Swanley Bridge marina and home

Thursday 13^th June; bridge 12 to the marina, and home

Rain is forecast for later in the day, so it made sense to get going as early as we could – not just so we could moor up and load the car in the dry, but to try and get past Birmingham before it started.

No sun this morning

We were on our way around 8.30, in quiet weather – no sun, no rain, and not much wind either.

On the way to the first Swanley lock

At the first lock we met another early starter, also running from the weather, with a plan to hunker down at Wrenbury before the rain came.  After that the canal was quiet.

Leaving Swanley bottom lock

The wind was beginning to freshen a bit, but Dave reversed us into our berth with no problem and was off to the office to confirm our arrival by 9.30.  I was heartily glad I’d done a thorough clean of the boat and defrosted the fridge already, but it was still midday before we left.  The M6 was horrendously busy and sometimes slow, but thankfully there were no actual hold-ups.  The traffic stayed heavy till well past Bristol, and the rain started mid-afternoon, but we were home by 5,  in perfect time for Jess’s tea.

2 locks, 1½ miles

I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered I had forgotten to prop the fridge door open – fingers crossed there won’t be too much mould to clean off when we return!

Trip stats

Llangollen canal; 88 miles 2¼ furlongs of narrow canal, 34 narrow locks

6 tunnels – Ellesmere, Chirk and Whitehouse (x 2) – 6¾ furlongs underground

4 aqueducts – Chirk and Pontcysyllte (x 2)

20 lift bridges – 1 electric, 7 manual, 2 left open (x 2)

 

Lambs can swim

Wednesday 12^th June; bridge 25 to below Baddiley locks, bridge 12

The sun was shining, though unfortunately from behind the hedge first thing.  Skylarks were singing in the clear blue sky as we set off around our usual time or 9.30.  Though the wind was still cold, in spite of the sun, Jess and I had a lovely walk down to Marbury lock, surrounded by birdsong – sedge warblers and a redstart (said the Merlin app) as well as all the usual little birds.  A boat had just come up Marbury lock, so no hanging about waiting for it to fill today.

Straight in

It wasn’t far to Wrenbury Frith lift bridge, where I was keen to stop for a while at the little garden centre.

The boat coming towards the bridge kindly opened it and waved us through, and we were soon tied up a little way beyond it.  Dave went to investigate the café, which seems to do a variety of breakfasts – I have to say they looked delicious and people clearly make a point of visiting.  I was the only person buying plants though – I meant to buy one pot, but ended up with 4 …. 

It wasn’t lunchtime though, so no all-day breakfasts for us.  Wrenbury road bridge looked unusually quiet as we approached, and as I arrived to raise it with the key of power I could see the reason – an emergency road closure a little way beyond the hire base.  I let a delivery van cross before I started, but unfortunately for him, by the time he clocked that he couldn’t go the way he wanted I had started the opening procedure …  he disappeared down the long lane that runs along the offside of the canal.  In the end I only caught one cyclist and one car, both of whom arrived as I’d started the closing procedure.  We moored before the next lift bridge for a visit to the village.  We walked down to the bridge after it, no 18, and took a footpath across fields to enter the village just past the shop.  We bought a paper and then returned via the footpath from the churchyard.  I wanted to look around the church, but there was a prayer meeting going on so after a respectful pause and a look at what I could see from the back, I slipped out again.  A good thing Dave had stayed outside with Jess.

Wrenbury Church

The churchyard is large, and well-cared for.  Many of the graves, although old, are still visited as we could see from the fresh flowers on many.  It seems that several graves have multiple generations all in together.  There is still room for more graves, unlike many churchyards you see these days, and also plenty of room for wildlife.

The path rejoined the canal at Wrenbury Church Lift Bridge.  We had lunch, and before we set off again I took rubbish and a large bag of recycling across to the hire base, who were happy for me to use their bins.  Meanwhile Dave had found a rope fender, complete with rope, abandoned on the towpath. That went into the well deck before we tackled the lift bridge – another fairly easy one – and carried on down Baddiley locks, which were quite busy.  Between the second and third we had a bit of a hold-up; a lamb was swimming across the cut.  The rest of the flock were in the field next to the towpath, which was covered in sheep poo so obviously there had been several escapes before.  The lamb stood in a shallow patch by the opposite bank, bleating, as I went to check the lock while wondering who to call.  With a boat just leaving it, and another about to come in, I went back to see what was happening.  It had swum back towards the towpath, but of course as soon as a person got near it took fright, and swam away again, this time ending up merely knee deep further along by a small wood.  I tried calling the police on 101, as I thought they would know the local farmers, but couldn’t get further than selecting the force area I wanted.  Dave suggested CRT, who answered quickly and seemed to be used to this sort of thing – they took the location and said they’d pass it on the local team.  The lamb seemed to have got itself up into the woodland by now and disappeared, so I hope it was ok.  Once down the bottom Baddiley lock we carried on to get a bit closer to Swanley locks, and found a nice sunny spot past bridge 12.

