Up the Monty with some intrepid exploring

As I type this we are moored pretty well as far as you can get from the connected canals on the Montgomery Canal which we've never travelled before.  We've been refreshed by a good lunch at the Navigation Inn at Maesbury Marsh, so now is the time to update our blog.

The last posting was from Whitchurch from where Ian caught the train back home to check all was well.  It was.  He came back on Saturday and we carried on up the Llangollen Canal.

Now don't you think that the chap in the hat looks like John Sargeant on 'Barging through Britain'?  No it wasn't him!

On Saturday evening we moored close to Whixall Moss.  The 'Mosses' round here are raised peat bogs which date back to depressions created in the last ice age.  We followed a suggested walk around the Moss.  Helen is next to a pile of peats cut from the Moss, though they don't let you do this any more.

The water table is close to the surface and there are a few pools of standing water like this one, which was said to be home to a very rare spider which walks on the water.










On Sunday we turned off the main route onto the Prees Branch which is now only about a mile long but used to be  much longer.  We moored near the end of the navigable section and walked through very wet vegetation to explore some more of the branch.

The Prees Branch soon becomes narrow and shallow meaning progress is slow.  However there is a large marina at the end.

This is as far as you can now go on a boat.  To the left you can see boats in the marina.  To the right, among the trees, is the continuation of the Prees Branch which we followed on foot.

Here is Boodles Bridge now crossing an overgrown ditch.

Prees Branch, though short, has a couple more lift bridges to keep boaters on their toes.

On Sunday evening we moored in the rain by Blake Mere and this is the view of the lake (Mere = Lake) from Leo.  The three drakes thought they were going to get fed.  It was rather dark and drippy under the  trees, but it would be a lovely spot for some shade on a hot summer's day.






On Monday we cruised on to Ellesmere and spent much of a wet day looking round the town.  We thought this was a delightful place with a canal wharf on one side and another Mere on the other.  The Meres are also a legacy of the last ice age.

We moored on the junction with the arm that leads down to Ellesmere (and a handy Tesco's).  Behind Leo is Beech House, built by Telford as canal offices.  We had endless entertainment watching boats going down the arm, backing out and failing to turn the sharp bend here.

This is both a service block for boaters and a large historic yard for Canal and River Trust.

Up a very steep hill from the town of Ellesmere is what was once a mound with the medieval castle on top.  The top of the mound is now a bowling green which came as a bit of a surprise.  However the mound gives a good view of the church and the Mere behind.

Here is the church seen from the promenade by the Mere.  The church has a superb 14th century carved wooden ceiling to a chapel, a 13th century rood screen and the grave of Sir Francis Kynaston who was cup bearer (and presumably food taster) to Elizabeth I.  The promenade by the Mere was like a Victorian sea front.  The boathouse restaurant provided a good lunch and was very popular.



We had booked ahead to go down the Frankton Locks which take boats down 4 locks at the start of the Montgomery Canal.  This canal used to go 35 miles South to the River Severn at Newtown.  At present there is a break in the canal after 7 miles so you cannot go so far.

The Llangollen Canal is very popular.  We had to wait at this bridge for a convoy of four boats heading the other way.

The Frankton Locks begin with a double staircase, seen here with another boat going between the top and bottom locks of the staircase.

This view looks back at the staircase.  The other two locks are single locks and a short distance beyond these another old branch - the Weston Branch - goes left.   We moored at the entrance to this branch.

The Weston Branch was intended to go to Shrewsbury and meet the River Severn there.  It never got so far but did extend several miles in that direction.  Walking up the Branch now leads to this weedy end in just a hundred yards or so.

From the nearby bridge you can see the Weston Branch heading away from you with Leo moored with another boat.  The route to the Frankton Locks lies to the left.










Yesterday we cruised through four locks and came to the present end of the Monty at Maesbury Marsh.

These water lilies (in fact I think they are yellow globe flowers) were in a winding hole.  The reflections above and below the flowers look to me like an impressionist painting.  This was Helen doing her Monet imitation.

The bridges on the Monty are pretty narrow but some are made even tighter by wooden boards to avoid you hitting concrete mouldings to take stop boards.

