Wrenbury

Today's Canal - Llangollen

Just before dawn the sky was almost cloudless - could even see a bright planet just above the horizon. However, as we got up much later cloud gradually gathered, high and thin at first followed by complete rain cloud cover.

Still, it was dry as we left our overnight mooring. We had to wait for a moored boat ahead of us already leaving, followed by another that had just come down from Grindley Brook. We wondered if this meant that we would be in for a busy day at the locks ahead. 

As we arrived at Willeymoor Lock, the second of the day, rain started to fall which remained with us until  we stopped for lunch. However it was only ever light rain so more of a distraction than giving us a soaking.

It is never easy to capture rainfall in a photo, even on water so here is a closeup from the previous photo just to show it really was raining.

As we were dropping down Quoisley Lock as member of the CaRT maintenance team walked along the towpath to start some work. The first item was to nail down the non-slip surface on the top gate foot board which had come loose at one end.

He then started on the bottom gates where it looks as if the collar that holds the heel post in place needed adjusting. We left before the work was done so we are not sure how serious the problem was.

The final lock of the day was Marbury Lock. Once the lock was filled - we had been filling all but one lock - and then Mike sought to bring the boat into the lock. However, the boat was sucked onto the bypass weir and for some while it refused to move forward or backward. Unlike most of the Llangollen locks, the actual weir is covered over and so we could not see what difficulty lurked there. For the first time in a long while the long pole was deployed to help encourage the boat away from the weir so the reverse gear would take the boat backwards and away from the problem. Eventually we succeeded. A lady from the cottage came out to chat and tried to allay our embarrassment by saying that boats frequently get stuck here!

Then came a reasonably long stretch until we neared Wrenbury where once more the lift bridge marked on maps as 'normally open' had to be raised. The nursery alongside looks quite well stocked.

We have a table booked at the Dusty Miller pub right alongside the road crossing at Wrenbury Mill and we found that there was plenty of room on the Visitor Mooring as close as it is possible to get. You will have to wait until the next chapter to find out how our meal went but we have been here a couple of time before which we really enjoyed so expectations are high!

5.7 Miles - 4 Locks