Ellesmere

Back when we lived in the West Midlands Vicky regularly walked our dogs Poppy and Flynn along the canal at Bumble Hole nature reserve. One day they met another dog and her walker. Brandy and our Poppy were both Belgian Malinois and it was this talking point that began our friendship with Jenny Maxwell. Later that day Jenny turned up at our door responding to a call for volunteers to leaflet for the Green Party.

Jenny is an author, an animal lover a compassionate person who believes in standing up for what's right and complaining loudly about what's not. She's in her 80s and has lived on her narrowboat The Black Cat for decades. Over the years she's invited us on board countless times and taught Vicky how to handle narrowboats.

In 2017 Jenny left her home mooring to start The Great Coddiwomble (a word she's adapted from coddiwomple: to travel in a purposeful manner towards an as-yet unknown destination). She's been in Ellesmere for many months now, caring for a fellow boater who had bone cancer. Her support allowed him to live out his last days on board.

Jenny made pasta for us and Will made venison pie for her, we caught up over cuppas and introduced Leo and Tiger Lilly to Boy, Jenny's greyhound x malinois, on a walk. Amber the white tortoiseshell cat is nervous of dogs other than Boy but we got to meet her one evening too. It was wonderful to spend time with Jenny again. The fact that we were now fellow boaters made it all the more special.

Arriving in Ellesmere we'd topped up with diesel at the marina. There was ice on the ground but the weather was changing. The person fuelling us up said it'd be alright as long as it didn't snow. The first flakes began to fall as we were pulling away! The light dusting on our first night was followed by three days of cold rain so we didn't get out to explore that much.

The town was reached via the Ellesmere Arm, where Jenny had a winter mooring. A large Tesco Extra sat at the end of the arm but the highstreet had a good number of independent shops; delicatessens, clothes shops, a pet shop, grocers, framers and an art shop.

The Llangollen Canal has fewer commercial hubs than the other waterways we've travelled so most people will moor here. This together with the winter moorers makes for a good boating community. Will met two Dave's and an Alan when he dropped in for a pint at The Swan, followed by several chats on the towpath. Jenny's neighbour Molly is well known for keeping Billy the Cockerell in a sheltered run outside her boat. We got the feeling that people really looked out for one another.

Jenny's books:
https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/jenny-ma…Read more