Home Stretch

 

Now doing shortish days as we don’t have far to go, we have been relaxing and enjoying some decent weather for once.

On Monday we stopped at Ellesmere for the specific purpose of visiting Vermeulen’s Bakery & Delicatessen (or, as Brian insists on calling it, “Mrs Miggins’ Pie Shop” – which will mean nothing unless you’re a Blackadder fan). Anyway, Vermeulen’s pies are exceedingly good, and we bought 2 individual steak and kidney for our dinner, and some wonderful fresh-baked baps for lunches.

We did another hour or so and stopped at a visitor mooring opposite the Fernwood caravan park (cousin of the Ranch in Honeybourne).  It was such a lovely afternoon and evening that it seemed a bit strange to be eating pie and mash, but we enjoyed it anyway.

On Tuesday we headed off to Whitchurch, arriving at lunchtime. Thanks to a heavy thunderstorm our trip into town was delayed somewhat, but later we set off on what one of the guidebooks called a “1/2 mile walk” into town.  I think this should have read “1/2 hour”.  Nonetheless the path was pleasant and took us through woodlands and a nature reserve.

Our destination was the Library, where we needed to print off the boat insurance certificate emailed to us on renewal.  Computer access for visitors £1 an hour, printing 15p a sheet, plus help from to very dedicated library assistants because their system didn’t like pdf files, and the job was done.

Whitchurch seemed very quiet but has some fine old buildings and, seemingly, a pub about every 50 yards!

When we returned to the visitor moorings we were glad of our early arrival as they were rammed with boats due to the lift bridge being out of action (failed hydraulic gear) from 6.30pm until 8.30 am next day. (During the day it was being operated manually by a Canal & River Trust employee)

So today we joined the (small) queue just after 8.30 to sail through the bridge and on to Wrenbury.  We had a shock coming out of the bottom lock at Grindley Brook when a small boat came hurtling towards us, straight past the boat already waiting for the lock, and seemingly out of control.  Fortunately Brian managed to stop in time to avoid a collision, and with the aid of the waiting boater and two CARTmen who were repairing the lock paddle, the small boat was pulled in and we managed to squeeze past.  The female helmsman (no comments) did have the grace to look rather sheepish.

After a trip of 3 more hours and 4 locks in glorious sunshine, we arrived at Wrenbury at lunchtime, and after eating went for a walk to the excellent Post Office Stores, visited the lovely red sandstone church and finally dropped in at the Dusty Miller for a drink in the canalside beer garden.  We will be eating there tonight to mark the (almost) end of Phase 1 of our journey.  We’ve come across many lovely villages and small towns on our travels, but Wrenbury is one of our favourites.

Tomorrow we do 3 hours and 5 locks to get to Swanley Bridge Marina, where we will be leaving Bonjour for 4 weeks.  Tomorrow afternoon we do the laundry and on Friday we get a taxi to Crewe station to get a train back to Leamington (via either Wolverhampton or Birmingham), then another taxi to our own marina to pick up the car.

(Sorry no photos, the broadband signal is very weak here)

Horse Power

Friday was a “Downtime day” in Llangollen as we played tourists for a bit. First off we went to the station to check out the heritage railway. We admired the station and Jessie the engine (apparently a cousin of Thomas), but decided to make the trip another time as it would have taken quite a chunk out of the day.

On then, into town, pausing on the bridge to admire the River Dee and get our picture taken again by an obliging passer-by.

(left of centre is The Corn Mill, where we were due to have Brian’s birthday dinner)

Brian wishes to point out that he was not dropping litter over the bridge!

In among the gift shops and cafes, Llangollen has many useful shops including a great deli, a bakery where I bought bara brith (“speckled bread”) and Watkins & Williams - an amazing hardware store of the wonderful old-fashioned type which sold everything you could want plus things you didn’t know you needed.  We left with some brass screws and metal polish as well as the bottle opener and cheese knife we’ve been looking for for ages.

Just up the road was a signpost to Plas Newydd, the home of the “Ladies of Llangollen”, so we went to investigate.  What an amazing house!

Carved wood decoration on the outside:

was matched by even more on the inside (but no photography allowed there).

We fortified ourselves with coffee and fresh-baked scones in the tea room before returning to the town to replenish grocery supplies and then back to the Wharf, where we swapped 43 horse power for 1 horse power and took a trip on the horse-drawn boat, courtesy of Hercules (the one on the right!)

These trips cover the very last part of the canal, which is too narrow and shallow for other boats.  It made quite a change to be drifting along in total silence with someone else doing the hard work!

We rounded off our day with a superb meal at The Corn Mill, at a window table overlooking the Dee with herons and ducklings for entertainment.

Saturday came in with a bang – thunder followed by heavy rain, which delayed our departure from the basin a bit.  We were, somewhat cheekily, trying to leave straight behind another boat so that they could do the checking ahead through the narrow bits.  However, we picked the wrong boat as the “scout” never got more than 10 feet or so beyond his boat and they just ploughed on regardless! 

