Boat Blog – Page 22 – Narrowboat Firecrest

Farewell 2021, part two, the summer months

Summer saw us cruising purposefully along the Trent and Mersey,
We said goodbye to April under the cherrytrees at Shardlow

And moved swiftly through May as the leaves turned green

We took the opportunity meeting friends from Mercia, at Fradley Junction, at Burton and Rugeley, before we arrived in Stone to meet with Mike Carter, who was going to do our Boat Safety certificate inspection. Thankfully we passed.

With just one further obligation to fulfil by the end of May, we arrived in Stoke to have our second vaccination. We were lucky enough to moor right opposite the Middleport pottery, where we caught it looking it’s absolute best with our favourite photographic dark combo, storm cloud and bright sunlight

In our four years of cruising we still get excited seeing our industrial heritage along the canals. But I will save you from the 100’s of photos I took of the bluebells as we took ourselves onto the Caldon canal for a mini break at beginning of June, they really are a May favourite.

The Caldon canal is a true gem, often overlooked by some, probably cause it’s narrow, twisty and home to the notorious Froghall tunnel, which has the lowest possible headroom on the system. Only the brave or foolhardy attempt to traverse it. I’m not sure which camp we are in but we won our silver propeller for reaching the Froghall basin.

Phew we made it through without getting stuck

June was a lovely month, we were healthy and happy being able to explore again. We returned to the Trent and Mersey, slipped through the Harecastle tunnel and turned right onto the Macclesfield. Last time we had been this way we were leaving Braidbar in our brand new boat in June 2017. We had been ploughing south in order to meet up with friends, (in the days before we realised you can’t rely upon a cruising plan for more than a day at a time, if that) we were determined to enjoy the Macclesfield more this time. Tim joined us for a few days and encouraged us to leave the Towpath and climb Mow Cop

It was lovely to see James and Donna at Braidbar. What with one thing and another, June and July became a leisurely and relaxed summer, I was welcomed back to the fabulous Wiseheart & Wild craft studio and with Tim living close enough to cycle, we filled our days with the pleasure of friendship. We meandered up and down the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canal back to Bugsworth basin

Eric did some more work on the arials and solar panels

Our initial plans for the year had been to pick up our thwarted 2020 goal, to visit Chester. We had planned a convoluted route through Manchester, onto the Bridgewater, back down the T&M onto the Middlewich branch before heading north up the Shroppie….but we were thwarted yet again by a broken lock in Manchester that required a complex repair.

August saw us returning down the Macclesfield, and turning right and going north up the T&M before we reached the Middlewich branch, “a new to us” canal. The weather wasn’t brilliant, but it was certainly dramatic.

And we finally made it to Chester by the end of August

And of course the zoo was a highlight

Farewell 2021, part one

It might have been a bit stop start year, but yes there were some memorable moments to look back and smile about.
We weren’t going anywhere in January whether we liked it or not, the rain turned to snow and the water turned to ice. But the world lost its gloom and doom for a week as everything sparkled for us in Market Harborough. The canal looked magical and our spirits were lifted.

The icing on the cake at Market Harborough

We’d been lucky enough to get into one of the moorings with a water point so we snuggled down to make the most of another 3 months of official lockdown, the Co-op was within walking distance and we cruised once a month up to Debdale to pick up fuel and I soon learnt where to find the sweetest flowers.

Snowdrops in Great Bowden’s parish churchyard

February we were beginning to get bored, we’d had more snow and ice but the towpaths were muddy so walking wasn’t much fun. Despite it being a lovely place, we were ready to say goodbye to Market Harborough.

Officially we still were only permitted to cruise for essential services. We’d both been called for our 1st vaccination, but with no accessible centres or dates nearby, what better excuse did we need to plan our move.
We would march in March, as we headed north up the Grand Union canal. Fueled up with bacon butties

and a fond farewell from our MH friends

off we set into the sunset at Kilby Bridge where we caught the bus into Leicester to be jabbed.

CRT lifted our cruising restrictions in April and it felt like the some degree of normality was returning Eric finally got around to wiring in the first of our solar panels – when he wasn’t chatting to our fellow boaters.

