Shropshire (wind)lass: Day 4

Today we have turned around three times!  We don’t have time to go all the way to Llangollen this trip, so we first needed to turn around at Frankton Junction.  I was up quite early this morning, and set off just after 7.30.  It was supposed to be raining, but in fact it was quite sunny.

It’s almost a mile to the junction.  The final bridge is No 69 — and at the one on the other side of the junction the numbers start again from 1, except with a W for west after them.  So at least by coming this far we’ve done all the bridges in this sequence.

I turned around in the junction, with no boats anywhere to be seen.  I thought there might be a few waiting to go down onto the Monty.

Now retracing our steps, the first boat was met at a bridge hole.  They said we were the first boat they’d encountered too.  By the time we were passing our overnight mooring again, about 40 minutes had passed.  The section down to Ellesmere was very busy with boats, even though it wasn’t even 9am yet.  We decided that if the water point was free, we’d stop and top up the tank; it was, so we did.  As we were finishing, the rain started.  We headed across the junction and up the arm (the junction bridge there is part of the numbering sequence, so it needed to be done!) because we needed a top up of shopping.  There was a vacant space immediately after the bridge, but we continued to the end in case there was a spot closer to Tesco.  There wasn’t, partly because of all the big gaps between boats — so we turned around again and went back to the space at the start.  We did our shopping and wheeled our trolley right down to the boat.  I was just about to wheel it back to shop, when the people on the boat behind said they were just about to go to Tesco, so they’d take it back for me!  We set off, out into the junction with its impressive junction house.

As we approached Ellesmere Tunnel, I could see a light on a boat coming through.  He said as far as he knew there was no-one behind him; you can see through well in advance going this way anyway.

It’s very noticeable now that we’re going with the flow that we’re not almost coming to a halt in every bridge hole, and it didn’t feel like a struggle to get through the tunnel.  Up by Cole Mere there’s a cabin looking out over the water, which had a little steam-powered boat outside.

The holiday cottages at the Lyneal Trust always look very well cared for.

Just along from here there was an Anglo Welsh boat across the canal.  They eventually got someone onto the towpath with a rope and pulled the boat over, so while they regrouped I slipped past.  The bridge at Hampton Bank is one of several that are lined with corrugated iron for some reason.

There’s also a lovely canal-side cottage there, with very pretty brick and wood decoration.

We continued to meet loads of boats, not all of them in difficult situations.  We had lunch on the move, then reached Prees Junction where we turned right down the arm.

The first two bridges are lift bridges.

We turned around for the third time at Whixall Marina, where the wind direction really didn’t help at all.  Among the marina’s land-based accommodations is a collection of shepherd’s huts.

We returned to the mooring rings between the two lift bridges.  The sun has come out, but the wind has also got up which is really annoying.  Last time we were here we went to look at the mosses on the other side of the canal, so this time we walked back up the arm to the marina cafe for, yes, an ice cream.  The route cuts across a field with a lovely wild flower section.

Then we walked across to the main line of the Llangollen, to the lift bridge — which surprised us by being at the top of a hill.  The houses alongside have their roofs at canal level.

Then we came back along the towpath and over the junction bridge.  The junction house and all its other assorted buildings are currently for sale — including the barn; whether all the road signs are included isn’t clear.

12 miles, 0 locks.  (39 miles, 15 locks)

Wending to Wales: Day 19

It was pretty misty this morning when we woke up.

We set off at just before 8, and after a little while the sun could be seen doing its best to burn off the mist.

After an hour or so we arrived at Ellesmere, and turned into the town arm.  There were a few spaces, so we turned and the end and moored up, so we could do a re-stock at Tesco right by the wharf.  Once that was done we went back down to the junction, which is overlooked by the former canal offices.

We turned right onto the water point, so we could fill the tank, start some washing, get rid of rubbish, and deal with the yellow water bottle.  Once all that was completed, we reversed back into the junction and swung round to continue our journey back towards Hurleston.  We followed another boat through Ellesmere Tunnel, and then took in the beauty of the meres as we boated past.

About a mile and a half of the canal around Bettisfield is in Wales again, and it was towards the end of this section that we began to get a loud noise from the engine hole.  A check seemed to suggest it was coming from one of the alternators, so we gave Steve from Grand Union Narrowboats at Weedon a call for some advice.  We were heading up the Prees Branch, so we decided to continue, and get RCR out to have a look.  So at Prees Junction, we turned right.

The house on the junction has a lot of outbuildings  and one just along the arm is a barn filled with road signs.

The first two bridges up the arm are lift bridges.

At the end, we turned into Whixall Marina, and moored up near the cafe.  We checked with the office that we’d be ok there, and went to the very nice little cafe for excellent panini and chips.  Before long an RCR chap turned up and diagnosed slipping belts.  He tightened everything up, using a mooring pin as a lever; the noise is certainly less, although still more than it was before.  We swung the boat around and headed out, mooring up on the SUCS moorings between the two lift bridges.  It had turned into a nice warm sunny day, so we decided to have a look as the mosses — ancient areas of peat bog which are now a nature reserve.  We walked down to the junction, over the bridge, and back the way we had come, to an entrance off the towpath.

Here there is a viewing tower, 10 metres tall, which was the level of the peat bogs 150 years ago.  The view from the top over the mosses is pretty spectacular.  The landscape is low and flat, and reminded us of African savannah.

There are some Anglo Welsh hire boats in the marina at the end of the branch, and already one that’s probably due back in the morning has moored up in front of us.  If they all decide that these are the ideal moorings, we could be surrounded by nightfall!

11 miles, 0 locks.  (232 miles, 134 locks)