Just ambling along.

What has it been, a week since the last post? Well, nearly, anyway. Not much has been happening, we’ve just slowly chugged along, short days finishing around lunchtime.

We moved away from the moorings above Grindley Brook Locks on Friday, heading up a mile to pull in just past the Whitchurch Arm to wait out the wet and windy weekend.

New Mills Lift Bridge and the entrance to the Whitchurch Arm

Breakfast for Mum, Dad and the sprogs.

Come Monday the weather had improved again, a fine dry day for a bit of cruising. Not a lot, three lift bridges and about 4½ miles took us to the edge of Whixall Moss.

A beautiful wooded section, full of birdsong, after we’d passed the two Hassels lift bridges.

The canal is a bit winding along here, leaving some blind corners and bridges. Of course, if you can’t see through a bridge there’s bound to be a boat coming…

There was quite a bit of traffic about, probably boats that had stayed put over the weekend like us.

Mags posing after negotiating Tilstock Park Lift Bridge

Moored for the night before Bridge 44, Roundthorn Bridge.
There are more moorings just this side of the bridge, with parking alongside they could be handy for a grocery delivery…

After a quiet and very dark night we woke up to another fine morning, and were on the way soon after 10:00. 

The canal here crosses the ancient peat bogs of Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses. It must have been difficult to seal the navigation on this unstable and soggy terrain. Over the years the edges of the mosses have been drained for agriculture…

…but are still prone to getting waterlogged.

A little further west a large area is still as nature intended, especially now that peat-cutting is banned. It’s an area in which wildlife thrives.

The drying out has resulted in subsidence as the peat shrinks, and the canal is contained within piled sides on the long straight west of Press Junction.

Prees Junction, with the main line on the left, toll-house in the middle and the Prees Branch to the right.

Begun in the early 1800s, the branch was intended to go to Prees, a distance of about 5 miles. But like many of the later construction schemes it ran out of steam before reaching it’s destination. Now it’s only about ¾ of a mile to Whixall Marina, followed by an un-navigable 2 mile long pond which is now a nature reserve. A group of us had a walk up the remains of the branch some time ago…

The long straight west of Prees.


Somewhere along here the canal makes a brief visit into Wales, and the ducks are shy!

The border dips southwest here, down to the village of Northwood before heading back northwest to cross the canal again just west of Bettisfield.

We topped up the the water tank at Bettisfield Bridge, then carried on around a couple of bends onto Hampton Bank where we moored looking out over the flat plain of Shropshire.

A field of rape coming into flower.


Looking south and east from Hampton Bank.

These early finishes on fine days have given me a chance to remove and service the Webasto water heater. While it was out I redesigned the mounting system and de-rusted and painted the swim on that side.


Tomorrow we’ll head into Ellesmere. The weather’s due to turn again so it might be a little damp, unfortunately.

Locks 0, miles 9 since the last post.