But we had to remember it was April and whilst we might be basking in sunshine one day,

On some mornings, we were still waking up to sharp frosts

We continued up the river Soar, through Loughborough, briefly up onto the River Trent before turning left onto the Trent and Mersey Canal as spring merged into summer

Catching up still on the Llangollen

I’m many weeks behind sharing our autumnal adventures, so to catch up on our journey having done the “half full monty” we continued floating downstream along the Llangollen. We enjoyed a few days in Ellesmere,

where the yarn bombers had adorned a letterbox to commemorate armistice day

We do love a bit of street art, but sometimes canal artists know how to sum up the mood of the nation just as well

Though sometimes you just can’t beat nature

Our plan was to be off the Llangollen before the planned winter closures started on the 8th November, but we still had time to walk around Whitchurch. It has some lovely “old” timber framed buildings Not all of them quite as old as they seem being built in the 1930’s.

All walkers need a Walker’s pie and pastry

And then onto Marbury, which does have a genuine old church which claims to be home to the oldest pulpit in Cheshire, 1456

We still haven’t quite relaxed into properly exploring the places we visit, but churches usually feel a safe space to wander around midweek,

Even the grave yard was lovely to wander through

and we are very grateful to the communities who have left their doors unlocked for the likes of us.

But we’re not out of the woods yet with more Covid bridges to cross and canal bridges to float under.

Let’s do the full Monty

But, because the Montogomary canal is still one of those restoration projects that has an unnavigable section in the middle we could only get so far. But never the less we were both keen to explore as much as possible, so we booked our passage through the Frankton lock flight (which is only operational between 9am and 1pm each day) expecting to explore the viable 6 miles during a three night stay.

But we were in for another treat, this little used rural backwater proved to be a haven of peace and tranquility after the superhighway of the Llangollen. The friendly volockies suggested we stopped at the Weston junction for lunch, but we ended up staying 2 full days.

Reversing into our mooring at Weston junction

The Weston Arm was abandoned and filled in, but the first 100m or so now holds a services station and just room for a few boats to moor, but the junction itself has been created into meeting point for boaters, and walkers alike, with picnic tables and a small car park. Needless to say we made the most of some sunshine to relax.

In its heyday (the early 1800’s) the Monty was actually the main line built with the purpose of transporting lime to be used as agricultural fertilizer. Unlike many other canal companies the land owning shareholders made their money from increased agricultural output and profit as opposed to commercial traffic tolls. It was 35 miles long, intertwining between the English and Welsh border, from Frankton to Newtown.

A pity only 6 miles is navigable for narrowboats now

Nowadays the navigable section in only 6 miles to Gronwyn bridge 82, although the last mooring opportunity is at Spiggots Bridge 80. We moored overnight so we walked the last mile to the end.

We the last winding hole is just before the bridge, through a lift bridge, so I just waited for Firecrest to return before lowering it

Looking towards Gronwyn wharf and lift bridge

As we meandered slowly back along the twisty narrow canal we realised one of the reasons for having to book passage is to limit the number of boats because of the tricky route and limited mooring.

Our friends Kim and Paul have been cruising a similar route to us and we agreed to meet up at the Weston mooring to take advantage of the picnic table and the sunny weather and enjoyed a barbeque together.

In the end we extended our stay on the Monty to 6 nights and having reached Gronwyn we can add it to our list to claim a Golden Propeller badge. We’d recommend it to anyone travelling without time restrictions, if just for some peaceful time out.

Going with the flow

What a difference the flow of water makes to how fast we can travel, or rather how much less power it takes to travel back from Llangollen. We thought it best if I walked ahead again to act as the mobile traffic light. But it was a peaceful day and we didn’t meet many oncoming boats

We toyed with spending another night at Trevor but it was such a lovely day we cruised on, over the Pontycysllte aqueduct, this time I took the opportunity to have a better look over the edge

But soon thought better of that idea and leapt off…. onto the Towpath for another angle.

We continued speeding (relatively) along through the Chirk tunnel. It took us roughly 20 minutes pushing upstream and about 7 minutes downstream and that was just thanks to the power of the flow carrying us.

And over the aqueduct back into England.

Making the most of Llangollen

The powers that be place a £6 per night charge to moor in Llangollen but only permit a 2 night stay. We don’t object, it includes electricity, which for us is very cost effective. We’d happily pay for electric if only CRT would install accessible points along the cut. But that’s another issue, we were here in Llangollen and wanted to make the most of it.

We wandered along the wharf to the shop that manages mooring fees, and found they also sell ice cream…. banana and chocolate chip….

We were off to a good start. This is where the horse drawn trip boat operates from.

Harley the horse and the James Brindley trip boat

Not only is it a treat to see the boat being pulled by a horse, the vessel itself is a object of beauty. Llangollen wharf has been a tourist attraction for well over 100 years and I’m not sure if the two trip boats are the restored originals or reproductions. They plod gently along what’s little more than a stream

With a photo opportunity at the chain bridge over the river and in true Dr Dolittle style, the horses and tiller are simply unbuckled and reattached for the return journey.

