Oldies On Tour

Before setting off at a leisurely pace this morning we brought in all the fenders including the thick ropes around the bows and stern as the last locks before we arrive back on the Shropshire canal are narrow, especially No 1 lock.   This one has one of the walls collapsing inwards, and a boat will get stuck if it has any fenders fitted. The CRT have

One of the carvings

already published a programme of repairs for these locks at the end of the summer; lets hope they last that long!!!!! With the problems at these locks and the amount of traffic going through, a CRT volunteer mans each lock, so with Christine and other boater’s crew, we went through them in a flash. Out of the locks at Hurleston Junction, we turned south and headed towards Nantwich, a full 3-miles away where tomorrow we will be picking Pat up.

Nantwich has supplied rings and visitor moorings sending out a clear

Coffeehouse and library

message that boaters are welcome, unfortunately not every town does that.   Firstly we walked to the train station to find where we had to meet Pat tomorrow and then we meandered around this very quaint Cheshire market town, with numerous buildings not too dissimilar to Chester. In fact there are no fewer than 132

Almshouses dated 1870

listed buildings and structures here, mainly clustered in the town centre.

The origins of this settlement date back to roman times when salt was discovered, and salt has been the mainstay of the local

So many floral arrangements

economy ever since.   It reached its peak in the 16^th century when there were around 400 salt houses

Plaque for Elizabeth 1 supporting the fire restoration

but by the end of the 18^th Century it had almost died out, and the last salt house closed in the mid 19^th century.

Apart from the Canal, there is also the river Weaver that passes through here, and on its banks is a plaque commemorating the great fire of Nantwich 1583-4 and the fact Queen Elizabeth 1^st personally donated money and wood from the local royal forests to re-build Nantwich. Like many other towns around the UK, there is a treasure trove of information that we seldom get a chance to

Nantwich Square

enjoy, like St. Mary’s Church in the centre, recorded in England’s

Nantwich Parish church

Heritage list and is a grade 1 listed building. It dates from the 14^th century, though it needed some major remedial work to stop in sinking due to the removal of salt through the yeas. Apart from a place of worship, during the English civil war St. Mary’s was used as a prisoner of war jail for Royalist troops.

Inside the church

Cheshire Cat Pub

The Cheshire cat, a very old pub we were drawn into for the obligatory pint, built in 1637 it is also a Grade II listed building though when built originally, it was just a couple of cottages. In 1676 a benefactor converted them into widows’ almshouses. Apparently over the years

Inside the Cheshire Cat pub

this building has been many things but now it is a pub and at the back they have built a restaurant and a new 11-bespoke bedroom hotel; The real ale they served was in keeping with the bar area!!!

Pat duly arrived around lunchtime, so this gave us enough time to visit Morrison’s to stock the larder and on the

Sitting enjoying coffee

way back stopped for a coffee at thriving business. It was a combined bookshop and coffee house; they also did food. The combination certainly worked, it was heaving and certainly made a change from the Costa’s of this world. To add to experience, it was situated in another listed building with wonky floors, exposed

Canal Aquaduct over the main road

interior and exterior beams.

All aboard and we were off, heading south arriving at Audlem in time for a couple of pints before dinner at the Shroppie Fly.

The overnight rain had stopped by the time we had breakfasted and we headed for Llangollen. This part of the canal is a little on the narrow

Llangollen Canal no passing

side so passing had to be done with caution but there were two sections about a mile long where it is only wide enough for one boat so somebody has to walk ahead to ensure there is no other boat coming the other way. We were very fortunate, we caught up with a hire boat with a family aboard and the wife, younger and fitter, did the running ahead, phew. Heading through these narrow channels is hard going as the 2-MPH current increases and poor Meg A Star struggles which forces us to rev engine at a higher rate than we want, still when we return we will wiz along.

The more we do, the more we are amazed at the feats of engineering that took place here back in the 1700’s; here we were cruising through a canal that was hacked out of the hillside rock, no wonder it is

Narrow canal cut out of the rock.

narrow.   When we arrived at the end of the navigable canal there was a CRT owned marina where we moored; it was £6-per night including hook-up, cant be bad.

Llangollen apparently takes its name from the Welsh, meaning “a religious settlement” because a monk, later known as St. Collen, founded a church next to the river Dee in the 6^th-century. The town today is a bustling tourist destination with the canal, the heritage railway and the river Dee with its kayakers riding the rapids, though there weren’t

We could have taken the horse drawn carriage

many rapids around currently. We made the effort and walked the two miles to the head of the canal where Thomas Telford

Horse shoe falls

built a “J” shaped weir that controls the River Dee levels, and supplies water straight into the canal system. It is no wonder there is a 2-MPH current flowing down the canal!!!!! The return journey was interrupted by a pint in the hotel with

Hotel with chain bridge in distance

beautiful flowers and built next to a very unusual historical Chain Link Suspension Bridge. We did over 12,000 steps today, that should have seen off our drinks!!!!

