Ellesmere to Trevor

Mon 16th Jul  Ellesmere to Jack Mytton

Cloudy for a change

Gospel Belle arrived and moored further down the arm. They were due to meet Paul and Sue Standley later.  Elisha left, heading for the Montgomery Canal.

After some last minute Tesco shopping we set off by reversing the three boat lengths to the junction, and then moving on to the sanitary station where we did all the necessary customary activities.

Leaving the facilities area

Beautiful wild flowers

Something’s afoot. Oh no, it’s a meter.

We then departed in the direction of Llangollen. When we reached Frankton Junction, we saw Elisha still waiting to go down the locks. We don’t think they saw us although we waved and tooted.

From here the numbering changes on the bridges, and they start at 1W.  The canal seems shallower than usual, and we have been stirring up gravel just before many of the bridges, where the oncoming flow of water has dropped its cargo of silt and stones.

Bridge 1W

We passed what used to be called Maestermyn Marine, where Harrison Ford hired a boat in 2004. It has changed hands, and is now called Whittington Wharf, not to be confused with the place of the same name on the Coventry Canal.  Canal Ministries has hired a day boat from here for the mission open day.  They don’t seem very keen on visiting boats

Whittington Wharf

Visiting boats unwelcome

Turnover bridge

The fields are white for harvest

We stopped a little after the Jack Mytton pub, which sadly has closed down. There was only one other boat along this length. Last time the boats were nose to tail because of the pub.

Jack Mytton closed down

For some reason Hugo decided to lie on the gunwale.  He looked a bit precarious.

Precarious cat

Later we had a brief but heavy thunderstorm. RAIN!!  We hadn’t seen any for weeks.

0 locks, 6 miles

Tue 17th Jul  Jack Mytton to Chirk Bank

One boat went past in our direction, and then two boats came the other way before we set off.

As we arrived at New Marton Locks, a helpful guy from the USA opened the lock for us. He was waiting to come down.

James saw a kingfisher near the second of the two locks.  These are the last locks on the canal, so we were now on the same level as Llangollen.  There were two boats on the water point above the lock.

New Marton top lock

There were interesting wharf buildings at St Martin’s Moor, apparently turned into a tea room.  Opposite were some Christian messages in a field.

Attractive wharf buildings

Evangelistic notice

We passed the Poachers Inn, which could make a good turn around point for our day out with Andy and Vicki on Thursday. There is winding hole nearby.

Strong flows at the bridges

We moored at Chirk Bank, opposite the garden where Hugo had unintentionally spent most of the day four years ago. See here for the story. 

We saw Graham and Joan go past on St Christopher, heading back to Overwater Marina.

Graham and Joan on St Christopher

We went to look at the aqueduct, and consider mooring possibilities for Thursday. There are some bollards which might be available, but our opinion is that they should be reserved for boats waiting for the tunnel or for the aqueduct.

Chirk Aqueduct

We walked up the path by the tunnel and visited the shops in Chirk. There is a good butcher, a baker, an excellent fruit and veg shop, and a Spar. We paused for a drink in a nice community cafe on the way back to the boat.

2 locks, 4 miles

Wed 18th Jul  Chirk Bank to Trevor

It was very quiet today as we set off. We went straight onto Chirk Aqueduct, which has a stone railway viaduct alongside. It crosses the River Ceiriog.

Cottages at Chirk Bank

Railway viaduct arches

At the end of the aqueduct is a small holding basin before Chirk Tunnel, which does not line up with the aqueduct. To see if there is anything coming through the tunnel, you have to steer across to the right.  Here a fisherman had decided to set up his rods, so he had to gather them in quickly. We expect he had a busy day with lots of boats later on. There was nothing coming through the tunnel, so we went straight in. 

Into the tunnel

There is a towpath in the tunnel, overhanging the water, and the boat wants to go in the centre of the channel, so the person at the helm needs to keep the tiller over to the right to compensate. It was very tiring and progress was slow, as the boat kept crabbing, with the flow against us.  We got through eventually, but a mile later there was Whitehouse Tunnel, with the same effect. Thankfully this one was a lot shorter.

Out of the tunnel

Whitehouse Tunnel

Soon after this, the canal makes a sharp turn to the left. The railway by now is on the right, as it crosses the canal above the Chirk Tunnel. When then canal goes to the left, the railway carries on over a large viaduct across the Dee valley. The canal meanwhile, maintains a course along a contour on the side of the valley for another mile to Froncysyllte, where there is a lift bridge. A windlass is needed here.

