Hedgerow Jottings: Gin and 'Oggies

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Morning Jotters

The cruise to Llangollen has been a test of our patience at times, so many boats, all heading down ‘the Narrows’, meeting yesterday’s boats all rushing back from their overnight mooring in Llangollen. The Lady Aberlour is looking a bit battered after several ramming attempts and one almighty collision where the Captain asked Carl if she was passing us on the wrong side!(she was, which rather surprised us). A day boat went by, with a crew dressed as fairies and unicorns, who missed us the first time so they reversed back and had another go. Doh! Carl is longing to touch up the paintwork but any application of fresh paint now would be totally wasted. After the hectic pace of this past week, we are looking forward to taking things much slower for the remainder of our time on the Llangollen Canal and it does get much quieter after Ellesmere.

Chirk Aqueduct

We moored at the Queens Head pub on the way back to the locks at Frankton. It’s a good mooring but very noisy. It was too much for us after the solitude of the Maesbury moorings, but we needed supplies, so I went off on the bus into Oswestry, leaving Carl and Tricky to mind the boat. There would be plenty of time for an evening cruise after tea and we could moor up by the locks to be ready for our pre-booked passage on Tuesday morning.

Blue Skies over Wales

Oswestry was sleepy in the afternoon sunshine, I found a table in the shade outside a cafe quaintly called ‘The Fat Rabbit’. I ordered a latte and waited a very long time for it to arrive, trying not to wrinkle my nose in case anyone thought I was the fat rabbit. I took the first sip to find it was lukewarm and tasted very odd. I approached the counter with the cup and the young waitress was very apologetic and said she would check the milk, which is when the light dawned on me - I was in a vegan cafe and the coffee was made with oat milk. Oh! We did laugh...No really, we did laugh and when she offered me a refund, I gave her half back as it was partly my fault. Too late now for a latte, I had a quick scramble around Sainsburys and hopped (rabbits again!) on the bus back to the Queens Head. The bus driver looked fairly ordinary but he drove that bus like he was playing Mario Kart and I was sure my milk would be cream by the time we got back. ‘Where’s the fire’ I asked as I got off. He wasn’t amused and roared off with a mad gleam in his eye. It was sheer bliss to dawdle down the canal later, in the cool of the evening, no boats, no dog walkers, no traffic - just us and every so often, a stunning view towards the Welsh mountains in the distance.

Guelder Rose? Not Sure

It was busy from the moment we got back onto the main Llangollen Canal, mostly holiday boats full of happy holidaymakers. We plodded on against the tide of boats, battling against the strong current, which made steering through the bridge holes harder than usual. It was a relief to finally moor in Chirk and watch the procession of boats finally dwindle, until there were just a few hardy stragglers, wringing the last drops of the day out of the twilight. We were taking a passenger with us on the last leg of the journey and my daughter Claire arrived that evening ready for an early start to Llangollen the next day. Those of you have done the Chirk- Llangollen trip will already know that it is one of the most scenic of canals. The smaller aqueduct at Chirk is a taster for the Pontcysyllte ahead, then you plunge straight into the gloom of Chirk Tunnel - the first of two tunnels before the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The fast flowing current clings onto the boat and we bump along the wall - it feels like the boat is trying to go uphill. The excitement (fear) mounts as we leave the lift bridge at the Froncysyllte end of the aqueduct and then we fly out over the Dee valley. It’s a truly breath-taking experience as the valley spreads out on either side of the bridge and we cast our shadow on the sparkling Dee far below.

Froncysyllte

We made the crossing just in time, there was a whole convoy of boats queuing to make the crossing. With nowhere for us to go, we had to pull in, so that the stream of boats could make the stunt turn onto the Aqueduct. Some made the turn easily, others crashed and thrashed around, engines roaring, as they rammed into a poor battered swing bridge that is in the firing line for those who get it wrong. Tricky and I were standing on the bridge, waiting to give the Captain the ‘All Clear’ once the last boat was through. I didn’t realise it was a swing bridge until it was rammed and the force of the boat hitting it, swung the bridge with us on it!

Photo from Canal and River Trust website - Trevor Basin

The journey down into Llangollen couldn’t have been better after that. The sun shone and there was a light breeze, Claire read her book in the bows and watched the world go by while Carl and I had our morning coffee on the stern and took endless photos of the tree lined valley. I walked ahead through ‘The Narrows’ but we met no boats and we arrived in the basin to find plenty of moorings. Pontoon moorings are not our favourites, Tricky got confused and tried to get on the wrong boat more than once, but it was a blissful not to be buffeted by passing boats for a couple of days. We walked into town and had a cream tea and bought more gin and ‘Oggies’ for later. The horse drawn boat was just setting off as we climbed the (very) steep steps to the Wharf, we watched the boat gliding along through the clear water, a snippet of history from a bygone age.

Llangollen Basin

Claire has gone home and the boat feels empty without her. We moored in the sunshine yesterday and the new whirligig drying line came out for the sheets and towels to flap in the breeze. After a leisurely breakfast, we cast off and went to take on water at New Marton. We managed to squeeze on between two boats that had moored there overnight, their curtains were still drawn so we left our engine running – we didn't want them tovoversleep! (yes, that was a wee bit of sarcasm!). The locks were set in our favour and I took the tiller for the cruise to our mooring this afternoon, by bridge 63, just outside Ellesmere. A happy sunny week here on the Lady Aberlour, I hope you’ve enjoyed it too. More ‘Hedgerow Jottings’ next week

Love from

The Floating Chandlers

PS We walked to Horseshoe Falls, a lovely stroll along the towpath from Llangollen and when we finally caught a glimpse of the famous ‘Falls’ - Claire said ‘ is this it?’ Perhaps we had built it up too much - I think she was expecting Niagara Falls ( Sad face emoji)