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)