The first glimpse of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Froncysyllte Lift Bridge

After the lift bridge there is a winding hole, and the canal goes to the right, heading due north past some moored boats and a water point, before the spectacular Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. We had to wait for two boats to come off the aqueduct before we could go across.  Once again the boat crabs its way across against the current, and people are walking right next to the boat. On the left is a sheer drop 126ft to the River Dee below, and the views are excellent. We have been across this several times now, but it is still exciting.

Onto the aqueduct

Above the River Dee

The river

We went straight on at the junction, and through the Anglo-Welsh boatyard, and under the bridge at the end, where the canal splits into two. On the left is the base of Jones the Boat, and on the right is mooring space for four boats. Three were there already, leaving the final space for us. We turned and reversed in and moored up.

Trevor

Moored in the Trevor Branch

The Trevor Branch

Later on a hire boat came past us and had to go suddenly into reverse gear as they discovered that the canal didn’t go anywhere.

“It’s a dead end” said Hazel.   “Is this Llangollen?” they said.

Hire boat looking for Llangollen

Backing out again

0 locks, 4 miles, 1 lift bridge, 2 tunnels, 2 aqueducts.

Thu 19th Jul  Trevor

We had an early communication from Vicki to say that Andrew had been unwell in the night, and they would have to cancel our planned trip from Trevor to Chirk and back.  We decided to stay where we were for the day and catch up with a few things.  We practised some more songs, and made a provisional set list for our pub gig on 31^st July.

We had lunch at the Telford Inn – real homemade steak pies which were lovely. We noticed railway lines on the wharf, perhaps for a wharf crane.

Railway lines

Peter and Lin on Gospel Belle contacted us to say they were on their way. We went to meet them, and saw a notice about a firework display tomorrow evening, when we had planned to be in Llangollen.

Fireworks notice

Walking in the sky.

James met them just before the aqueduct and came across with them.  He walked part of the way, but as they reached the end of the aqueduct, James stepped onto their gunwale for the journey through the Anglo-Welsh boatyard. An onlooker decided to do the same! He got off again after a quick photo. 

Gospel Belle arriving

Peter and Lin

Arriving in Trevor

Anglo-Welsh from the footbridge

Gospel Belle tied alongside us as there was nowhere else to moor.  Later they decided to go to the Telford Inn for a steak pie!  We decided to join them for a drink and a pudding. We didn’t think we could manage another pie.

Gospel Bell moored alongside Gabriel

We had drinks on the grassy bank later, and Hugo joined us. It was a warm evening.

No boating today

Fri 20th Jul  Trevor (and Llangollen)

We had discovered that Chris and Sally on Kairos were moored with Tim and Tracey on Sola Gratia in Llangollen. They must have passed us yesterday.  We had thought that we were further up the canal than the rest of the team. We had literature that needed to be at the Cellar Church on Sunday, and so did Peter and Lin, so we waited for Chris and Sally to come past again on their way back down, and we handed over what was necessary.  Tim and Tracey stayed up in Llangollen to have train rides and horse-drawn boat trips.

Kairos arriving

We had decided to go to Llangollen by road instead of by boat as the water depth was low. We took a taxi with Peter and Lin - £8.50. That was cheaper than the four of us going by bus, as our English bus passes aren’t accepted in Wales.  We had different things to do in Llangollen, so we separated, and agreed to meet up at 4pm.

We wandered contentedly round the shops and lost count of the number of tea shops, cafes and coffee shops there were. We walked along the river bank and saw some more mandarin ducks.  As we paused at a kiosk for hot drinks, a flock of long tailed tits flew from one tree to another, and we counted 48.

Llangollen river view

Castel Dinas Bran

While we were buying a few items in B&M and Aldi, the phone rang. It was Peter, saying they had done all they needed to do, and had found a bus back to Trevor, so we agreed to make our own way back.

We wandered back into the town, checked out the bus times, and went for a meal at the Corn Mill. It was very good – we had a vegetarian massaman curry.

While waiting for a number 5 bus, a T2 arrived, and the driver said he was going to Trevor, so we climbed on board. £4.60 for the two of us.

Soon after we were back on the boat we had some heavy rain. An event called “Underneath the Arches” was taking place on a football field below the aqueduct. There were live bands, food stalls and a firework display, but we would have had to walk down, and walk back up again at the end, so we decided to give it a miss. Besides which, it was raining.  The rain stopped later, and James walked up the towpath in the direction of Llangollen to try to get a decent view. There were too many trees to see the aqueduct, but he did see the fireworks above the trees.

He also found three toads along the path in the puddles.

Toad where they once towed

No boating today

Next: back to Chirk Bank tomorrow, Relaxing Sunday, then an aqueduct trip with Andy and Vicki to Trevor and back to Gledrid.