Chirk Bank

Today's Canal - Llangollen

It was quite pleasant at first, as we made ready to leave our mobile-less overnight mooring.

At the next bridge there was a sign to Winston Farm Cottages. We could only see just three buildings which seemed quite smart even if, from a distance, they looked rather like stable blocks!

Just over a mile later we arrived at Frankton Junction where the Montgomery Canal starts. It is only open for three hours each morning and passage through the first four locks has to be booked in advance. We saw a couple of boats turning down in that direction - there is a limit on 10 each day.

We continued until Maestermyn Bridge where there is a visitor mooring opposite Whittington Wharf. As this is next to the busy A495 we checked the mobiles and found a good signal. Hence we opted to pull in and catch up on yesterday's blog and a few other things needed internet connectivity.

One of the things that we did manage to do was to book, on line, a passage through Frankton Locks for Thursday morning. With iffy mobile connections all along the Llangollen we thought that it was better to do that now rather than wait until the last minute - tomorrow afternoon. The upshot is that we now have a constraint to take into account as we monitor our progress.

We had already decided that we would not attempt the section beyond Trevor and the somewhat low level of water so far has already meant that we scraped the bottom more often than we recall from previous cruises this way. The final section is even shallower. At this stage we were aiming to get to Trevor tonight and possibly moor the night there.

Whilst we were doing this, a quite heavy rain shower passed over but by the time we were ready set off again it was dry again.

After Frankton Junction the bridge numbers start again from 1 but with a W suffix. Bridge 10W once carried the same Cambrian Railway line that linked Whitchurch and Oswestry via Ellesmere that we saw at another disused bridge a couple of days ago.

There are just two locks at New Marton and when we arrived there were already two other boats waiting, with a similar number in the other direction.

At the second lock we had a similar delay although the queue above was much longer. The boat coming down just before our turn found it quite difficult to close the top gate which seemed a little the worse for wear.

We eventually came up the lock and a couple of boaters from the next boat down offered to open the top gate for us. However, they too found it impossible to get it more that just a little ajar.

Mike joined them but that made no difference. However, based on watching the gate earlier, Mike asked the two boaters to sit on the balance beam while he pushed it. There was sufficient play in the heel post that the extra weight lifted the gate over what was obstructing it. Phew! But will it last until our return or will be trapped for a long closure?

The lock cottage.

As we left the locks we discovered that as well as the couple of boats waiting between the lock and the road bridge there were at least six more queuing the other side, the first of which blocked access to the water point. We had planned to fill up but, in view of the situation, Christine checked the water level in our tank and concluded that we were full enough. Hence we avoided the anticipated possible confrontation.

The boats already here looked as if they would be in for a long wait and more came along soon after. We heard later that last summer there were queues up to 18 at very busy times. We will need to take this into consideration when planning our return timings.

Just after the locks we pulled in at the first visitor mooring for a somewhat delayed lunch. It was almost 3 o'clock when we continued our journey.

However, some really pleasant sunny spells accompanied us.

This tree trunk had a freshly cut surface at the top of the stump but we could not make out what was the intention of the decorations. There seemed to be an explanatory notice attached to the fencing but it was way too small for us to read from the boat.

Strangely, the hotel at Lion Quays has an exceptional number of mooring pontoons - this is still a winding hole marked on our maps. We assumed that the two hire boats had taken advantage of the complimentary mooring whilst they enjoying a meal in the hotel.

A little later we suddenly spotted a familiar boat 'Ellis'. This runs as a small hotel boat aiming to provide a cosy and friendly experience for small numbers at a time. They used to blog in detail about their cruises but since Covid they have been silent so it  was  good  to be able to stop and have a lengthy catch-up chat.

By now we had a conference-on-the-move and decided that we would not go beyond Chirk. As we passed Chirk Bank we could see that there were a good  few spaces, some with mooring rings. It is narrow but we would be in amongst those already here!

The next winding hole is between the Aqueduct and the Tunnel. We crossed over the aqueduct and turned in front of the tunnel entrance. Passage through the tunnel can take some time as the flow of water supply to Hurleston and the narrowness of the tunnel conspire against boats. A boat that we followed crossing the aqueduct into Wales found  the same effect!

However, our return crossing was about three times faster. We pulled in to one of the empty spaces but found that the rings were not in the right places for both ends of the boat. We had to redo the pins after a passing boat pulled them out! There are now three pins, an extra spring and a centre line to a ring giving, we hope, sufficient stability . . . (Check back tomorrow for an update)

9.3 Miles - 2 Locks