And so to Ellesmere…

This morning we set off at around ten o’clock. It had started calm, but by mid-morning the wind had started to make itself felt. Just a breeze, but it’s steadily increasing and it’s supposed to be wild tonight.

We only went a couple of hundred yards before pulling in on the offside…
Well, you can’t pass up free supplies, can you?

This chap was also foraging but paused to watch us go by.

More logs, but you’d need a shallower draught than our 30” to get them – or a longer plank!

A little further on we passed Lyneal Wharf, home to the Lyneal Trust.

I was speaking to one of the volunteers last year, and he told me they were having a new boat built, to be called Lyneal Lady. She looks pretty good…

From here the woods around the meres start to flank the canal. This area, known a little optimistically as “North Shropshire’s Lake District”, is speckled with shallow lakes left behind when the ice retreated after the last Ice Age. Some are quite small, the largest, at 120 acres, is simply known as The Mere, and the town of Ellesmere sits alongside.

The canal runs between Cole Mere and Blake Mere, the former to the south and the latter to the north.

Cole Mere through the trees, with the sailing club on the far bank

Blake Mere


Ellesmere Tunnel passes through a ridge after Blake Mere, then it’s just over half a mile to the junction with the Ellesmere Arm.

Eighty-seven yard-long Ellesmere Tunnel


The Ellesmere Arm off to the right, the main line off to the left and Beech House, formerly the canal company headquarters on the left.

We turned down the arm, winded at the end and moored up about 200 yards from the terminus. Handy for our visitors tomorrow.

Hiya Jaq. Thanks for the comment. Hug to Mags passed on. You should be alright, it’s only going to be particularly cold over the weekend then is getting mild again – well, above zero, anyway! So any ice shouldn’t be too bad.  Keep well.

Locks 0, miles 4