INTERESTING TIMES
(in Spain, Portugal and UK)
Llangollen Part Two
Friday 14th June, 2019
Saturday 15th June, 2019
Sunday 16th June, 2019
Monday 17th June, 2019
Tuesday 18th June, 2019
Friday 14th June, 2019
ell, today has been a chapter of accidents to say the least! First news came at breakfast. Raewyn, the NZ girl who occupies the double cabin in the butty with her husband Colin, slipped coming back from the pub last night and has broken her foot, or ankle. Paramedics came in an ambulance and have taken them to the nearest hospital. I hope they make it back after plastering. This is only the start of their holiday too.
Calamity on the Canal
oon after this, almost simultaneously, a friend of Rosie and Brian who used to run hotelboats, arrived and they all tried to remove the rudder to arrange the repair. This only resulted in breaking the boat pole. So an emergency call to Frankton Locks and Whittington Boatyard, not far away, led to us packing up and moving off to see if the repair could be done there, maybe tomorrow.
Along the Monty
he worst news is that the CRT have closed the canal at Grindley Brook for at least a week so we really don't know what will happen with our bookings for the Nantwich hotel and the next trip, ending at Whaley Bridge. If the boats can't get out of the Llangollen nobody really has a plan. We are prepared to go up and down the Llangollen for a while, but don't know what will be happening. Just have to wait and see and hope the CRT can speed it up a bit.
Later 1800:
The butty has been repaired - much sooner than we could have hoped, so we are reunited. Raewyn is still in the hospital; the latest gen is that the diagnosis is a dislocated ankle and a bone broken in the foot. She is in the operating room now.
Later still
Canal Bridge
ell, the knell has now fallen! The CRT is saying maybe two weeks to fix the breach so there is no way we will get to Nantwich by boat, let alone Whaley Bridge. Our alternative is to meander up and down the Llangollen for another week. Don't mind that - really - but we have bookings at Nantwich and train reservations from Whaley Bridge so we don't really know what to do. Poor Rosie and Brian, the owner/operators are really in a difficulty If it goes on they may have to pay to crane the boats out and truck them somewhere else! Otherwise the whole season is shot.
ur holiday this year has been "A Series of Unfortunate Events" generally. We don't know what will happen to our NZ mates either. And Jenny, another Aussie, broke a toe in Sicily earlier in her holiday as well. A group of crocks!
Saturday 15th June, 2019
Cottage Garden Beside the Monty
e lost Jenny today (by arrangement, not catastrophe) her husband picked her up from the boatyard. Poor Raewyn needs another operation so Colin has retrieved all their gear and gone. So we are down to five. Very like "Ten Little Indians". Who's next?
Mac and Jill Work the Lock
ac and Jill and I walked along to the Marton Locks where Mac, Michael and Jill did the locks while I held Mac's coat! He is really in his element.
Back at Chirk
e are now heading back to Chirk where we will overnight in the basin at the aqueduct. Maybe we can get some Wi-Fi there, we need to communicate with Geoff and the hotel at Nantwich. Another lovely lunch of frittata and a salad with a scrummy fruit salad (and cream!) Jill and I are planning to try to find Chirk Castle. We've been here twice before but never seen it yet.
Chirk Aqueduct from above
ell, the three of us, Mac, Jill and I, walked the half mile Chirk Tunnel (with the aid of a torch) and up through the back roads towards Chirk Castle. We came to the gatehouse with very impressive wrought iron gates into lovely grounds, but the castle proper was another 1.5 miles. So we didn't go as the castle would have been closed, it was after 1700.
Gates of Chirk Castle
Gatehouse at Chirk Castle
nstead we walked the other way to Chirk Village, a quiet, pleasant village with some black and white buildings and a square towered Norman church. As we went into the village the church bells started ringing and Jill went off to investigate while Mac and I went to the little supermarket. She found it was a wedding and actually saw the bride come out of the church just as the sun came out.
Breasted up at Chirk
Our Shadows at Chirk
e walked back to the boats and then out along the aqueduct. It was a lovely evening and we saw our own shadows tiny in the fields far below. We must find some Wi-Fi soon but have no real desire to find a pub after dinner. Our dinners are so good we just want to go to sleep after them! Pulled pork with ginger, leek gratin, braised red cabbage (and a vege option for Jill) We all had some of it and it was lovely. Polly the chef is vegan and Rosie and Brian are vegetarians so the vegetarian options are always good.
Mac enjoys the evening at Chirk
Michael enjoys the evening at Chirk
Whatever happens, we are enjoying the trip.
