Finished with May 16-5-10 to 31-5-10

Sunday16th we cycled back down the unrestored section of the Montgomery a bit further than we walked the day before as we wanted to see the       2 Carreghofa Locks which had been restored back in 1987 but are still not in use. They were in a lovely setting and had very unusual and unique paddle gear, instead of a draw up door across the face of the underwater pipe these have a hinged out door so the operating arrangement is totally different. We didn’t take Charlie as we thought it was a bit too far for him. Next day we set off early as we were wanting to leave the Montgomery Canal and carry on to Llangollen, which meant we had to get to the locks by 12pm.      Our next stop on our route to Llangollen was    Chirk which also has a high aqueduct and a railway viaduct next to each other and in our opinion was more magnificent than the big one still to do at Pontcysyllte.      By Wednesday we were just near the big one and we did a lovely circular walk around a country park and along the banks of the River Dee which Charlie enjoyed. Thursday we set off early to avoid any rush on the last bit to Llangollen as there are one or two narrow one boat only sections. This proved to be quite a challenge as being narrow and shallow and very bendy the boat struggled against the flow of the river Dee    which is fed into the canal beyond Llangollen as a water supply to the canal and drinking water to Cheshire. Finally we arrived at our target at 10.30am and moored in the basin which turned out not to be very busy at all with never more than 8 boats there ( it takes about 30). We stayed until Saturday 2.00pm (only allowed 48hrs) and     did some walking (to Horseshoe Falls where the Dee is fed in to the canal very pretty) and exploring. Took a 7 mile steam train trip to Carrog one day and then walked back, but it was about 10/11 miles back on the Dee Valley Way…phew and it rained some.     In the morning before we left we walked up to Dinas Bran Castle…very uppish. We stopped again at Chirk on the way back so Charlie could swim in the Dee again and ended up in Ellesmere again and had a nice Sunday roast in a pub that we found. In the co-op at Ellesmere the next morning we met Richard and Liz from Dragonfly and arrange to met in the evening at Whitchurch which was very pleasant. Had our first meal of lettuce and rocket salad grown on the roof of Sammy Jo, yum. By Wed 26th we were almost back at the Shropshire Union Canal and needing to get to Calveley for the dreaded pump out!! In the rain of course, so we moored up asap after that and ended up 3 boats behind Lady Godiva again. We had afternoon tea with Sue and Clive and then joined them in the pub after we had eaten…..It’s hard work all this socialising and pubbing. First stop next day was more fuel at the Anglo Welsh yard which was the cheapest around at 69p plus declared tax, so in just over a month we had used about 160l and run the engine for about 100 hours. By lunch time we had got to Beeston and after we walked up to the castle (ruins), lovely views and then motored on for a couple of hours to get nearer to Chester where we were meeting Sam and Claire and the boys who were coming for the weekend. Cycled to Chester and did Tesco’s and then moved the boat right into the basin, but visited Tesco’s again as we could wheel the trolley right to the boat for the heavy bulky bits and some more wine which was getting a bit low. Arrived at Chester on Friday 28th. Saturday was awful it rained a lot but we did manage to walk round the walls of Chester which was great and to be recommended. So much so that we will probably come back after family camp.
After   Sam & co arrived we headed off towards Ellesmere Port and a visit to the Waterways Boat Museum. It is here that you can get out onto the Manchester Ship Canal and get to Liverpool but we were too afraid of the BIG TANKERS and decided to go the long way round by ordinary canal, not that we would have had time to do it with Sam & co as they were heading back on B/Hol Monday.
Very conveniently when Sam left for home he gave me a lift back to Great Haywood where I had left the car, but he did leave Luke behind for us to take back to family camp on Thursday. By 4.30 pm I was back at Chester with the car, had a great time with the others and it was lovely to see the boys again and to see Tom who has just started walking. The plan is to leave the boat at Tattenhall Marina the sister yard to Great Haywood, while we go to family camp, then back to Chester to look round properly and take in Chester Zoo if poss as it’s great apparently. Then off towards Middlewich for a boat festival on the 19th June.

