Overwinter Cruise - Week 3

Sunday 22nd October - Chirk Bank

Today we are going to stay at Chirk Bank and go for a walk up to Chirk Castle.

Before we left, Richard on nb Mountbatten came alongside and delivered diesel straight to the boat.  So convenient and a big thank you goes out to Richard.










Nb Mountbatten and butty Jellicoe are 1960's Admiral class historic narrowboats built for British Waterways by Yarwoods in Northwich. They were the last of 12 boats built and named after English Admirals.

We set off on our walk, it was delightful with a variety of scenery.  We had to cross the railway line, I am consulting the map to make sure we are going in the right direction.

We stopped to chat to the local horse, but I don't think Toby was all that impressed.

Much of our route took us alongside the River Ceiriog, a tributary of the River Dee, a beautiful river which originates in Snowdonia and flows into the sea at an estuary between Wales and the Wirral Peninsula.


















The Bronygarth Limekilns are on the road just before we turned off for Chirk Castle.

These brick built kilns are similar to the ones we saw at Pant on our previous walk.

Just within the grounds of Chirk Castle is The Oak at The Gate of The Dead on the site of the Battle of Crogen in 1165.  The oak tree is believed to be 900 years old and split in two in February 2010.

The Battle of Crogen, took place in 1165 near what is now called Castle Mill, Chirk, when Welsh forces defeated Henry II's men.

It was in late July 1165 that Henry gathered a vast army at Oswestry, Shropshire, while the opposing forces of the Welsh princes waited near Corwen, Denbighshire.

When his terms were turned down by the Welsh allies, Henry's army made their way up through the Ceiriog Valley.

Despite being outnumbered, the Welsh forces were able to raid and ambush Henry's army, inflicting heavy losses.

The Battle of Crogen, along with atrocious weather, meant that Henry's army was eventually forced to leave Wales altogether, retreating to Chester.

Started in 1295, Chirk Castle was one of several medieval marcher fortresses sited on the Welsh-English border to keep the Welsh under English rule.

We arrived back in Chirk and called in to The Hand Hotel for some well earned refreshment!!

Monday 23rd October - Chirk Bank to Llangollen Basin

We travelled from Chirk Bank first across the Chirk Aqueduct and then through Chirk Tunnel.

The Aqueduct is no less spectacular than Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, running alongside the viaduct carrying the train line.

We followed a number of hire boats into the tunnel and were quite concerned as the boat in front of us seemed to have huge difficulty getting through the tunnel, it took us well over half an hour to get through, and we actually had to stop several times so they could sort themselves out.  

We stopped to put water on just before the aqueduct and then made our way onto the stream in the sky. 

The view from the aqueduct is amazing, and yes that is the edge of the boat next to the edge of the aqueduct.  There is nothing to stop you stepping out into the air and down!  Scary really!

I am not scared of heights but I did feel far more comfortable standing on the other side of the boat, further away from the edge!!














The views down to the River Dee are spectacular though...

...and Toby doesn't appear to be worried by the steep drop to his right!

He is tethered to an inside door, so quite safe!






We turned left away from the aqueduct and continued on into Llangollen and moored up for a couple of nights in the basin.

It is a lovely place to moor, each of the pontoons has water and electricity, and there is a nightly charge of £6.  Unfortunately you can only stay for 48 hours and then you have to return back along the canal.

Tuesday 24th October - Llangollen

Today we are having a boat day, cleaning, washing and generally tidying around.  Pleased to report this doesn't take very long, so plenty of time for just relaxing as well!!

Wednesday 25th October - Llangollen to Lift Bridge 44






Today our 48 hours are up so we decided to move the boat 1 mile back up the canal and moor up in open country.  The weather was beautiful, sunny, warm and incredibly calm!

We are negotiating a very narrow stretch of the canal, about 500m in total, where you are advised to send a crew member ahead before entering this part. We were the 2nd boat in a convoy of four and there were 2 boats waiting to come through as we left this stretch.