Today’s booty

5½ miles, 4 locks, 3 lift bridges

 

More jobs than cruising today

Tuesday 11^th June; Jackson’s bridge no 26 to below Quoisley bridge no 25

It rained a lot overnight, and was still raining at 7 am, so we stayed in bed a bit longer.  It was a well-chosen mooring, with no trees to drip on the roof all night long.  By 8 the sun was shining on our little patch of mooring, though there was cloud all around.

After waiting for a couple more showers to blow through, we were on our way at about 10, in a chilly breeze.  Several boats had already gone by downstream, with rather fewer going up so we knew the locks would probably all be against us - that is empty, needing to be filled before we could go down.  The first lock was Povey’s, where there are wet meadows all around, and a soggy towpath too, with builders’ metal fencing panels and lengths of waste wood placed in the worst bits.  Wet meadows usually mean interesting birds, and two lapwings were flying about for a while.

Those two white blobs are lapwings, honest!

The next lock is Willeymoor, next to the Willeymoor Tavern with all the fancy teapots.  I had a closer look at the one I had thought was Elvis, but on closer inspection I think it looks more like Roy Orbison.  But wearing jeans, in the bath?? 

The King, or the Big O?

Later on a Cetti’s warbler sang loudly in the hedge as I walked to Quoisley lock.  Then it was decision time.  Should we go on to Wrenbury this afternoon, or find a nice mooring and do some jobs instead?  We spotted a lovely stretch between Quoisley and Steer bridges and decided to have lunch while we thought about it.  In the end, as it was such a lovely sunny afternoon, we stayed put.  Dave has been using a colour restorer on the black paintwork, which is beginning to show its age with some faded streaks now.  One side has come up very well, but the other, which we think was probably facing south during lockdown so had more exposure, hasn’t come up so well, although it is better than it was.  I spent the time cleaning through the boat, and defrosting the fridge so there is less to do when we go home in a couple of days time.  We were having a cup of tea when a familiar and distinctive engine noise slowly approached.

Fuel boat Mountbatten on the way back downstream

It is interesting to note that in spite of Mountbatten’s deep draught, Bonjour barely moved as she passed.  How different from some boaters who seem to think that just dropping the revs a token amount as they pass your boat is quite enough, and send you rocking with their speed!  Dave had painting to do too – the red on the cratch board, which now shows up the tired red bits on the bow flashes –

And then the heart on the sliding hatch.  This is normally not seen, as it's where the life ring lives as we cruise.

We had cruised for less than 2 hours, but with the solar panels in full sun, the batteries stayed well topped up.

 2½ miles, 3 locks

Better weather at Grindley Brook

Monday 10^th June; Old Man’s Bridge to below Grindley Brook

Thankfully the overnight rain had cleared by the time I took Jess out this morning, though it was very cold in spite of early sun. 

A good mooring away from those dripping trees

Following another shower, it was nearly 10 before we left, woolly hats and gloves on to beat the cold.  Hassel’s no 2 lift bridge, soon followed by the one at the Whitchurch Arm, soon warmed me up!  

Poppies, not so common these days

 

A striking tree beyond the poppies

The good offside moorings just after the Whitchurch arm were full, and we had to move on a good hundred yards before there was space to pull in.  Nicholson’s implies that the walk to the town centre is a mere half a mile – I set my sports watch to measure it, and it was over a mile from our mooring.   The Whitchurch Arm was originally a mile long, though now it’s only a quarter of that.   But it’s a pleasant walk up the arm, following the footpath to town along the Stagg’s brook.  The sun was out now, and Jess had a great time. 

Murals under the road bridge

We found a large Tesco at the far end of town, with a pet shop opposite so all our shopping needs were met!  We could have walked on the towpath back to bridge 31A, where there is access to Aldi, but they were unlikely to have had everything we needed.  A feasibility study was done, years ago now, on extending the arm and constructing a basin for mooring nearer town.  The original line has been built over, so a new cut would have to be made.  In the current financial climate I think there are other priorities, and somehow I’m not sure the funding would still be there anyway.