Nevertheless we got through without incident and soon we were back at Trevor ready to cross the aqueduct again.

The weather was very different this time, gloomy, wet and with low cloud.  However, this did not put off the procession of Japanese tourists we encountered as we crossed, who all said “Harro” or waved (some said “harro” and waved)  We responded appropriately in each case, feeling a little like royalty by the end.  One lady enquired “has your boat got a toilet?” “Yes, and a shower” (“and central heating” added Brian) .  She looked enchanted.

On we went through the rain until we reached the north end of Chirk Tunnel.  Feeling thoroughly soggy we decided to stop for lunch, during which time the rain stopped and the sun broke through.  I took advantage of this to walk into Chirk itself, a charming little town with reminders of its past as an important staging post on the road to Holyhead.

Once across Chirk aqueduct, and therefore back in England, we cruised through unbroken sunshine until we found a pleasant mooring and here we have stayed today, cleaning, touching up paintwork and other little jobs we don’t get round to as often as we should. 

The nearby village is called Welsh Frankton; I’m not actually sure if we’re in England or Wales.

The Stream in the Sky

Wednesday – forecast cloudy and wet. It was cloudy and wet. ‘Nuff said.
Thursday

Set off in the sunshine from our mooring at Frankton Junction for the final push to Llangollen.  Soon we reached New Marton lock 1, where there was a queue and a ferocious wind, which made holding the boats on the lock moorings interesting.
At lock No 2, we had a reminder that “narrowbaoters do it slowly”:

However, we still meet the occasional headless chicken

(an example of towpathiary)
Soon we reached an aqueduct, but not THE aqueduct.  This is Chirk Aqueduct, which has comfortingly wide edges. So I did it.


and the tunnel straight afterwards

But that was the overture.  This is the symphony:
First, a few facts and figures.  The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, built by Thomas Telford, was completed in 1805 to carry the Llangollen Canal over the valley of the River Dee, some 127 feet below.  It is over 1000 feet long and consists of an iron trough supported by 18 stone piers.  It is a World Heritage Site.
Here we go, then:

Notice the edge of the trough on the right hand side?  That’s all there is between your boat and the Dee!


Towards the end:

Did he really do that?                                Yes, he did!

WE DID IT!
On then to Llangollen, and the last part of the canal is shallow, and so narrow in parts that one of you has to walk ahead and negotiate with oncoming boat crews.  I did that.
Finally we arrived in the Llangollen basin moorings, where for £6 a night you have a water supply, electric hook-up, and this view:

Nos da!

Green & Pleasant

Sunday dawns hot and sunny again and following a brief walk to buy a Sunday paper we’re heading down the last 4 Audlem locks ready to head for Nantwich.

Just past the bottom lock is moored a boat with the name “Cousin Jack” – which immediately interests us as it’s the name of a song by Show of Hands which Nick & Chris also sing,  Not only the name but part of the lyrics are painted on the side.  Shame the camera isn’t to hand, but we hope it will come past us later.

The good weather brought everyone out and we were part of a long queue at the two Hack Green locks, thus delaying our arrival in Nantwich somewhat. Still we found a pleasant enough mooring and settled down to enjoy the rest of the sunny afternoon, before heading into town for an (excellent) Chinese takeaway in the evening.

On Monday we moved the boat up nearer the marina as we didn’t fancy lugging 3 bags of laundry nearly a mile down the towpath. Said bags deposited for a service wash, we repaired to the marina cafe for a cooked breakfast before going into Nantwich again for supplies.  The town, which we’ve always liked for its wide variety of independent shops, now also boasts an M & S Food!  I also bought myself some new walking boots (I left my others at home) as I’m getting fed up with wet feet.

Having collected our washing, we were ready to set off when what should come past but “Cousin Jack”.  Brian called out his appreciation of the name and the guy steering asked if we could possibly stay in the mooring space until he’d got water so that he could reverse back to it.  Brian said yes if he could take some photos of the boat!

(See the whole song here: Cousin Jack Lyrics)

The boat’s owners, great fans of Show of Hands, were Cornish and his great-grandfather, known to all as Cousin Jack, had been a tin miner who went out to South Africa to mine diamonds, just as in the song.  So they couldn’t really call their boat anything else!

They also had a great basset hound:

We finally set off at 3 pm to get to the Llangollen canal.  Just 10 minutes before we reached Hurlestone Locks at the start of the canal, the heavens opened.  Had I got my new waterproof boots on?  I had not.  So I ended up squelching around another four locks before we finally headed south through the glorious countryside that borders the Llangollen, then for good measure got through another two locks before mooring up for the day.

Tuesday, and it’s Brian’s birthday.  Our intended destination is Grindley Brook as my suggestion of Bridge 38 – Old Man’s Bridge was not well received.

A nice bright day to start with, and even some sunshine, but by lunchtime the rain was back and I got to try out my boots. Brilliant.

