Welsh waters: Day 25

An absolutely stunning morning, very still and with beautiful sunshine.  First thing, I walked back to Frankton Locks to get a message passed on to someone — and on the way back our mooring just looked lovely.

We set off at about 9.30, planning to get to Ellesmere while there should be plenty of space.  The sheep in the field beyond the next bridge had taken a liking to a trailer that had been left there.

There were quite a few boats about.  At the winding hole just before Ellesmere, a long hire boat seemed to having trouble getting round, so the boat in front of us and us had to wait for a bit.  We turned into the arm, went to the end to turn around, and moored in a very similar place to where we were last time.  Adrian then headed off to the laundrette; with two sets of bedding to do (having had guests on board) it seemed worth getting them both washed and dried together.  Meanwhile I made two visits to Tesco, the first being to top up dwindling supplies of logs.  While I worked out which size bag was the best value, I realised there was a cat sat on top of them in the sunshine.

The logs were all in the lobby area.  Then a woman came out of the shop with her shopping, picked up the cat, and walked out.

With no particular need to be in Ellesmere for the rest of the day, we decided to move on.  First we went out of the arm and across to the water point, to top up the tank and put a load of general washing on.  Of course there suddenly seemed to be boats in all direction.  We had lunch while the tank filled, then reversed back into the junction, turned, and headed onwards.  In Ellesmere Tunnel, Adrian had a torch at the front and I also had one at the stern, as the headlight is now so dim.  Fortunately there was nothing coming.  Blake Mere looked particularly nice in the sunshine, but there are a lot of things you can’t do there.

We carried on a bit further and moored at Hampton Bank, where we stopped on the way up.

7 miles, 0 locks.  (91 miles, 39 locks)

Welsh waters: Day 8

This was another day when we seemed to get our timings right.  We got a wash load going before setting off, and untied at a little after 9.15.  It was a lovely sunny morning.

A couple of bridges further on is a lift bridge.  Adrian said this one took more than 80 turns to lift, and more than 50 to lower.

Just beyond that is Prees Junction, where were kept right to stay on the main line.  A couple of guys from a hire boat asked me which way the marina was (answer: down the arm) because they wanted to visit the cafe.  I said it was an easy enough walk.

We continued along the straight section through the mosses, and arrived at the two water points in Bettisfield to find it completely free, so we could claim the spot with a straight edge rather than the corner which makes you stick out into the canal.  We weren’t even tied up when a boat came the other way through the bridge, also wanting water.  When the tank was full we continued a relatively short distance further, and moored on the long straight embankment before Hampton Bank Bridge.  We’re just  few hundred yards back inside England, having done a couple of miles in Wales.

After lunch, we went for a walk up the canal in nice warm sunshine, and then only a few minutes after getting back an unforecast heavy shower came through, complete with gusty winds.  The sun has come back out again now though.

4 miles, 0 locks.  (29 miles, 19 locks)