Llangollen to Ellesmere

This afternoon we arrived back in Ellesmere after a very pleasant trip up to Llangollen.

We stayed in the basin for a couple of days, most of Wednesday was taken up with visits from Wilson's & an engine service. We usually do our own basic servicing ie oil & filter changes but decided to have a professional job done with winter on the horizon.  The engine has developed an annoying  vibration on low revs & we hadn't found an obvious cause (but being the novices we are that's not surprising!)   The RCR engineer spotted a small fuel leak which had been dripping onto one of  the rubber dampers under the engine mounts causing it to perish, resulting in the vibration. So he has sorted the leak & we are checking out getting the mount  fixed. 

After 2 nights putting up with the road noise at the 48hr moorings at the Sun Inn we had been looking forward to some peace & quite in the basin in Llangollen & it is great, it's got shore power & water to all pontoons & the setting is beautiful BUT it also has some very noisy nocturnal ducks, who seem to get their kicks splashing  & squawking in the early hours resulting in disturbed sleep & being shattered on Thursday, too shattered to contemplate the climb up to Castell Dinas Bran.

Llangollen Basin looking like a Black Prince depot, Poppy is tucked away in the back corner.

On Friday we headed back out of Llangollen & back to the Sun Inn moorings, I needed to get to Chester on Saturday to meet Eric, who has joined us for half term, & it's got a handy bus stop just across the road. So 2 more noisy days but at least the traffic quietens down during the night meaning we managed enough sleep to be able to manage the climb up to the Castell & it was well worth the effort....

Up at the top, finally...

 Looking towards the Pontcysyllte aqueduct in the distance, the canal is the 'white' stripe in the centre foreground

heading back down towards Llangollen & afternoon tea.

Sunday dawned bright & very cold after a sharp frost, we got off at 8am & after a couple of stops, one for coal from Chirk Marina, another near Chirk tunnel for lunch & a nip to the Spar for the paper, we moored up just past the bridge at St Martins Moor.

It  was another cold night ( a good job we'd stocked up with coal) with yesterday dawning sunny & frosty. We decided to stay put for the day to enjoy the peace & quiet, Mark & Eric did some wood chopping in the morning & in the afternoon Eric & I decided to get some exercise.

We walked across the fields up towards the village  keeping an eye out for a shop as Mark had requested 'treats',  heading towards a garage we'd spotted, we rounded a corner & came across Stan's Superstore   So we returned to  Poppy with treats aplenty...

This morning we were off by 8am & even though it  was pouring down there were plenty of boats already on the move, once through Marton locks Eric & I left Mark to it & headed indoors, no point in us all getting soaked. We arrived in Ellesmere at 11am & found a place on  the 72 hour moorings opposite the services which were very busy, we realised later that we had got one of the last vacant spots. Nb Bendigedig,  who we passed at Frankton junction this morning but didn't get chance to say hello as I was down below sheltering from the rain, has an accurate description of Ellesmere at half term! 

We are now fully stocked after a trip to Tesco & the plan is to get on the service point early tomorrow then head out to find  countryside mooring.

Ellesmere to Llangollen

This could be another long post as it's over a week since the last one. When we started cruising back in May I did intend to post more frequently, thinking that I would sit down at the end of the day & relay the days events including the bits & bobs that punctuate the day, like the incident a couple of weeks ago when the woman who, despite her partner/crew member  waving us through one of the lift bridges at Wrenbury decided she should still get through before us, scraped along our side & then sarcastically commented  "he should have asked the captain 1st" !!  


So updating seems to have settled into a weekly event although I probably would have posted at the weekend but we had no phone or Internet signal, fortunately we still had TV that would have been a step too far!!


Anyway, back to last week, we left Ellesmere at 8am on a cold & damp Thursday morning, 

having 1st used the service point.

We spent one night at Chirk Bank & on Friday it was another early start ready for the aqueduct & tunnels & by 9am (!!) we were moored up just after bridge 27 on the 48hr spot.

Chirk Tunnel

We decided to take a walk over the Pontcysyllte aqueduct to Trevor to stretch our legs, maybe find somewhere for a spot of lunch & if we could get a paper that would be a bonus.

 Hmm, well of course the countryside is fabulous & the aqueduct breathtaking, but we found Trevor a grim, depressing  place & didn't manage to find anywhere for lunch ( I made do with a bag of chips from a chippie) or a paper. 

So on Saturday I walked the 3 miles back along the towpath to Chirk,  which a great little town & managed to get the Guardian for the local Spar. Two towns only a few miles apart yet so very different.


Sunday & another walk to Chirk for a few essentials from the Spar then a lazy afternoon.


Which brings us to yesterday, up & off by 7.15 am, a quick stop at the water point & then it was onto the aqueduct,  Mark hates heights & wasn't sure he'd be okay ( said he may be laid flat on the floor inside!) but he was fine - so long as he didn't look left... 

View of the River Dee from the aqueduct

Lots of hire boats in Trevor basin before the sharp left turn to Llangollen.

Once round this corner the scenery gets seriously beautiful & the hills you saw in the distance a few days ago are on all sides.  As it got narrower & windier I walked ahead to spot oncomers,

the lovely Plas Isaf Bridge

But we were lucky, it was quiet (a benefit of an early start!) & we were settled on the 48 hr moorings opposite the Sun Trevor pub by 9.30 am. Once we'd got sorted we walked into Llangollen, inspected the moorings, very nice, had a potter round the town & had lunch. 

 view  down the valley towards Llangollen from the towpath

rock 'wall', no wonder the canal is only narrow here, this cutting would have been done by navvies with no power tools.

Looking up towards Castell Dinas Bran, we were going to have a walk up there this afternoon but we have had showers all morning, some quite heavy so hence me doing the blog instead.

Tomorrow we will have an early start & move up to the basin in Llangollen for a couple of days. Wilson's are due in the morning to fit the frame & template for the back cover & RCR are coming to do an engine service in the afternoon so we better make sure we nip to the shops & get the biscuits in ;-)

Hopefully the weather will be kind on Thursday & then we'll get our walk up to the Castell.