Welsh waters: Day 18

Adrian had picked up a car from Chester yesterday afternoon as he came back from Manchester, because we were visiting Braidbar today. There’s a post on the Kingley Vale blog.

We drove back to Chester, and are currently on a train back to Chirk. 

0 miles, 0 locks.  (59 miles, 37 locks)

Welsh waters: day 17

There was a lot of rain in the night, hammering on the roof.  Adrian was up early this morning, as he was catching a train from Chirk station first to Chester, and then on to Manchester for a conference.  As I did not need to be out the door by 6.15 I stayed in bed!  The rain carried on for much of the morning, so I did a bit of baking.  Then it cleared and the sun came out, so I went for a walk down to the aqueduct.

I then walked through the tunnel rather than over it as there’s a towpath through, and up the canal the other side a bit.  Then I walked into Chirk, had lunch, and came back over the aqueduct again.  I still needed steps, so went up the canal the other way, past the Poacher’s Pocket pub.  It got so warm I ended up having to take off not just my jacket but my jumper as well.

The internet signal remains dire — it occasionally makes an appearance and a load of messages come through, and then completely disappears again.  It’s a shame because Chirk is really nice.

0 miles, 0 locks.  (59 miles, 37 locks)

Welsh waters: Day 16

It was bright but still a bit breezy when we set off at about 8.30, with me walking up to the lock while Adrian brought the boat.  The lock was about half full, so didn’t take long to get ready.

Once we were up the lock, I walked on to the next one which was similarly half full.  A boat was also arriving at the top, and the crew came to watch us come up as they’d only collected the boat from Chirk yesterday and this was their first lock.  We then stopped on the water point and got the washing machine going.  Once under way again we met a few boats coming the other way.  At the Lion Keys hotel and bar, their basin with pontoons actually had a few visiting boats in it.

A bit further on, there’s a big new housing estate, with some of the houses facing the canal.

We pulled in at Chirk Bank, and Adrian walked ahead a little way to see what the mooring situation was.  We ended up on a bit of a bend before Bridge 21, with the bow on a ring but stakes at the stern.  We walked into town via the railway station to see how long it took, and then got a chicken and leek pie from the butcher’s for dinner.  We had lunch at Caffi Wylfa, which is in a sort of community hub.  It’s a good looking town.

Our route back took us via the tunnel portal, where we could look down on the pool between the tunnel, and the aqueduct.  A day boat had just come through, and reported there were six or seven more following — but he couldn’t get onto the aqueduct because of a boat coming the other way (slowly), so goodness knows where everyone was going to go.

Back at the boat, we waited for all the boats to come past, and then reversed beyond the boat behind us, where there was a straighter edge and we thought we might be a bit safer away from the bridge.  However, the mobile signal is just as bad, as we’ve resorted to a visit to The Bridge Inn just down the hill for WiFi.  They have a great view of the aqueduct and the railway viaduct beyond from their patio.

4 miles, 2 locks.  (59 miles, 37 locks)