Ta ta Ellesmere…

Hello Hampton Bank!
Yes, we’re finally slowly heading back towards the Shroppie.Our minor change of plan incurred another modification when friend Val decided to pop across to visit yesterday evening. We had to head back into Ellesmere in the afternoon rather than leaving it till today. It did us a favour, actually. It’s rained all morning and we’d have got wet moving earlier. As it was we left it till gone 12 before getting away, the rain easing and just a hint of brightness in the sky.

I also picked up the new Dyson cordless vac and had a play before our guest arrived. It does what it says on the tin…

Away out of the Ellesmere Arm today after the rain stopped.

Hurleston bound, 25½ miles away. Should be able to do that in a fortnight…

Through the short Ellesmere Tunnel takes the canal into what is locally known as the Shropshire Lake District. This area of nine shallow meres is the result of glacier melt at the end of the last Ice Age. The last huge blocks of ice which formed the depressions persisted till around 18,000 years ago. This area, and westward into North Wales, was the furthest south the ice came at that time.

Ellesmere Tunnel

Blake Mere…

…and the largest of the nine, (apart from THE Mere at Ellesmere), Cole Mere.

I hope this chap has more luck foraging for food than we have had looking for wood.

We’ve got to the stage now that all the timber cut by contractors at the end of last year has been discovered. The only possibility now is a conveniently situated casualty of high winds. Ah well, we’ve done well this year.



We had a couple of light showers blow over as we headed steadily west, but nothing worth putting waterproofs on for.

We pulled over at Hampton Bank, where the canal traverses a wide valley on a long embankment. From here you get wide views out over the Shropshire Plain, but, more importantly, a clear line-of-sight to the Sutton Coldfield TV mast.

We’ll find out who killed Lucy Beale tonight…. Me? No, I don’t watch the soaps… I wonder who's going to find Nasty Nick's remains?

Oh, Chas, Ann. No I didn’t forget! They were lovely!

Locks 0, miles 4