Montgomery Canal mile posts are quite distinctive.

With little boating traffic down here the water stays placid and gives some fine reflections.  The Canal goes through a very green corridor and the towpath is overgrown sufficiently to discourage wild mooring, though there is no shortage of visitor moorings at the fleshpots.

This old wharf beyond Maesbury Marsh is now the last point to turn round.  There is a horse drawn boat that does trips beyond the bridge in the background but that can be pulled backwards.  Going further in a powered boat would mean a lot of reversing and is not encouraged.

Croft's Mill Lift Bridge is the last one on the navigable section but gets a lot of use as each boat passing to reach the winding hole then has to come back through it.










Yesterday afternoon was fine to start with so we decided to cycle further along the canal.  Unfortunately we got caught in not one but two torrential downpours.  For the first we sheltered first under trees, then under a canal bridge and then retired to a pub.  For the second we sheltered in a barn where cows came through from the milking parlour; a farm worker, Del, took pity on us and gave us and the Bromptons a lift back to the boat!

This is the bridge you can see beyond the winding hole.  The black notice hiding on the right of the bridge hole says "No entry.  Horse drawn only."  But it is quite inconspicuous.

At the next bridge the water level becomes lower beyond the temporary fence which stands on top of stop planks.

And at the following bridge navigation is definitely out of the question, though you can see that  restoration is very much in progress.

 Further on there is just an overgrown ditch and at one point steps up and down disguise the old canal bed where old tramway workings cross the canal.  Round Pant and Llanymynech limestone and lime were loaded onto canal boats.

Approaching Llanymynech we found navigable water once more as this narrowboat moored there shows.

The Llanymynech road bridge (under which we sheltered) marks the Welsh boundary.  The front wall of the Lion Inn where we warmed and sheltered ourselves before starting our cycle back has the boundary along its front wall.  So you can have a drink in England, but if you step outside you are in Wales.  An Englishman at the bar told us he has to travel through foreign lands to get a drink in his own country!


Today we spent the morning drying out things that had unfortunately got rather wet yesterday including servicing the bikes.  We've been for a couple of short walks but the rain comes and goes and we are staying put today.  We've booked our return through Frankton Locks for Saturday so we shall set out tomorrow back up the Monty which has been very quiet and peaceful after the hustle and bustle of the Llangollen.  We will be trying to dodge the queues of boats once we are back on the Llangollen.  Though we've avoided coming here in school holidays I think it will still be pretty busy.  Perhaps we'll take to cruising in the early mornings and evenings.

Heading for Wales

As I type this we are apart.  Helen is looking after Leo moored in Whitchurch in Shropshire while Ian is visiting home to check all is well there (it is!).

After last weekend walking in Snowdonia, Ian returned home to Leo on Monday to find that Helen had been making new friends with lots of boaters moored or passing through Middlewich.

Here is Saturn passing Leo.  Saturn is an historic boat built in 1906 and is the last horse drawn Shropshire Union Fly Boat in existence.  You can see that she is being towed through Middlewich.

And here is another old working boat passing Leo.














We only cruised a short distance on Monday afternoon, seeking the embankment above Winsford Top Flash to gain a bit of a breeze on a boiling hot day.  On Tuesday we had a long day going to the end of the Middlewich Branch where we turned left for a mile and a half and then turned right on the Llangollen Canal which we have not cruised for 4 years.  We were looking forward to doing it again, but this time at a more leisurely pace.  So far we are really enjoying it.

Boaters generally have a good sense of humour and this boat obviously likes plastic ducks.  These were on the cratch at the front ....

And this one was all on his own on the rear fender!

The locks on the Middlewich Branch are narrow but very deep, being each around 11 feet rise.  This is Minshull Lock.

Here is a gaggle of goslings we met on our travels.  See how Mum and Dad are keeping the brood safe between them.  We are always impressed with how good parents geese are.

 This picture is taken looking back to Barbridge Junction where the Middlewich Branch goes right just past the building, and straight on leads to Chester and Ellesmere Port.

Having turned left at Barbridge it is a short hop to the next junction at Hurleston where four locks head right at the start of the Llangollen Canal.  Here you can see Helen by the bottom lock setting it for Leo to come in.