The Grade 1 listed stone bridge over the Dee that runs through the town was built in 16^th Century to

Old Railway station

replace the previous bridge built around 1345, though this also replaced an even earlier one built by Henry 1.

Next morning naturally, we had to take a ride on the Heritage train. The railway track follows the river through the Dee valley, stopping at a couple of stations en route and arriving at a temporary station on the outskirts of Corwen, a small “unassuming” town that had a café that did superb bacon rolls (yum yum) and a barber where I had a very good haircut. Oh yes there was an interesting Norman church that had a

Me prayinging for help!

number of kneeling stones. These are stones placed near graves where the mourners can kneel to say prayers over the graves of the departed; apparently this is a local tradition only to be found in a few churches in this area.  There was also an “old work house”, the

The work house

complete original building in the shape of a cross so that the inmates can all be separated. Men and women that were fit enough to work lived separately in two blocks, and men and women that were too old to work lived separately in the remaining two blocks. Today the workhouse has portioned into small units.

Apart from the aforementioned, today Corwen is best known for its connections with “Owain Glyndwr”, who in September 1400, proclaimed himself the “Prince of Wales” and started a Welsh revolt against King Henry IV, seeking independence from England; where have I heard that before!!! By 1409 it was all over and he departed this world soon after in 1415.

Brilliant day out

We returned to Llangollen in the old British Railways rolling stock, pulled by 1934 medium sized locomotive (5199) taken out of service in March 1963. The Loco is owned by the Llangollen Railway, it has been an overhauled, completed in 2014 and now pulls one of the heritage trains several times a day to Corwen and back, a 20-miles round trip.

The day ended when I tried to light a “throw-away” bar-b-q and failed, so had to resort to the grill; I must get a gas one!!!!

As a matter of interest, to-date we have covered 574-miles and have been through 451-locks, how time flies.

We woke Sunday morning to the sound the rain coming down like stair rods and after a late breakfast it was obvious there wasn’t going to be any let up so we donned our wets and set off. Fortunately most boaters stayed moored so we had a reasonable passage heading towards Llangollen passing the site of the Froncysylite Lime Kilns,

Lime Kilns

serviced by the Ellesmere Canal (Llangollen Canal today) when it reached this point in 1802.   Passing a large Winding hole and around the corner we arrived at the “Jewel of the Canal”, Thomas Telford’s Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure, taking 10-years to build was completed in 1805. It stands 126-feet above the river Dee, it is

Pontcysyllte Canal

336-yards long and including the tow path is 12-foot wide and it is the oldest and longest navigable aqueduct in the UK and the highest in the world.   With no passing

Pontycylic Aqueduct

places one has to start and hope one of the many “plonkers” (already mentioned) doesn’t try to join you from the following direction.

Today we were lucky as we followed a sightseeing boat across who no doubt has a lookout the other end.

Looking down from Pontycylic Aqueduct

The towpath was busy with visitors walking across admiring the view though some did look a little apprehensive, probably because of the height.

Off the Aqueduct and we arrived at the bustling Trevor basin Junction, and rather than head to Llangollen we headed to the top of the arm, passing all the hire boats waiting to be hired out and. We watched the Hungarian Grand Prix highlights and enjoyed a cosy and quiet night, well apart from the rain that is!!!!!

We left Ellesmere as the forecast wasn’t too good, the wind was getting up and black clouds were above us. We reversed out of the Ellesmere arm into the junction area where we were going to turn to head up towards Llangollen when this boat came charging down with only one thing in his mind; he was going to moor on the junction to visit Tesco. He cut straight across our stern, forcing us to go full ahead to avoid a collision, which then left us at the mercy of the wind, blowing us onto the canal side; not where we wanted to be and it also restricted our turning space. We were not too sure if it was a hire boat, but if not, he should have known better.

We were now on our way and again the first thing was to start our brand new shiny Honda Inverter Generator and plug the washing machine straight into it, so much easier and no frustration; how to please Christine.

