Marbury

This morning was very wet but we cast off around 09:10 as we wanted to make good progress. We were both well wrapped up and had donned our waterproofs. We quickly got to the first lift bridge for today which Andrew raised while Sarah drove. This was followed soon after by two lift bridges close together. Again Andrew raised these while Sarah drove with Andrew running between the two bridges so Sarah didn’t have to stop. A few wiggles of the canal later we came upon the Whitchurch Arm, a short branch, which lies on a tight corner with, you guessed it, another lift bridge. Andrew again did the hard work, Sarah driving. We waved through an oncoming boat after Sarah had gone through saving them the trouble of raising it again.

After filling up with water and a tea break we descended Grindley Brook Staircase, three locks - one after the other, with the help of the friendly lock keeper. The staircase is followed by three locks in quick succession. We then moored up, at precisely 13:00, for lunch. By this point it had just about stopped raining and we turned on the heating to dry a few things. We were on our way again by 14:15 with another 4 locks ahead of us. Sarah has been lock-wheeling while Andrew drove the boat, although Andrew did lend a hand with a few paddles and gates whenever he could.

Around 16:30 we reached Thomason’s winding hole, the limit of our trip down the Llangollen canal. This is where we made the 5-6 point turn to reverse our direction of travel. 20 minutes later we were back in the last lock, now pointing the other way, and we added another skill to our repertoire - ‘locking up’. A short stint further on and we came to our evening mooring which we had chosen earlier on the way past.

Today has been our most active day, 4 lift bridges, 11 locks (10 down and 1 up) and winding.Read more