Thursday, 16th October
We moved on less than a mile and moored in the Whitchurch Arm, which is about a mile from the town. The arm used to go into the town, and the Whitchurch Canal Restoration Society has grand plans to bring the canal back to the town. I hope they're successful, it would be good for the town and for boaters. We walked into town to shop and Trev walked back with most of the shopping in his rucksack. It was very heavy--beer, wine, milk, orange juice. I don't know how he can stay upright! I stayed behind to buy some wool and knitting patterns and then I caught the bus back to near the mooring. I didn't have my free pass with me, but the bus driver said that was OK! Oh dear, I obviously looked as though I qualified! We stayed on the same mooring overnight.

Friday, 17th October
There are two lift bridges within a mile of leaving Whitchurch, so I walked along the bank and did those whilst Trev steered the boat. This is the first time we've come along here and it hasn't been windy. It's quite narrow and there are boats moored all along the offside, so when Trev is waiting for me to open the bridge it's usually quite tricky to hold the boat--which is why I always do the bridges. I'm not very good at holding the boat steady in the wind whilst waiting. Then I got on the boat and on we went.

A couple of miles after Whitchurch there is another lift bridge--Tilstock lift bridge. Trev moved the boat into the side for me to get off and wind the bridge up when we realised that it wasn't there! The whole lifting part had been taken away, and so we didn't need to stop. We sailed on and moored up near Platt Lane for the night. There was a country road running along the canal on the opposite side of the canal and quite a few cars came along. Every time they came by, we thought it was a boat approaching us at top speed!

Saturday, 18th October
We cruised for about a mile and then turned left down the Prees Branch. This is just under a mile long and has two lift bridges, and at the end is Whixall Marina, which is now owned by British Waterways Marinas. It has been upgraded and looks very smart now. More importantly, they have altered the layout, and it's so much easier now to get in for diesel, there is a much bigger turning area. We filled up with fuel at 75p per litre. It's expensive, but not as dear as most places--we hear it's 95p per litre at Chirk Marina, a little further along the canal.

After we had filled up with diesel and water and got rid of our rubbish,we set off back up the Prees Branch and rejoined the Llangollen Canal. We moored up just at the end of the branch, in a peaceful spot--well it was until a hire boat came and moored in front of us and proceeded to have a party on the back of the boat. However, they had only stopped for lunch and soon set off--backwards. They wanted to go back to the junction with the Prees branch to turn. I've never seen a boat go so fast, and they scored a direct hit with our boat. "Sorry", said the man at the front as they scraped along the side of our boat. It's half term and open season for a few hirers who think boating is a contact sport.

Trev went for a walk round Whixall Moss. You can read all about this SSSI area here: You can read all about this SSSI area here

Sunday, 20th, Monday 21st October
On we went again, this time as far as Ellesmere, where we stayed for two nights. We passed through some lovely countryside and went by Cole Mere, which is so pretty. Here Trev found some more wood for us and heaved it onto the roof, ready to cut up into burnable chunks later. As we approached Ellesmere, we saw Marion and Richard on "Cartref". They're on their way to Llangollen for the winter; we wondered who would be the first of the winter moorers we would see as we travelled along. We turned into the Ellesmere Arm to moor, thinking it would be better than staying on the mainline, given the half term madness, and the need of hirers to coved as many miles as possible during daylight hours. However, just after we'd moored up, in came a "Canaltime" boat which thought it would like to moor right in front of us, so in it comes, slicing nicely along our bow as he did so. No eye contact, no apology; his colleague, who was supposed to be on look out, was busy on his mobile 'phone so he was no help. They just moored up and walked into town with never a backward glance. We're less uptight about our boat being hit now that it's nearly six years old, but that doesn't mean we enjoy acting as target practice............

Ellesmere was the same as ever, nearly dead, but with charm and a very safe place to walk round. There are quite a few empty shops, but there is a whole new development afoot, centred on the canal area, and I think it will be grand when it's finished. Let's hope the current economic climate doesn't put a stop to it, the town certainly needs something. We picked our post up at the Delivery Office--thank you Catharine and Mamdooh! In the evening we had an excellent meal at the Black Lion, one of our favourite eating places. The food is good, the staff are excellent and they seem to remember us, which is quite amazing since we only call in twice a year! Thank you for a nice evening Matthew and Isaac.

Whilst we were moored in Ellesmere, there was a man on a boat moored near to us, who made covers for boats--cratch covers, back covers, covers for pigeon boxes, etc. We had been wanting to have some covers made for our pigeon boxes for ages, and he made us a pair in a day! Thank you Tony, you did a grand job! He's going to come up to Llangollen and measure us up--well the boat--for a pram hood, too. Now this might all sound like a foreign language to non-boaters, so let me explain!

Here is a picture of our boat:

Just to the right of where Trev's hand is resting on the boat there is a raised part to the roof. This is a pigeon box, and it opens to allow air in.

As to the pram hood, well, it's a cover which goes over the back deck, but stands up high and works like a pram hood. It folds down out of the way for cruising, and when we moor up we shall be able to put it up and have almost an extra room at the back of the boat. It will be particularly useful in the winter when we're moored up for a long period.

You can see a picture of one here

We had a bit of excitement on Monday. A boat came down the arm and called to us, (well, it was the man on the boat who called to us, actually, not the boat--that would have been exciting, wouldn't it!) "There's a cow in the canal just back there!" So Trev went to look and sure enough there WAS a cow in the canal. Fortunately the canal wasn't too deep, so it could stand up. It kept trying to get out onto the bank, but couldn't manage it, but eventually it was encouraged to go back the way it had come, and it hauled itself out. There's never a dull moment on the canals, don't you know? Those people who wonder how we pass our time should read this website!







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