The Llangollen canal is probably the most popular canal on the

Llangollen Canal

network, confirmed by the high number of hire boats about. There are the holidaymakers who regularly hire a canal boat and you know there won’t be any problems when you come across them, then there are the less experienced, but you can gauge what they are about to do and act accordingly, and that leaves the total “plonkers”, the ones when you see them the only thing you can do is stop, close your eyes, and hope for the best.   We have often wondered if there is any training or tips given before they set off, if nothing else, how to operate the locks would be useful!!!!!

The countryside continues to wind its way towards the Welsh hills; all very pretty but slowly we noticed the change in farming, moving from cattle to sheep. The heavens opened just after lunch, most sensible

Oh dear really!

boats moored up to see it out; not us, we ploughed on and eventually stopped near Chirk Bank, where we enjoyed a pint at the last pub in England. It is the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, and being Saturday, we needed a TV signal for qualifying; most important.

The Llangollen canal has a checkered history, first conceived in 1791, and the grand plan was to have an inland waterway connecting the Mersey in the North, to the River Severn in the South.   For numerous reasons this didn’t happen but the legacy of what was built is enjoyed today,

Chirk Aqueduct

especially the engineering feats. Firstly we  crossed the Chirk Aqueduct linking Chirk Bank (England) with Chirk (Wales) across the Ceirog Valley. This construction carries the canal through a cast iron trough, supported by 10-arches, 40-foot apart and 70-foot above the River Ceirog.   Once we had traversed the aqueduct we went into the Grade II listed Chirk Tunnel, built

Chirk Aqueduct

between 1794-1803; it is 460-yards long and it is only marginally wider than a narrow boat, and as the water flows south at 2-MPH, it was hard work making headway whilst going north.   The great shame is that most people only know about the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct yet Messrs.’ Thomas Telford and William Jessop were also responsible for both the Chirk Aqueduct and Tunnel; all extraordinary feats when one considers the tools and equipment at the time; mainly manpower.  Running 30 foot above and alongside the Chirk Aqueduct is a railway viaduct erected in 1846-1848 (though rebuilt in 1858) for the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway and the line is still very much in

Having had a brilliant few days in Chester, we now have to retrace our steps until we get to Hurleston Junction, we stopped just before Beeston Locks for the evening, where we took a pleasant drink in the

Beeston Lock with the castle in the distance

Shady Oak Pub, and to my surprise we saw Sue Martin, I didn’t speak to her, as wasn’t sure it was her, sorry Sue, I did not expect to meet people you know, miles from anywhere.
Next morning we travelled on through the Bunbury Locks again, this time we had help from the lock keepers, so no problems, although they did warn us to remove all fenders, as the next set of locks are tight. We arrived at Hurleston Junction, removed some of the fenders, but were then told we had to remove them all, including our rope ones on the front, what a palaver that was, we eventually entered the locks, and with the help of the lock keeper we were soon at the top, where we stopped for water, and some lunch. After nine more locks, and two

Have to take a picture without the washing one day!

lifting bridges, we stopped for the night. One of the bridges, was electric, great, stop the traffic, push a button and we are through, the other was a wind up, and it was very difficult! We walked to the Dusty Miller pub, where Geoff was distraught, as he had no internet and he couldn’t make a phone call, I kept saying my phone worked but that of course made it worse! He had to talk to me! Ha ha.
I have to say the Llangollen Canal is lovely, the scenery is great, they

So peaceful

have rings all along where you can moor, they certainly make you welcome.
Next day we travelled on, through the Grindley staircase locks, where we got stuck at the bottom, because one of the gates would not shut, the lock keeper removed a big clump,of weed which was jamming the gate. At the top of the staircase we stopped for lunch, then onto Whitchurch Arm, where Geoff managed to manoeuvre round a very tight corner, we then turned and moored in a good spot, where we then walked into the town. Whitchurch is a fine town with some beautiful old houses of all periods in the centre, the streets are very narrow, the church is striking with very large windows, sadly it was closed. We did manage to get a drink at the local pub

Whitchurch church

though!
On this canal they have a lot of lifting bridges, which are very hard to do, I managed the first two, then handed the job over to Geoff, whilst we were meandering, we decided to try the washing machine out with our new Honda Generator, my washing machine worked fine on the mains electric, but for some reason, it was back to its old tricks of not finishing it cycle etc., etc.,very frustrating! Wow it works, so it is the inverter that does not want to do the washing, quite frankly I couldn’t care, as long as I get it done!
Ellesmere takes its name from the large and beautiful mere (lake)

Keeping cool

besides it, known as the Shropshire Lake District, and this is where we stopped for the night. We did our shopping at Tesco, before settling down for the evening, the wind has got up, and it looks as though we are in for some storms.