Fat chance.  But there is a picnic area!

We had lunch, then watered up above the Grindley Brook staircase.  There were two lockies on duty today, and we were down very quickly.

Staircase bottom lock

We did meet one boat on the lower locks, but it had been a fairly quiet day for the lockies.  Yesterday had been very busy indeed, as we had suspected from the stream of hire boats passing us yesterday at regular intervals.  We went on past the moorings at the bottom of the flight to find somewhere away from the road and a bit quieter, and we found one in the sun, with a pleasant view on the offside across fields to a distant wood.  It was an early stop today, so there was plenty of time for jobs.

Just over 3 miles, 2 lift bridges, 6 locks

The Mammoth Tower

Sunday 9^th June; Hampton Bank to Old Man’s bridge no 38

It’s such a lovely mooring here that we were reluctant to move on, but we were keen to have another walk on Whixall Moss – that’s something we couldn’t have done if we’d gone down the Monty.  I started off steering when we left, as Dave needed to walk Jess.  I’m getting more confident and things are fine till I lose concentration, which isn’t happening as often as it used to.  But I drive rather slowly, so after a while Dave got back on so we could achieve normal cruising speed!  We moored at the western end of the Mosses, just before the ‘no mooring’ stretch, around mid-morning.  The weather had been overcast and cool, but the cloud was thinning and the weather warming up a bit by the time we started.  We picked a different route from last time, starting on an open section near the western edge.  With areas of standing water, rushes and cotton grass, and fewer shrubs or trees than nearer the canal, there was less birdlife to start with – just the familiar call of a curlew in the distance.  But suddenly a loud unfamiliar call sounded behind us and a large bird banked around us – a curlew, which flew round us in large circles, taking in a couple of birdwatchers walking towards us about a hundred yards away.

It continued circling and calling, a loud short call, obviously a warning to its mate and friends of danger, although everyone was keeping to the track with their dogs under control.  I took several photos, but the others were all sky.  Eventually there were other curlew calls and it flew back to the other two who were in the air, and then all was quiet.  We left Wales and entered England part-way through the walk.

 We rejoined the canal by the trail we followed last time and walked back along the towpath past the Mammoth Tower.  Of course, we had to go and have a look.

The bones of woolly mammoths have been uncovered in the peat, hence the name.  Reproduction tusks adorn the top of the steps.

When you consider that wet peat bogs hold more carbon than a woodland for the same surface area, it’s sobering to think of the damage done to the atmosphere through draining peatlands – dry peat loses its carbon to the atmosphere very quickly.  The height of the tower matches the depth of peat that has dried out or been removed over the centuries.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

On the way back to the boat we heard more warblers in the trees, and had lunch listening to birdsong.  We had re-entered Wales on foot along the towpath – now we left it for the last time this trip, by boat.

There is nothing on the other side of the post to say you are entering England!  Through Morris and Tilstock Park lift bridges we went, both of them very heavy work.  The sun had disappeared behind thick cloud and we continued in intermittent drizzle.  With a poor forecast for later we pulled in between bridges 38 (Old Man’s) and 37 (Duddleston), on one of the few short stretches without trees to drip on the roof.  It started raining almost at once and rained on and off all evening.  There were lots of boats on the move during the afternoon, especially ABC hire boats on their way to Llangollen.  A damp cruise for them!  and the aqueduct is going to be busy in a few days’ time.

7 miles, 2 lift bridges

The least we can do, wouldn't you agree?

 

Maybe another year

Saturday 8^th June; Frankton Junction to Hampton Bank (before bridge 50)

The internet signal here is rather variable, so yet another day had passed with no blog update.  Better luck tonight I hope!  Yesterday evening’s slurry spreading was still making its presence felt when we got up.  The pong dissipated a bit with a heavy shower at 9, after which I walked round to find the lockie at Frankton locks to cancel our booking.  The first boat was already on its way down, disappearing off to the third lock. 

Not this year

We left soon after I got back, with the clouds gradually lifting.

Good morning neighbours

When we were sheltered from the wind it was getting pleasantly warm.  As we wound round the bends and under the Val Hill bridges, we passed the pretty little sheep next door to the holiday lodges.  They appear to be Balwen Welsh Mountain sheep, which are identified by their black colour with white extremities – just like our second mate.

