26th-29th of May 2016. A train, a hill and a paddle-board (and some fish!) .

On Thursday we pottered around Llangollen and on Friday Robin had his leg dressed at the Health Centre. In the afternoon we took a steam train ride up the Dee valley.

Our train :)

Afterwards our 48 hours was up so we turned round and moved the boat a mile or so out of the town. We followed a horse drawn boat up to the basin and it was eerily quite after the noise of Harold's engine. It must have been a very peaceful way to travel when the canals were first built and all boats were horse drawn. We moored below the hill on which are the remains of the Castel Dinas Bran and we decided to walk up it the next day.

The very quiet horse drawn boat

Harold turns in the basin with Welsh hills behind him.

To the left you can see the unnavigable stretch of canal going off towards the horseshoe falls.

View of the Castel Dinas Bran from our mooring.

So on Saturday we cycled back to the town for our climb up the hill. There were a few people but it was mostly sheep-free. Scooby was kept happily occupied seeking out fresh rabbit droppings to keep him going until his next meal. The sun was out and the hills were hazy and it was very beautiful.

In the afternoon Robin went paddle-boarding and then did some fishing, catching nine lovely little roach. Scooby had a power nap and then spent the afternoon barking at every bank holiday walker and cyclist passing by.

On Sunday Carole and Sean joined us for the day again and we made the reverse journey across the Pontcysylite aqueduct, this time with Sean steering much of the way across.

The Pontcysylite Aqueduct, taken from Chirk.

Then to Chirk where we had to wait to get through the tunnel as heavy traffic came through the other way. We were following a hen party boat who sang all the way through the tunnel, which certainly made it a more surreal, if less spooky experience!

Captain and crew

We introduced Sean to locking at the two New Marton locks, although with all the boats waiting to come the other way, there was a surfeit of lockers. Where were they all at Tardebigge.....

We found a sunny spot to moor near where our crew had left their car and Sean continued to show his adventurous spirit with some paddle-boarding and fishing. Robin excelled himself as instructor and Carole as supporter. Jo made the tea and took photos!

After all this excitement we had burgers for tea and sadly said goodbye to our friends. We hope to catch up with them again next weekend, before we leave the area completely.
Tomorrow will book a passage through the Lower Frankton locks onto the Montgomery canal. Only eight miles have been restored, but we should try them.

22nd-25th May 2016. To Llangollen with crew (part 2)

After the aqueduct, we navigated the shallow and narrow last few miles into Llangollen. Its was not without incident and the captain was in trouble for flouting notices and ignoring his crew. However, Sean to steering the boat like a pro and his smile was a wide as his face. There was a lot of weed in the canal which made the last section particularly slow. When Robin inspected the propeller later it was completely jammed with weed. We moored at the 48 hour moorings at the end of the navigable canal and walked the rest of the way to the horseshoe falls, a man-made structure which diverts water from the river Dee to keep the canal filled up. This was followed by a delicious meal at the Deeside restaurant, sitting overlooking the river. What a lovely day!

The narrow unnavigable end stretch of the canal

With Carole at the Horseshoe Falls

Recently restored chain bridge across the Dee

The view downriver from the chain bridge

22nd - 25th May 2016. To Llangollen with crew (part 1)

We spent Monday in Ellesmere where Robin got his leg inspected and dressed by a new set of nurses. He also washed the boat, talking to all and sundry as they walked past complimenting his efforts. Jo scooted off to Shrewsbury with Carole for some girlie shopping.
On Tuesday the weather was forecast fine and Carole joined us for a days cruising. We meandered 9.5 miles to Chirk Bank and with only 2 locks to do, there was quite a lot of sitting in the sun watching the world go by. 

The sitting spot

Some girlie lock action.

Carole was collected in the evening but returned the next day with Sean for the final leg of the journey to Llangollen. Not such nice weather today but no rain. Sean was official photographer for the day and did a grand job. We started the day by crossing the Chirk aqueduct, with the railway viaduct alongside (and above- apparently built higher to show it's superiority to the canal) and the Chirk tunnel. The strong flow of the water coming towards us in the narrow space caused Harold to make rather heavy weather of the tunnel.

Robin looking at the view from the Chirk aqueduct.

Chugging slowly along inside Chirk tunnel.

Carole, pleased to be out of the tunnel at last.

 We had a lovely cruise towards Trevor, the last stop before entering the winding tail end of the canal. Sean encountered his first lift bridge there. 

A Scooby-eye view of the cruise to Trevor.