We moored up before the lift bridge with an excellent view of Castell Dinas Bran from our boat window.  

We are going to climb up to the castle and then walk along to Sun Trevor and back along the canal.

It is a very steep climb and Toby thoroughly enjoyed racing up and down the slope, rolling over as he lost his footing!!!

Castell Dinas Bran is a ruin of a medieval castle built about 1260 which was burnt down by the English and never rebuilt.

As the castle stands on a prominent stone outcrop the views in all directions are amazing.

In the distance you can quite clearly see the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the River Dee.

On our way down we passed an ambulance crew attending a man who had fallen and hurt his leg.  Down on the road, the mountain rescue team had arrived with specialist equipment to carry the man down the hillside.

The incident can be seen on this picture if you can zoom in.  The team are just below the castle at a confluence of two paths creating a triangle.










We returned to the boat along the Offa's Dyke path and the canal towpath, another amazing walk.

Thursday 26th October - Lift Bridge 44 to Trevor Basin




Today we decided to walk into Llangollen and find Plas Newydd just above the town.

Two ladies Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, eloped from Ireland during the Regency era and set up home together in the cottage.

They created a beautiful Gothic building and stunning gardens and riverside walks and became celebrities visited by famous people during their time.








We returned to the town and stocked up on provisions before returning to the boat and moving the boat back along the canal and into the Trevor Basin where we moored for the night.  Quite a good mooring, but as the water doesn't get used very much there, it had a slight sulphorous smell to it which was not very pleasant and we decided to move on tomorrow.

Friday 27th October - Trevor Basin to Chirk Bank

A beautiful sunny day to cross back along the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct - the shape on the photo is our shadow and if you look really closely you can make out Dave steering the boat!

Coming into Chirk you are faced with factories billowing steam into the air - Kronospan manufactures and distributes wood-based panels and Mondelez replaced Cadbury's and manufactures hot chocolate.











We moored up at Chirk Bank, but this time in front of the bridge and spent the afternoon walking to Pont-y-blew.







An interesting walk with some very steep descents to the river valley.

Further along the valley we could see where the River Ceiriog joins the River Dee.









Saturday 28th October - Chirk Bank to Below Bridge 4W


Today we have decided to move onto Welsh Frankton - the middle of the middle of nowhere and moored up over looking fields with sheep and open views.

It was an incredibly windy day which made cruising a little tricky, but helped in this instance as the wind held us against the mooring for the water tap at New Marton Locks.

A beautiful sunset to finish the day, very quiet, very peaceful in solitary isolation!

Overwinter Cruise - Week 2

Sunday 15th October - Ellesmere

A very pleasant day and we decided to have an explore around the Mere with Toby.  He had great fun fetching sticks from the water and shaking himself over unsuspecting onlookers!

A view of Ellesmere Maintenance Yard with a reflection in the very still waters of the canal.








Monday 16th October - Ellesmere

Today we decided to stay put again as we wait for ex hurricane Ophelia as it passes through.  

Chamberlain Carrying Co. came through and moored up opposite us.  Excellent timing as our gas bottle had just run out so we bought our replacement from them.

Toby was not happy with the noise the wind was making and the banging of the boat against the side.  Poor Toby!








Tuesday 17th October - Ellesmere to Maesbury Marsh

Today we have learnt that the insurance company is going to pay for the repairs to the boat following our accident on Friday.  Excellent news!

We set off today after putting water on at the Maintenance Yard and made our way down the canal towards The Montgomery Canal.

Here we turned left and moored up at the top of the flight of locks at 11.30am.  We have to wait for the lock keepers to arrive as they operate the locks for us.

As the canal is a site of special scientific interest, the amount of boats allowed on the canal at any one time is restricted.  12 boats up and 12 boats down in a day.

The Frankton Locks consist of a staircase of 2 locks followed by 2 single locks.

Further along is another lock which has a short fall of about 18 inches inserted because of changes to the ground level since the canal was closed in 1936.