Pretty little sheep, raised for meat and probably delicious

We moored on the main line at Ellesmere, and walked up to the town for cakes (Vermeulen’s), sausage roll and spinach mini quiche (Moolah) and some bacon from the butcher, before a nip into Tesco for some wine.

The crane at the end of the Ellesmere Arm

After our delicious lunch we pulled over to the vacant services to top up the water and dispose of rubbish, before getting going again at about 2.  The imposing building opposite the arm was built in 1805-6 and held the canal offices of the Ellesmere Canal Company.

Views in three directions

We cruised on in sunshine, not wanting to stop by the meres as there were too many trees to hide the sun. We were aiming for Hampton Bank, where there is a long section suitable for mooring with an attractive woodland opposite.  Before we got there, a large bow appeared round a bend, and we paused in a wider section for fuel boat Mountbatten to pass – even in the middle of the canal he said he could feel the bottom on occasions.

Mountbatten

We moored about a hundred yards before the winding hole, in bright sunshine.  How delightful to finally have the side hatch open over the water with the sun streaming into the boat!

Nicely moored up by 3.30, there was plenty of time for some jobs – Dave refilled the stern tube, then removed the strips of carpet he had tacked to the stern steps when we bought the boat, as Meg found the steps too slippery to negotiate.  No such need for Jess, who can leap right across them if she chooses!  They need a fair bit of work to spruce them up, so they got rubbed down and had the first coat of varnish.  The hand washing I did this morning was drying well in the cratch, and I made a batch of gingerbread.

A good mooring for a game of ball

6½ miles, no locks, no tunnels, no lift bridges, no aqueducts.

 

Beware of dragons!

Friday 7^th June; Chirk tunnel (north) to Frankton Junction

With no need to get up early, and with the porthole bungs in place to try and stop us waking up at 5.30, we had a good night’s sleep.  By the time we were up and about, 4 boats had been past.  On a cloudy day it is really gloomy in the cutting.

It wasn't quite that dark!

I walked up to the road and into Chirk for supplies, returning with some nice meat, bread, cake and veg from the independent shops.  I thought there was only one big factory in Chirk, the Kronospan factory with the belching chimney which makes particle board, MDF and laminate flooring.  But no!  Mondelez, which bought Cadbury some time ago, reckons that now Chirk is the home of chocolate!

I thought that was Bournville, but I suppose Mondelez thinks it can say what it likes as it owns the brand now.

Their website says they receive the cocoa beans from Ghana, wash and then roast them.  So they don’t make actual chocolate here at all.  Once we were ready to set off, we thought we’d follow a boat that had just left.  But by the time we sorted ourselves out, there was a headlight visible at the other end of the tunnel.  While we waited for that boat to arrive, we chatted to walkers.  One asked what the 4^th symbol on the tunnel board meant?  As a red triangle (albeit the other way up) on a road sign indicates a warning, I suspect it means …

Beware of dragons!  Or at least give way ....

Once the boat, which turned out to be two, had come through the tunnel we were off, on our own in the tunnel and across the aqueduct.

No more risk of dragons, we're in England now!

 

No trains today

The morning was cloudy and cool, with the usual cold wind.  Chirk Bank was quiet, no oncoming boats to make life difficult round the bends or at Monks Bridge.

Monks Bridge

Further on another garden has a variety of things to look at.  It is no Charity Dock, but I do like the Wheelbarrow Man.

Beehives next door

Not quite Charity Dock, but in better nick

We pulled in before New Marton locks for lunch, then when we started again the sun had come out and it was a lovely afternoon. A boat was leaving the top lock as we approached, then we were on our own.  We had hoped to moor for the night after bridge 4W, but a boat was smack in the middle of the mooring.  The towpath was also extremely narrow, and a little way further was the almost impassable stretch we had noticed on our way up.  And there were a lot of biting flies!  So we carried on towards Frankton Junction, finding a nice little patch of sun just before bridge 1W.

We had booked passage down the Frankton locks for tomorrow, but we were worried we would spend the rest of our time rushing to ‘do’ the Monty and then back to Swanley Bridge in time to get home as planned.  Perhaps we should reconsider?   We'll make our minds up in the morning.  Best-laid plans, and all that … never mind.   Then, the side hatch had been open, and a pong began to drift in – a tractor had started slurry spreading in the field over the hedge.  Poo!  The wifi signal was poor and intermittent as well.  A rather  unsatisfactory end to the day.

8½ miles, Chirk tunnel and aqueduct, 2 locks