Sean helping (?) at the lift bridge.

Just before arriving in Trevor we had to cross the marvellous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. It's one way so we stopped at the start when we saw there was oncoming traffic. This turned out to be opera singer Bryn Terfel perched on the brow of a day-boat singing his heart out while being filmed by a TV camera and with two drones overhead. It took us a while to work out what was going on!

I think I can hear singing!

Ah! Its Bryn

Bryn meets captain Rob

Bryn, clearly star-struck, photo-bombs captain Rob!

After the general hilarity had died down we began our crossing. The aqueduct takes the canal across the river Dee and is 126 feet high and 1007 feet long. Its basically a long metal trough set on concrete pillars, just wide enough for a narrow boat, with nothing on one side and a narrow pathway and fence on the other. Robin drove, of course and Sean photographed. Carole, such a confident sailor now, stood at the front, Bryn style,  and Jo, as always with anything high up, cowered inside. Happily everyone survived.

21 and 22 May 2016. Grindley to Ellesmere.

On Saturday we went through the Grindley locks, which includes a 3 tier staircase lock. There was a friendly lock-keeper on hand to make sure the crew didn't make a mess of it. At the top we stopped for Elsan and rubbish and then went on to Whitchurch. We stopped for the swing bridge, at which point Jo realised she had left her best long handled windlass at the locks. In best hero fashion she jumped on her bike and cycled the mile or so back to find the windlass where she left it. We moored at Whitchurch and cycled into the town, which is sleepy in the extreme but has a nice tea shop and a handsome church. In the evening we put the bikes back in their storage place which meant moving Scooby's bed up out of the way. He wasn't going to move though!

 On Sunday we set off for Ellesmere with a plan to pick up friends Carole and Sean walking from their home in Ellesmere. We found them about 4 miles out, soaking wet and in need of flapjack.

At one point the boat was making very heavy weather of it and we found that this log had caught across the front of the boat! We pulled over and Sean manfully pushed it aside.

We went past some of the meres of Ellesmere and through the short Ellesmere tunnel and moored in  the last spot in the little arm which goes into town. Dinner out with our extra crew finished our day off perfectly.

Beautiful Blakemere

Unfortunately paddle-.boarding not allowed.

Entering Ellesmere tunnel, narrow and with a towpath.

20th May 2016. Progress.

A cloudy and breezy day but dry. We progressed 10 miles and through 11 locks. There is a strong flow west to east on this canal which, along with a headwind, made Harold work quite hard to get along today. The locks are spread out with the odd lift bridge in between.

Our first lift bridge of the day.

The countryside is very green and lush with many wild flowers along the towpath. Its been peaceful and quiet, mainly away from roads. We made one stop at Wrenbury to buy eggs, milk and jam (rhubarb and ginger- lovely!). The trees and hedges are in full leaf often obscuring our views, we get a tantalising glimpse now and then. Many cows can be seen and the odd field of sheep, some of which have been shorn now. There are quite a few boats out and about, resulting in many a game of chicken at bridges. Robin spotted this swan and feared for his paddleboard.

In one lock a brown wagtail had built her nest and laid her eggs in the bottom lock gates. She hovered about waiting for the boat to go in and the gates to be shut so she could get back to her clutch. Robin took this photo as he drove the boat past and into the lock.

We moored on the approach to the Grindley Brook locks which lie between us and Whitchurch, our destination of tomorrow. 

19th May 2016. Goodbye to Nantwich.

We got back to Harold late on Wednesday evening. On Thursday Robin had an appointment to get his leg dressed at 11.20 and we set off after he got back. Unfortunately we had missed the best of the weather and the rain soon started. We cruised two miles to the Hurleston Junction where we turned westwards onto the Llangollen canal. Straight away there was a flight of 4 locks for us to go up. Boats were coming down the flight and we were told that they had only just managed to free a boat which had been jammed in the bottom lock, causing a backlog. That particular lock is very narrow and apparently the boat hull was not completely straight, causing it to get stuck. Fortunately Harold's lines are quite perfect and we didn't have a problem :)

Crew and lockkeeper waiting at the top lock

Looking back down the flight and to the Shroppie.

We stopped for water above the top lock and then continued on. The fields and towpaths are awash with buttercups.

The rain gradually got heavier and we moored when we found a spot with rings in the late afternoon. We were soon joined by several other boats, all escaping the weather. Its due to brighten up later so perhaps an evening walk will make up for our interrupted cruise.