However as there’s no winding hole beyond Llangollen basin, for us to turn firecrest around we chose to walk the remainder of the canal to its source.

This is where we see the true reason for the Llangollen Canal. Not only did it transport goods such as coal and iron, it also carried the main water supply for South Cheshire.

The water flow is managed by an impressive 140m weir designed by Thomas Telford in 1808. Its known as the Horseshoe falls. As with most canals, the Llangollen has seen many owners over the years, usually the railway companies. After the decline of commercial traffic in the 1930s, in 1944, the London Midlands and Scottish railway were granted a parliamentary act of abandonment allowing it to close a 175 miles of canals. However the stretch now known as the Llangollen Canal was saved and maintained because it provided the main water supply south Cheshire. 12million gallons of water are drawn through here every day.

In 2009 the sheer beauty of the location alongside the pioneering engineering earnt the last 11 miles from Chirk to the Horseshoe falls was awarded a UNESCO world Heritage site status

Of course Llangollen isn’t just about the canal and the river, the town is a thriving tourist attraction in its own right, which makes it very busy with a combination of tacky gifts suitable for landfill and some fine artisan crafts and delicacies. We treated ourselves to Oggies for lunch, the Welsh equivalent to a Cornish pasty and in our opinion much better.

And whilst we were plugged into an unlimited power source, I took the opportunity to bake some Christmas cakes.

The Notorious Narrows and Shallows

The last 4 miles into Llangollen is notoriously known for being narrow and shallow, and full of blind bends and happy hirers. We seriously debated whether to take the boat or catch the bus. Not one to shirk a challenge and so what if we scratched the paintwork, we set off on Firecrest to complete our journey. I say we, I set off on foot to see us safely through the Trevor basin bridge, but I quickly realised I was walking a well trodden and very well maintained footpath. As the stone slope up this bridge shows just how well worn.

I’m not sure what H&S would have to say about this slope

But it was a beautiful walk, so i just carried on.

I suspect this hotel garden features in many wedding photos,

some lucky to live just off the towpath

Who doesn’t dream of a white picket fence

But the last mile the canal was cut out from the rock face

And although the photos don’t show it we could still see jagged edges sticking out. Luckily there is signage informing boaters that it is single way transit for the next couple of hundred metres and advices a crew member to walk ahead. Luckily I did so and was able to call Eric on when I saw the route was clear.

Thankfully on this journey we had anticipated the majority of boats would set off in the morning leaving a fairly clear run upstream. And it proved a wise plan to wait for rush hour to be over as I only had to phone back to Eric and tell him to wait twice. Not that waiting was a problem when faced with the magnificent scenery around us.

And our reward was to arrive in llangollen unscathed with a choice of mooring, all with electric shore power and water points. (And I’d more than clocked up 10000 steps on my fitbit)

Probably a good job we had power, cause we weren’t going to get much solar here.

And here we go, over the big one. The Pontycysllte Aqueduct

We moored overnight at Froncysllte

Mooring up at Froncysllte to wait for our guests

where we were joined for our adventure by Heather and Ant, and their pet rats, (ok the 5 knitted rats that have an Instagram page if their own, so like to travel)

The weather was so dire that we really thought our crossing was not going to happen. But as luck would have it the rain stopped and the wind dropped so off we set.

Oh boy is it an experience, this Pontycysllte is the longest canal aqueduct at 307m long and the highest at 38m traversing the Dee valley. It is supported by 18 arched stone pillars.

It has a 3.7m wide and 1.6m deep cast iron trough which incorporates a protruding towpath over the water, this allows sufficient space for water displacement not to impede the boats movement. (Cause even the most unscientific of boaters know how frustrating it is when your boat slows down through narrow bridge holes and shallow weedy water). I wonder if Archimedes envisaged he would be enabling people like Telford to design such structures, because unlike road or rail viaducts the load is constant not increased when a boat enters the channel as the equivalent mass of water is moved off the aqueduct.

Plenty of water to get a narrowboat through

Provision was made for railings on the off side (not sure I like that term on an aqueduct like this) but they were never erected

Yes I think railings would spoil the view down

It is quite scary looking down from the Towpath side to the River Dee below

But then some scenes are worth it, ok this photo was taken from the footbridge in Trevor basin, but at least if the bride had fallen in she would have been able to parachute to a safe landing.

