Busy, busy, busy.

I picked up our adjusted wedding rings on Friday, finally (Hurray). Good news, Mags isn’t going to leave me after all! It was my idea to have them resized, and with the delays in getting them back she was getting a bit antsy…

With good weather forecast over the weekend (well, Saturday, anyway) we decided to toddle off after picking up perishables from Tesco. But first we had to wait for the rain to stop…   Still, we untied and headed down to the winding hole at the end of the arm at 10:00.

I had a bit of advice for the ABC hire boat moored in the winding hole next to the warehouse… I got around OK, but a longer boat would have struggled.

So they untied and followed us out, both boats having to avoid another coming in. He was a lucky bunny, his boat would fit in the gap we’d left, unlike the hire boat.
They were able to get in a bit closer to the entrance though.

Heading out onto the main line we had one boat coming from the right and two coming from the left. So we just drifted until they’d decided which way they were going.
And that was it for excitement. We had a steady cruise through Ellesmere Tunnel, past the meres and out into open country.

It’s around 20p cheaper at Chirk…


We passed Saturn as we headed towards the tunnel.
She’s a Shropshire Union fly-boat launched in 1906 to carry perishable cargoes at speed along the Shroppie network, including the Llangollen. With finer lines than the traditional butty and towed by a team of horses, they were the fastest boats on the cut, delivering goods from the transport hub at Ellesmere Port to Birmingham as well as Cheshire and into Wales. In early 2003 a ground-up restoration took place at Malcolm Braine’s traditional yard at Malkin’s Bank on the T&M. Two and a half years later, she was back to her former glory and is now a regular sight at canal gathering around the country.
The blow-by-blow record of the restoration is here, but alas the images won’t load. More pictures and info on the main site here, though.

Ellesmere Tunnel, no-one coming at this one.

Rhododendrons on the wooded banks of the meres.



We pulled in on Hampton Bank again, with fine views out across Shropshire. We’re staying put today, showers all day apparently. Hey, summer’s here! The rain is warmer!

Locks 0, miles 4½