadily deteriorating. Anyway a couple on the boat moored behind us spotted the for sale sign, had a brief test run and adopted it. Although it looked scruffy it was in full working order, and they got a bargain.

Friday dawned fine and dry, and after a lovely walk with Amber we set off towards Llangollen.

The classic shot of our shadow on the aqueduct.

I’d forgotten how beautiful the channel above the Dee is.

Shallow though. We had to tow one boat off the bottom at one point.

Passing through the narrows above the town we finished up tying up in the basin, the limit of navigation for powered boats.

One of the horse drawn trip boats working from Llangollen Wharf.

The last couple of times we’ve been here I‘ve not walked up to Horseshoe Falls, Meg not being fit enough for the the 3½ mile trip. But Amber is well able…

Pentre Felin

Chain Bridge

Horseshoe Falls, the source of the Llangollen Canal.

Looking upstream from Dee Bridge in Llangollen.

Today we left the basin, moving just half a mile to the linear moorings above the town. It’s closer for a bit of shopping from here. Not much, I’m keeping the cupboards and fridge and freezer light for when we go into Chirk Marina for blacking next week. We’ll be moving on tomorrow, probably back to Trevor.

Locks 0, miles 7

We’re in Wales!

For the first time since we joined the Llangollen last autumn we’re finally heading upstream to the top of the navigation! OK, we’ve made brief forays across the border to Chirk Tunnel to turn around, but they don’t really count.

So we did what we’d planned, turning around a week last Friday at Lion Quays and headed back towards Ellesmere.

Beautiful days but chilly nights

Full moon on the 26th.

We arrived back in Ellesmere a week ago and moored on the Ellesmere Arm, surprisingly empty.

Val and John came to see us on the Wednesday, and we enjoyed fish and chips for the chippy. Well up to their usual standard, both in quality and portion size!

With Mags’ pills finally collected an cupboards and fridge refilled we headed off westward again on Thursday, this time with the clear intent of getting up to Llangollen.

Around the bendy bits at Val Hill

With a lot of hire boats out and about I was dreading meeting something coming the other way here, several blind bridges to negotiate… But we got away with it, not coming across a convoy till Frankton Junction.

With overnight stops near Bridge 61 and again at St. Martins we crossed Chirk Aqueduct and through the tunnel on Saturday, pulling in to moor opposite Chirk Marina.

Farm cat’s lunch sorted near New Marton Locks.

Cutting north of Chirk Tunnel

With the weather looking dodgy for today and tomorrow, but better on Wednesday, it looks like we’ll leave it till then to cross the Dee on Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, and then onwards along the valley to the terminus.

Muscovy Duck yesterday… “Gimme some bread!”

Amber and I had a splendid walk first thing today, before the rain. Back to Chirk Tunnel but along the top of the cutting on the east side. Even the activity at the laminate factory couldn’t detract from the sounds and smells of the local fauna and flora preparing for summer. Lovely.

Amber had other things on her mind though, lots of squirrels to chase through the trees!  

Since last post – Locks 4, miles 21.5