Once we got into Trevor basin we cruised through the heaving mass of the hire boat centre on change over day

If we can steer across the aqueduct, we can get through that gap

And found ourselves a secluded spot right at the end of navigation, where the planned route would have taken the canal to Chester

Trevor visitor moorings, unusual to see them this quiet

It was lovely to see Heather and Ant if only for a few hours

After they left we thought it would be peaceful here but in the 24 hours we were there, several boats came down this short 150m arm expecting to go through the bridge towards Llangollen. Some were quite huffy when we lent out and advised them not to go any further, some had the confidence to reverse back, but one poor family just didn’t know what to do, so Eric helped them. He mentioned the disproportionate number of disoriented boaters to a CRT man, who insisted the route was signed… but not adequately replied Eric. Fortunately non of the lost narrowboats took the footpath and ended up looking up at the aqueduct from the valley.

Approaching the aqueducts

If there’s one thing non boaters have heard about on the canal system, it’s the Pontycysllte aqueduct. But they rarely comment on the Chirk aqueduct which we think is prettier, albeit less dramatic but still one of our favourites. The next few days saw us cruising slowly towards these feats of engineering, but we still had time to enjoy the journey.

Sometimes it’s the clouds that make the scene

After we passed the junction of the Montgomery canal we noticed the bridge numbering changed, instead of continuing with sequential numbers, the sequence began again with the addition of a W. Was it 1 Wales or 1 West we wondered, but as we had not yet reached Wales we assumed the latter.

We passed through Whittington Hire base, which is where we had hired from in 2012, although it is in new ownership now and sports a dazzling red livery.

And onto Chirk, where we were met by a guard of honour

Before we crossed the border between England and Wales on the Chirk Aqueduct

Crossing the Chirk Aqueduct, the bow’s in Wales and the stern in England

One reason we like it is because the railway viaduct runs parallel to it, so we get some lovely views through the arches onto the River Ceiriog below

The Chirk Aqueduct is 21m high and 220m long, it was designed by the civil engineer Thomas Telford and completed in 1801. The water is carried in an iron trough although it’s the 10 stone arches that make is so attractive
No sooner had we crossed the aqueduct, we were straight into the 421m long Chirk tunnel

And whilst I’m not a fan of these long dark holes under ground, I can’t begin to imagine how many locks I would have had to work, if Telford hadn’t risen to the challenge. So whilst I might have found the aqueduct and tunnel an easier option, Eric certainly didn’t. The narrow shallow channel means there is little room for water displacement around the boat. And combined with the flow of water coming from llangollen makes it really hard going to move the boat forward. The boat crawls regardless of the throttle used, quite unlike punching upstream on a deeper wider river.
We opted to moor up outside of Chirk Marina

where the heavens duly opened and we sat out the rain for the next few days

Meerly Meandering towards the Meers

Our journey towards Wales continued taking us through some harvest ready farmland, with vistas only “spoilt” by old oak trees blocking the view.

For several miles we weren’t sure if we were in England or Wales as the border line wiggles with seemingly little rational, but for the main we were still on English soil even if we were travelling on water from Wales….. hmmm this is getting confusing.

One bank is Welsh, the other is English, I’m not sure which is which

Back in 2012 when Eric and I were confirming our dream to live on a narrowboat, we hired a boat at the end of October on this canal.

Cheryl and Eric on the Llangollen in 2012

The idea being to test out if we were prepared for being cold and wet, as it turned out we had a whole week of warm sunshine with a golden autumnal glow. The place we enjoyed mooring was under the beech trees at Blakesmere. So we were looking forward to returning

We were a few weeks earlier this time so didn’t get the golden glow, and despite some sunny spells we were experiencing some heavy rain showers. So despite the lovely outlook, beechnuts and raindrops landing on the roof, plus lack on internet and tv did nothing to rekindle our romantic memories of this undeniably pretty place.

After one night we moved on to take advantage of Ellesmere itself.

The arm that goes into the little town was originally planned to be the mainline of the ill-fated 20mile route going towards Chester on the “Ellesmere canal”. However geographical constraints and commercial rivalries meant it this mid section joining the Mersey to the Severn was abandoned. Leaving Ellesmere with a loading wharf that has been gentrified. It’s a lovely place and well worth a visit.

Most boaters love the convenience of a canal side supermarket and the block paving means it’s easy to trundle the Tesco trolley right up to the boat. It is, after all, a loading wharf. But Ellesmere has so such more than convenience and I stocked up from Hawkins butchers and Vermeulens deli.

I’m sure we will do the same on our return trip but it was time to move on again.