More Days 2-5-10 to 15-5-10

Still very cold as we motored into Nantwich to have a look round although pretty much everything was closed as it is Sunday, but Nantwich was a lovely place.          In the morning M popped back in to try and get a kettle but still most places were shut as it was a bank holiday but we did get a kettle in the Chandlers just up the cut and a new socket for the front navigation light which was not working.      So we finally have arrived at the start of the Llangollen canal. Not a good start as it was cold and windy and the cross wind flipped a mat which was on the back hatch on which I had put the camera. Luckily the mat ended up in the canal and the camera landed on the bank, phew! Very tricky getting into the locks as the overflow water that bypasses each lock was rushing across the entrance to the locks in the same direction as the wind. 4th May we lunched at Wrenbury and dined in the Swan at Marbury, but as we moored we lost (I) the poo trowel as it was just catching       the mooring line and flipped overboard as I picked up the line. I did try fishing for it with the fishing net but to no avail. In the morning I rigged up a rake with the boat hook 2 mooring pins and a bit of an old upvc chair back that I found, but I failed again. Next stop was Grindley Brook where we did our first staircase of 3 locks where the exit gate of one lock is the entrance gate to the next chamber which are all connected. 6th May we moved on to Whitchurch, but not before Charlie fell in for the first time as the boat moved just as he was getting on, and moored by the old arm and walked along the route of it into the town which was lovely. After spending the night there we moved off heading for Ellesmere where we were planning to meet Pat & Graham (M’s brother). They are in Nottingham for the weekend as Graham was playing for England in a home country international squash match in the over 65’s. On the way we went down the Prees Branch, it only runs for 2 miles then it runs on for another 2       but is not navigable but has water in it. It was absolutely beautiful and so quiet. We moored and did the rest of it by bike. We pumped the loo and filled with water at the boat yard at the end and then moored for the night just inside the branch. Next morning we left in the rain still aiming for Ellesmere, we stopped for lunch at bridge 54 and afterwards, as we were in the equivalent of the Shropshire Lake District, we walked round Cole Mere, and then moved onto Ellesmere where we moored for the night. Ever since we had bought the futon we had realised that it was really too big and to use it as a bed we had to turn it through 90 degrees in order to extend it to it’s 6 ft plus length, and then you couldn’t walk past it. With P & G’s arrival imminent I had worked out that if I shortened the frame by 250mm it would open out across the boat instead. So I spent an hour or so modifying the futon frame, during this process I suddenly discovered that we had a major leak on the bedroom radiator. The push fit elbow had unscrewed it self and chosen that moment to part company with the rad and start to empty itself. Once P & G arrived at about 2pm on 9th May and they were parked and unloaded we went back on ourselves to give them a run out, moored at the mere again and arrived back at Ellemere on the Tuesday morning. After seeing the others off we motored down to the entrance to the Montgomery canal        where we had booked a passage through the locks on Wednesday as the locks are only open between 12 & 2 pm each day to conserve water. It’s now Sunday and we are still on the Montgomery Canal even though there’s only 7 miles at our end restored and usable.
We’ve bumped into Sue & Clive on Lady Godiva again and eaten out again spent a day in Shrewsbury and BBQ’d ( on Margarets birthday) all with them, and done an 8 mile walk down the closed section of the canal and it has been really good.   

Another 11 Days 21/4/10 to 1/5/10

We stopped as we went through Stafford and cycled in to the town.  On the way back we came across a team from the RNLI who were travelling from Huddersfield to Torquay on a bikecanoe on both land and water.        They had broken down as their flag had got wrapped around the rear sprocket.  We lent them some tools and they were soon on their way. Next stop Acton Trussell.  The first time we tried the breadmaker we discovered that it didn’t like the supply from the inverter as our older one does not produce a pure sine wave.  With the generator running and something else switched on we managed to produce a loaf!  When we got to Wolverhampton we cycled in again but not so good as Stafford, and it was there that we turned onto            the Shropshire Union canal.  At the first boat yard we passed we met the couple who had bought the first Sammy Jo from Mr & Mrs Bricknell, and they think that it had been named after their children!! , but it is called James Arthur now.                                    Next stop Brewood, a pretty village.  As we left we kept passing groups of military walkers all carrying their flags.  Turns out they were all trying to qualify for the 94^th Intenational 4 day march in Nijmegen, so for the next 3 miles we were entertained by singing marching groups.  Past Weaton Aston and then onto Gnosall.  Here we met up with Sue & Clive on Lady Godiva whom we met on our very first run out while still at Great Haywood.  They were eating in the pub but afterwards they came back to us for a drink. We made a silly schoolboy error                the night before and moored under a rookery, thus in the morning we had a messy boat!!  So we moved along to a quiet bit and washed it all off, then set off for Norbury Jcn.   Again we moored behind Lady Godiva        and while M planted her boxes with Geranium’s, lettuce, parsley and mint I watched Chelsea thrash Stoke then we went to the pub for quite a few with Sue & Clive and ended up doing a joint fry up at 10.15pm as neither of us had eaten.  Next morning we made a proper job of the cleaning and I even polished one side.  27/4/10 we cycled again but with Charlie as well, then moved on to Goldstone Wharf.        The plan the next day was to motor to Market Drayton for the market but after an aborted cycle ride along the tow path with Charlie, as it gradually got muddier and muddier, we came back to discover that the loo wasn’t flushing again.  I ended up removing the whole loo and clearing and cleaning the pipes and electrical works, at least I’m an expert on loos now.  We didn’t get to Market Drayton until 5pm but we didn’t miss much.  Although quite a big place it seemed to be dying on its feet with loads of empty shops, so we didn’t bother to go back in the morning.  29/4/10 set off early…ish as planning to go to Audlem which is 6.5mls and 20 locks away.  No sooner had we begun than it started to rain, no too heavy so we carried on and did the whole journey in the rain which had got heavier.  Moored at an absolutely beautiful spot on an embankment overlooking rolling hills with a lake and grazing sheep.  Lit the stove and stayed in, lovely.  Audlem is a lovely village, very pretty, with good sprinkling of shops.          So next day  30/4 after walking Charlie we had lunch in the Priest Hole Coffee Shop which was still done out like the old style sweet shop it used to be, even bought some mint imperials and treacle toffees yum, but raining when we came out so we stayed put and it didn’t stop until late evening.  That’s April done and this morning we went back into the village for a few bits and moved down the cut for about 2.5 mls to visit Hack Green secret nuclear bunker which was very interesting and stayed here for the night.   We are now just 3 or 4 miles from Nantwich and Hurleston Jcn where the Llangollen canal starts.