Sunday 16th June, 2019
Narrow Lock near Chirk
e awoke to lovely sunshine but it didn't last. We had quite a shuffle winding the pair in front of Chirk Tunnel with boats coming in both directions, then it started raining on and off.
Heading Over Chirk Aqueduct
Along the Llangollen
ac gave me a heart attack when he jumped off at a bridge without warning. All I heard was a loud crash as Brian pulled in and then saw Mac go flying past the window. I thought he had collided with the bridge, but it was voluntary and he got back on again soon. The other ladies told him I was upset and he came to apologise.
Old Man of the Trees
ut he is having a ball being boat handler and lock wheeler and I am enjoying the scenery and the motion. Just the uncertainty is worrying.
Along the Llangollen
Later:
fter conversations with Rosie and Brian and the rest of the passengers it has been decided that the cruise will finish at Ellesmere on the appropriate day and we will all be taken by cab or minibus to Nantwich, where it was supposed to end, and we will take up our booking at the Cheshire Cat and the others will get trains or be picked up. Then, the following day, when they pick up the next lot of passengers we will meet them outside the laundrette at the Marina. So that is us set for the next twelve days, afterwards we will perhaps be dropped within reach of Whaley Bridge. Perhaps the breach will have been repaired by then, but I am not holding my breath!
Blakemere
Later Still:
Moored at Blakemere
nother lovely mooring tonight at Blakemere, one of the several meres which make up the Shropshire Lake District. It is really beautiful, the canal on one side and the lovely lake on the other. The far shore has pink rhododendrons gracing the bank and crested grebes are ducking and diving. Idyllic!
A wonderful Sunday roast dinner tonight with all the trimmings including yorkshire puddings, followed by treacle (or golden syrup) tart (with cream!) Yummy!
Monday 17th June, 2019
Blakemere
Rhodos at Blakemere
aining again as we set off up the canal past Colemere and some lovely tulgy woods. After morning coffee we turned up the Prees Arm which we discovered in 2000 during our very first canal adventure.
Lift Bridge on the Prees
We go Aground
here were two lift bridges which Mac and Michael dealt with, just closing them really, a previous boat just ahead of us having left them up for us.
Still Aground
Yo heave Ho
hen we puttered on through a very shallow and extremely narrow section,where we went aground and Mac and John had quite a difficult Volga Boatman exercise to get us off.
Prees Arm Shepherds Huts
e drifted past a group of "shepherd's huts" (caravan type holiday accommodation) until we arrived at Whixall Marina which is the end of the line. After that it is another nature reserve. The banks were full of wildflowers and it was surprisingly peaceful given that the marina and boatyard were in full swing nearby.
Wildflower banks
e moored in a relatively awkward spot which the Marina manager said might block the entrance and exit but he allowed us to stay for lunch.
I have mentioned and praised Polly the chef ; she produces brilliant meals from a cubby hole kitchen and the food pleases everyone despite being a vegan herself. Rosie and Brian are vegetarians as I mentioned and we have one vegetarian, Jill, among the passengers. Everyone has a good meal (in fact, far too much food, really) but, like in Europe, it is all part of the experience. I just hope it doesn't take too long to lose the holiday excesses!
The Idyllic Prees Arm
e trogged back down the canal, like every other boat on the canal. Because of the breach and stoppage we don't have much choice in our travels and keep passing and re-passing the same boats.
Canal Goes On
ill and I are compiling a list of interesting boat names which we keep seeing and greeting as we go. I feel I should have bought a badge at the Globe which said "To be or Not to be" instead of "Once More unto the Breach, dear friends"!
Later:
t was a lamb stew tonight, probably the only meal I have not whole-heartedly enjoyed but the celeriac and apple soup and sticky date pudding with brandy cream sauce were delicious and decadent. Oh dear!
Tuesday 18th June, 2019
Heading for Ellesmere
lovely day today but it ended too soon. We made it to Whitchurch, where we moored in 2000 to pick up Neil. Brian decided to end the tour here instead of Ellesmere. Since we got here before lunch this was disappointing.
Mac, Jill and I walked into Whitchurch after lunch for a bit of shopping at Tesco.
Later:
Canal Reflections
fter a "cream tea" and then a huge meal of coq au vin and some Indian vege stuff followed by profiteroles dipped in chocolate and filled with cream (this cruise has contained more pastry and cream than we have had at any time in the last eight years!) we collected some money for gratuities for the crew who get paid comparatively little so we were generous, I think. Polly is amazing and John and Josh, who alternate boat handling with cooking assistance, are always willing and cheerful. I must say I hope next week's weather is finer since we will be doing all the same things again. Wait and see.
Back to Top
Back to Contents
Back to Previous Page
Forward to Next