This lock is named after Graham Palmer who was the founder of The Waterway Recovery group which was instrumental in the restoration of the Canal.

Beside the Aston locks there is a lot of work being done and we wondered whether they were building a marina...

...but no, it is an Aquatic Habitats Restoration and Creation Project.  It is quite extensive and should be lovely when it has been finished.







Once we arrived at Maesbury Marsh, we pulled over and moored up.  We shall stay here for two nights and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Wednesday 18th October - Maesbury Marsh

Early Wednesday morning, the mists were rising from the canal, shrouding the boats and creating an eerie atmosphere.

Today we have decided to walk along the canal from Maesbury Marsh to Llanymynech Bridge which is the border between England and Wales.

I am carrying my new rucksack in training for our walk on the Cotswold Way in April.

Gronwen Wharf is the southern limit of navigation where boats need to wind and return back up the canal.

Further along we found where the canal is actually undergoing restoration, and is begining to look like a canal.

Here the next stretch has been cleared of vegetation and is ready for further work....

...and here the canal is waiting to be cleared.  It was very exciting to see how much work has been done on the restoration, but there is still a lot more work to do!

The lime kilns at Pant would have been at the base of the inclined plane from the quarry above, the lime would have been burnt in the kilns before being transported along the Montgomery Canal for use as fertiliser on the acid soil of North Shropshire and Cheshire.

This is the northern limit of the canal restoration of the middle section just before Llanymynech, we were very excited to see the canal again.

A little bit further up we found the bridge which marks the border between England and Wales and walked into Wales!!

On our return journey we found a field of alpacas, with all the natural shades of coat from black through to brown and then cream.  They are so pretty to look at!

Also on the towpath we found some warning notices saying that the towpath was uneven due to burrowing animals.

From the size of the burrows, they must have been pretty large burrowing animals, badgers possibly?









It was a lovely walk, very informative and interesting, 9.5 miles there and back and excellent training for next April!!

Thursday 19th October - Maesbury Marsh to Weston Arm


This morning we decided to move the boat back up the Montgomery Canal and moor up below the locks ready to go up them on Friday morning.

We had to continue along the canal through the lift bridge until we could wind at Gronwen Wharf.













On the way I met Richard on Mountbatten coming the other way, and although it doesn't look like it we didn't touch at all!!  Very impressed!







We continued on our way, but unfortunately the weather deteriorated dreadfully and the last hour was done in torrential rain.  Dave ended up soaked right through and even helping with the tying up of the boat meant that my jeans were also soaked through.  Our first real soaking of the trip so far!

We moored up at Weston Branch, an arm that went as far as Weston Lullingfields but which was closed in 1917 owing to a serious breach of the canal and never reopened.  It is a convenient mooring place before the Frankton Locks.

Friday 20th October - Weston Branch to Chirk Bank

The Frankton Locks open each day at 12 noon and are operated for 2 hours by Canal and River Trust Lock keepers.

Here we are lined up waiting for the locks to open, there was one boat in front and two boats behind us.  Four boats coming up and only one boat coming down which meant that the water levels in the pounds would become depleted.











Looking back down the locks at the other two boats making their way up behind us.












Chris, on the right of the photo, looks after these locks and can also be seen at Grindley Brook staircase locks.

He has a wonderful herb garden all the way down the locks and so long as you aren't greedy you can help yourself to any of the herbs for your cooking.  We used lovage and sage, quite delicious, thanks Chris!




Once up through the locks we turned left back onto the Llangollen Canal and headed towards Chirk Bank.






On the side of the canal we saw this boat upon blocks.  A work in progress? How did it get there?  How will it get back in the water?









We arrived at Chirk Bank and moored up for the next couple of days.  There is another storm, Storm Brian, forecast so we shall sit tight until it has blown over.

Saturday 21st October - Chirk Bank

We have had a lovely day cosy in the boat whilst the rain is beating down outside.  A quick sortie into the town to stock up on food - there is a wonderful butchers, bakers and greengrocers along with a Spar for groceries.  What more could you want?