Another sunny morning, but it’s been a bit breezy. We made another dent in the washing pile before setting off, and got under way about 9. The first section seems quite slow because of the number of moored boats, but then you get to the meres, the big lakes this area is famous for. You just get glimpses of Cole Mere through the trees, but Blake Mere is closer to the canal and has some nice moorings alongside.
You can’t see if anything is coming through Ellesmere Tunnel until the last moment, but fortunately we had a clear path through.
There are more moored boats on the approach to Ellesmere, and we headed straight for the moorings up the arm.
We were arriving at about 11, which is usually a time when even sought-after moorings tend to be clear. We had plenty of choice, and opted for a spot with a straight edge and an open aspect. It’s filled up a bit since though.
We decided to go out for lunch, and walked into town. There was a market going on in the Market Hall, so we popped in for a Quick Look. It’s a nice building, but the stalls didn’t have much to appeal to us.
The cafe Adrian had identified for lunch is closed this week, so we ended up in another one that’s combined with a shop, in a building that used to be a bank.
After a couple of panini, we walked through town, browsing in two hardware stores, and spotting a shop with some interesting t-shirts.
One of the hotels is where the promoters of the Ellesmere Canal, as it was called at the time, raised the money to build it.
Then we headed up the hill to the impressive church.
From there we walked down to The Mere, the lake closest to town.
Our route back took us down a footpath and back onto the canal towpath, where there are examples from the Ellesmere Sculpture Trail, including a bench inspired by the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, and a boat.
Tomorrow is forecast to be not good weather wise, so we’re planning to stay here and will do a big shop at Tesco at the end of the arm.
4 miles, 0 locks. (33 miles, 19 locks)