We arrived in Chester early afternoon on Wednesday 11^th July, mooring near the Indian Restaurant we were booked to visit with

Some of the beautiful buildings in the city

Leisha and Dave Burns that evening. They had returned home for a few days and the four of us took the opportunity to meet up for a jocular afternoon and evening; we caught up with all the news whilst enjoying a few beers and a couple of bottles of excellent New

Famous clock tower

Zealand wine before venturing into Leisha’s favourite Indian restaurant where our laughter continued over an excellent “curry”.

The following morning we headed towards the “Chester Basin” where the 2-original canals meet the river Dee.   The route passed along the base of a section of the old Roman wall before entering Northgate

Northgate locks

Old city walls

Locks, built in 1770’s, a grade 2 listed staircase raising/lowering canal boats 33 feet. Fortunately there was a CRT

One in one out!

Volunteer in attendance as we met two boats coming up as we were going down, so again we had to do a “shuffle” halfway

Looks scary when you first do it!

down the locks. I have to say we are now very proficient at carrying out this manoeuver.

We arrived at Taylors boatyard where we had booked in for a secure mooring and more importantly to have the engine serviced as well as a few extra repairs to be carried out whilst Christine was back in Spain.

Taylors boatyard is the only original building left on this canal basin and fortunately it is grade 2 listed otherwise I have no doubt it would have gone the way of all the others; it would have been pulled down and modern apartments built in its place. It’s a great shame so much heritage is being lost, much of it sold off by the CRT themselves to fund the rest of the canal network. The current leaseholders, “Pete and Yvette”, apart from looking after boats, are also renovating their facility.

In its heyday this basin was an extremely active inland port, known as “Tower Wharf”, once a busy junction of the Chester Canal with the River Dee and the Ellesmere Canal (Wirral Line) and in 1846 they all became known as the Shropshire Union Canal which was in turn connected to the rest of the network thus enabling all sorts of Manufactured goods to pass through this city.

We met up with Leisha and Dave again, when Dave collected us and took us to their lovely home where we had a good time. During the afternoon, Dave and I popped out to visit the “Gladstone Library”.

Gladstone Library

William Gladstone, British prime minister four times between 1868 and 1894, left his collection of 32,000 books and a substantial financial sum to have this wonderful building created to house his collection of books. This philanthropic gesture was to share his books with people with financial constraints and was open to everybody. Today the library has in excess

Some people f the books

of 250,000 books and also has accommodation for people who wish to stay and enjoy a literary break, though I was reliably informed one could stay there and treat it just as a hotel.  I don’t think one could talk about Gladstone without mentioning his habit of walking the streets of London at night, hoping to rescue prostitutes from their lives of vice. In 1848 he co-founded the “Church Penitentiary Society Association” for the Reclamation of Fallen Women; he would, it is said, offer streetwalkers a place to sleep, protection from their procurers, and a chance to give up their way of life.  If that wasn’t enough, for relaxation he chopped down trees and two of his axes are on display as part of his memorabilia.   Of course he also had some spectacular political successes as well!!!!!

During the time here in Chester we have enjoyed walking around the streets and walls of this historically important city especially the

Walking within the walls

beautiful Grade 1 listed cathedral. Originally started in 1093 as an abbey and developed and altered many times during the course of History.     As with many ecclesiastical buildings, everything changed during the dissolution of the monasteries and in 1541 it became an Anglican

Chester Cathedral

Cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Chester.

We have had a mixed bag of weather during our stay, sun of course but many cloudy days with a number of rain showers, unlike the south that has had wall-to-wall sunshine.

On the Friday I drove down to Gatwick to collect Christine, returning the same evening but being Friday stopped off for a meal to let the traffic clear before heading back to Chester. We avoided the M25, Tom Tom sorted us a good route driving through “rat runs” slow, but kept going and picked up the M40 at Beaconsfield; good decision. As the traffic was clear and to speed things up we went up the M6 Toll, so far so good but when we joined the old M6, the traffic was at a complete stop!!!!!!

Before leaving Chester we did the customary “Hop-on, Hop-off bus”, it

Part of the old walls of St.Johns

was very enlightening especially the history, starting when the Romans

Inside the grounds of Cathedral

arrived in 79 AD who built the first fort. Interestingly, when the Romans built the stonewalls surrounding the city, they dug a defensive ditch outside, and when the Chester canal was built, these defensive ditches became part of the Canal; my forward thinking by the Romans or what!!!

All the jobs and service completed by Taylors Boatyard; a visit to the cinema on the Monday night to see “Mama Mia, here we go again” very good and the cinema was one of the most comfortable we had been to. Tomorrow we are off and heading for Llangollen.