We worked our way up the Grindley Brook staircase locks with the least talkative lock keeper ever, however we were kept amused by the remarks of gongoozlers:

“How many berths does your boat have?” “Four” “Oh.  But it looks so long…”

And today’s special:  “Have you met a couple called Mike and Elaine on your travels?”  “Not sure – what’s their boat called?” “I don’t know. I just thought all you boaters talked to one another.”

Ooh, we just love it!

And…we’re back in the room

Apologies for lack of blog over the last few days – one baaaad day (which shall hereafter be referred to only as “the Penkridge Incident”) followed by two nights without wifi (or phone signal or TV for that matter).
Now, we are in Audlem.  the sun is shining brightly, we have managed to fit our 60ft of narrowboat into the last 61ft of mooring space, and life is good.
The highlights – getting a most reasonably priced diesel-fill and pumpout at Stafford Boat Club, courtesy of the wonderful Pete; shopping in Brewood (great deli, great butcher, incredibly helpful chemists & surgery (who forgot some diabetes medication then?!)); Bonjour's 3rd birthday on Friday;  the Wharf Tavern at Goldstone for great, reasonably priced pub grub; seeing two kingfishers today.
Pictures:
Sculpture at Stafford Boat Club

Yarn-bombing at Deptmore Lock

Gailey lock & “Round House”

High Bridge at Grub Street Cutting (with Cap’n Birdseye)

Former Cadbury’s wharf at Knighton (no chocolate landed here now – shame!)

Heron keeping watch at Goldstone wharf

One way to decorate a tree stump

Tomorrow, we go to Nantwich to do the laundry.  Deep joy.

Dodging the showers

Sorry, had a long day yesterday – too tired to blog at the end!

Monday

We reached our first objective of Fradley Junction in mostly bright sunshine and amazingly for a Bank Holiday, found a mooring spot really close to the junction. Fradley was its usual busy self, populated with boats, boaters and gongoozlers in equal measure

We’d never tried the cafe there (the Kingfisher) so decided on lunch, which we enjoyed outside.  Even the short shower of rain did not spoil things as the table umbrella kept the food dry at least!  anyway, a good lunch and we will return.

On then to tackle the 2 locks, which luckily were manned by helpful volunteer lock-keepers.

At the second, Shadehouse lock, the lockie told me he’d seen only four boats during the morning, so it seemed the weather forecast was keeping folks away even though the reality didn’t match up to the predictions.

Shade House, next to the lock, is for sale

Attractive property in prime canalside position with a 70’ mooring thrown in? – needless to say we were straight on to Rightmove. Er, £625k.  Back to the Lottery then.

One more lock a mile on, then it was straightforward cruising in alternate sunshine and showers, through some very attractive countryside.  These were particularly impressive

We passed through the somewhat less enticing Armitage and Rugeley (where we resisted the temptation to visit yet another Tesco).  Rugeley has the air of an average, unassuming, normal town, but has two dark secrets – near Bridge 67 was the home of William Palmer, the “Rugeley Poisoner”, and at Bridge 68 are the “Bloody Steps”, scene of the murder of one Christina Collins, on which the Inspector Morse novel “The Wench is Dead” was based.

After such excitement we were ready to moor up for the night and found a pleasant spot near a farm with alpacas in addition to the usual sheep and pigs.

Tuesday

As we were only planning a short journey today we made a late start, and by lunchtime were mooring at Great Haywood right by Shugborough Hall – again, we found this astonishing for half-term, especially as th weather was much better than promised!  We visited the excellent Canalside Farm Shop to buy our lunch before making a left onto the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal to moor at Tixall Wide, another of our favourite spots.  We’d hoped for a view of the Gatehouse

but those spots were taken.  Still, not many moorings can boast their very own Triffid.

Time for a chillout – and a couple more of those squares.

Sunny Sunday

Began with disappointment as it was still grey and raining, but the sun broke through and has been with us for most of the day.  We continued along the Coventry Canal, spotting some photogenic animals

Followed by an impressive display of red-hot pokers

These turned out to be the grounds of Pooley Hall, one time the home of Motown singer Edwin Starr.

On then to the two Glascote Locks, where we encountered the first lock queue of our trip.  With help from a charming French lady from the boat behind (she liked our boat name!), we were soon through and ready to moor up at Fazeley for a visit to the shop (yup, Tesco again) and lunch.  Sod’s law dictated that the gas bottle would run out in the middle of its preparation.  There followed a frenzied search for the  spanner, accompanied by clanking, banging and cursing from the gas locker as the scent of half-cooked bacon in our nostrils urged us to complete the changeover in double-quick time.

Meal over, we carried on in glorious sunshine to Hopwas (which resembled Piccadilly Circus for boats) and thence out into the countryside for our mooring for the night.

My Project

I have a knitting project for this trip which will eventually provide a multicoloured afghan.  It is a “mystery” project whereby the pattern for each design of square is released each Monday and you are then supposed to knit 3 squares in each of 2 colours during the following week.  My tally so far is one square

but I hope to finish another one tonight!  More exciting designs to follow…