 This is the sign at Hurleston Junction with Chester one way, Birmingham the other and Llangollen our next destination.

This is the view looking down from the Top Lock.  The four locks lift the Canal over 30 feet past Hurleston Reservoir which receives the water flowing down the Llangollen Canal from Wales to fill the Shropshire Union Canal and to provide drinking water.  There is a definite flow down the Llangollen - enough to slow boats passing this way.

On Tuesday we also climbed the two Swanley locks and moored in the pound above.  We walked into Ravensmoor and had a good meal at the Farmers Arms.  Curiously we took the wrong road back, so the beer must have been stronger than we thought.







On Wednesday we explored the villages of Wrenbury and Marbury both of which are a short walk from the canal.

This heron looked very lordly surveying his domain from the fence alongside the Canal.

We thought Wrenbury was delightful with a village green, a fine church and a post office and stores where we enjoyed ice creams on another hot day.  There are two lift bridges in Wrenbury, the first carrying a footpath and this one carrying a road.

Here is Helen holding her finger on the button to lift the bridge.  We always watch for emergency vehicles but we did hold up the bus here.

Here is the bridge in its open position with Leo passing underneath.

Oh dear, we dropped on of our favourite tiller pins in the water!  We had been trying a new way of wrapping the stern mooring rope around the swan neck and, in taking it off, Ian propelled the tiller pin (a rather nice lion one) into the drink.  Here Ian is fishing with our strong magnet, but eventually had to strip to underpants and paddle in to successfully retrieve it on his foot - no pictures of the exposure though.

We moored just above Marbury Lock shown here.  When we'd recovered the tiller pin we walked into the village of Marbury.

Marbury church is a fine one perched above one of the many meres or lakes around this part of Cheshire.

The tower of Marbury Church is leaning.  It is about 25 cm out of the vertical.  You might just be able to see in this picture that it is leaning towards the left.










Yesterday we came up three more locks and soon came to the foot of the six locks at Grindley Brook.  The top three locks here form a staircase with a lock keeper managing the flow of boats in a pretty congested spot.

It's not all work for our in house lockie.

The second lock of the day was Willeymoor Lock which has a pub right by the lock.  It was too early for the pub to be open and supping while locking is not easy.

Approaching Grindley Brook you come through a narrow tunnel under the old railway and you are immediately below the first lock, seen here through the bridge.  The dark wharf building has a tiny shop where we bought some rhubarb and ginger jam and a birthday card.

Here you can see Leo waiting for the 'all clear' from Helen to come into the first lock.  We used walkie-talkies here for the first time this year as it is difficult to see what is going on further up the flight.

Leo here is in the bottom of the three staircase locks with another boat in the middle lock.  It was busy here and four boats were being allowed up followed by four going down.  We were the last of a group of four.  It took us about an hour and half to get through the six locks.

Here you can see the view looking down the staircase from the top lock.  There is a cafe here next to the bottom lock.











A mile or so beyond the Grindley Brook Locks we reversed into the Whitchurch Arm which is a bit tricky given the narrow entry to the Arm and moored a few boat lengths down.  Reversing in saves twice winding the boat as you can't directly turn into the Arm from the East.  In the afternoon we took the bikes and cycled into Whitchurch.  It is just a little too far to comfortably walk there and back as well as tour the interesting town.

The main church is St Alkmunds and it reminded us of the actors' church in Covent Garden, St Pauls.  It has a large light area inside not so separated into nave and aisles as many medieval churches.

I'm hoping you can read this. 

































John Talbot is buried under the porch of the church.  He features in Shakespeare's Henry VI part 1 where he is described as "Valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, Created, for his rare success in arms."

A claim to fame of Whitchurch is Joyce, the local clockmakers established in 1690.  Here you can see their second factory built nearer the railway when this came along.  The made clocks for both local use (St Alkmunds has one) and for export all over the world.  One of their largest clocks still graces the Custom House on the Bund at Shanghai and we have seen that, though we didn't then know the connection with Whitchurch.












Tomorrow Ian will return to Leo and in the next week or so we will be heading west towards Llangollen, though we intend to take in the navigable part of the Montgomery Canal on the way.