A weekend in Ellesmere

Sat 14th Jul  Tetchill to Ellesmere via Frankton

Our mooring at Tetchill

Just as we were thinking of departing, a boat came in sight behind us and went past.  James went forward to cast off the bow rope. By the time he had got back to the stern another boat appeared behind, so he waited for them to pass. Then he attempted to set off, but it was difficult to get away from the side as it was shallow, and by the time he managed to get out, there was yet another boat behind.

So we were in a convoy of four boats, all going very slowly.  Bridges 64, 65 and 66 are all very close and on a hairpin bend around a small hill, and there were three boats going the other way. It got very complicated waiting for each other by the bridges, and then getting stuck in the shallow areas.

Busy on the canal – looking back

Busy on the canal – looking forward

Loosestrife

We finally managed to reach Frankton Junction, where we had planned to turn.  We went through the last bridge, 69, and turned in, and beckoned the boat behind to pass us.  We completed our turn, which took longer than it should because the canal was shallow.  By the time we were facing the other way, another boat was appearing from the other side of Bridge 69, so we waited for them to come through before we could proceed.

Peter’s Bridge 69

Montgomery Canal

We thought we may have had something on the prop, so we decided to stop at the first set of rings and have a look. We had passed through Bridge 67, and spotted the 48 hour mooring with rings, so we pulled in. As we did so, the engine suddenly stopped. Fortunately, we were close enough for James to leap ashore with a rope and pull the boat to a stop.

We tied the boat up and checked the weed hatch. There was a small item of elastic material which came away easily, but the propeller was immoveable.  On further investigation, James found that the prop had embedded itself in a submerged log.  James tried to remove it with our secret weapon – Bargee Bill’s Prop Cleaner, and our lump hammer. He couldn’t feel exactly where the log was and it didn’t come away despite a few hefty blows to dislodge it, so we called RCR, and waited for them.

Thankfully we had some shade. Hugo went exploring, and then decided to come in through one of the windows where we had removed the glass.

Hugo exploring

Making an unorthodox entry

James planted some marigolds we had bought, which didn’t look as good as the first ones, but hopefully they will grow.  He also caught up with the blog.

The original marigolds

The new ones

Eventually the man from RCR arrived, having had to ask for access across a farmer’s field, and finally climbing through a hedge to reach us. He had longer arms than James, and was able to reach far enough down to work out how the log was lying, jammed between the prop and the skeg.  He had come armed with just a jemmy, but when he saw our weapon he decided to use that. It took several hefty blows, but finally the log gave way, and fell off the prop, disappearing once again to lurk submerged in the muddy water.

The man from RCR

We had been there for four hours, and we were grateful to be able to set off, after retrieving Hugo from the bushes.

As we approached the sanitary station we saw that it was clear of boats but another boat arrived at the same time from the other direction, so we ended up nose to nose. Then a third boat came in behind them, so the water filling operation took some time as three taps were being used.

Into the Ellesmere Arm

By the time we entered the Ellesmere Arm there was just one space available, and even then a friendly spectator had to move a white cruiser a few feet. That boat has been there for several weeks.  Our helper was called Roger, and he seemed very interested in our gig at the Ellesmere Hotel. He asked if James would tune his daughter’s guitar, which of course was no problem. We said we would be there all of the next day.

Squeezed in

We had also seen that Elisha was moored three boats back from us, and later on Malcolm and Stephanie appeared, wearing caps with union jacks on, as they had been watching England lose a world cup match.  We got our chairs out and spent some time with them.

0 locks, 5 miles

Sun 15th Jul  Ellesmere

We had agreed a time of 0930 with Malcolm and Stephanie, and we all set off to walk to the Cellar Church, which meets at 1000.

We had a warm welcome once again, and were pleased to discover that Canal Ministries friends Peter and Lin were there, as well as Chris and Sally and their son.

Cellar Church worship team

After the service, there were nine of us looking for lunch somewhere.  After a brief phone call, the Red Lion found space for a table for us all and we enjoyed a good meal together. In between courses we were all filling in the extra event by hand on the coasters.  We left some with the Red Lion, and on the way back we dropped some off at the Ellesmere Hotel.

Back at the boat sat out on chairs and chatted to lots of people.  Roger and some friends turned up with the guitar he wanted tuning. James managed to get it more or less right, but the strings were old, and the action was a little high.  They wanted a tune, so he sang “Dirty Old Town”. They were an appreciative audience, and said they would come to our gig in the Ellesmere Hotel.

We went to Gospel Belle for some more Canal Ministries leaflets. Peter came later with some pens, as we were running low.

No boating today

Next: heading for Llangollen