Nuclear Sheep

Moonlight at the Shroppie Fly

Salutations, dear reader, this is Captain Carl of the narrowboat Lady Aberlour. I’ve thrown together another jumble of random odds and ends for your perusal. The general boaty theme is not so much reservoir dogs, but more puddle possums. The finished tome will, of course, become part of the Hedgerow Jottings.

Sunshine After The Rain

We left Market Drayton last Monday under thick, lowering clouds and moored below Adderley locks. We timed it just right, as the heavens opened and tipped out all their excess biblical water from 12.30 to 3.30 in the afternoon. The towpath suffered greatly and became a Jurassic swamp. We were glad to leave the next day for firmer ground and finally moored in Audlem, Linda having tirelessly operated twelve of the fifteen locks of that flight. We decided to have fish and chips from the local chippy for tea that evening; such luxury! While I’m on the subject of food I must admit that it is very nice to be able to walk to nearby villages once more and have coffee and cake in the local teashops. The food and beverages are usually excellent and we’re rarely disappointed. Having said that, there was a place we went to years ago that made me wonder what the cook did for a living. Linda made some rock cakes a few days ago. They were so delicious! I hope that she’ll bake some more soon or, if not, some of her legendary scones.

Morning Coffee in Nantwich

Casting off the next day we followed the canal to one of our favourite moorings at Cool Pilates. It had been chilly and windy all morning, so I was glad to close the hatch and go below to get warm by the fire. Changing the subject, we saw an empty snail shell on the towpath recently. Perhaps a bird ate the snail. Or maybe the occupant left home to live life as a slug. Slugs are Gastropod molluscs you know and are related to squid and octopus. They are usually solitary creatures. However, if introduced to a country they’re not native to they can become gregarious. Yes, I was excited to learn this too. Now, only having one foot, they’re exempt from military service. They can’t march, you see. Some slugs are masters of camouflage. There’s a rumour that a grey field slug once disguised itself as a BBC mini-series.

Mollusc 

You know dear reader, we used to enjoy listening to Radio 2. But that was years ago. Since it was changed from Radio 2 to Radio Mostly Tat we hardly ever bother with it (with a few exceptions). Alternatives are difficult to find. There are commercial stations, but that means listening to the adverts. I don’t know which is worse; the adverts themselves, or the speeded-up talking that concludes them. You know, the calm voice that vomits forth ten words a second about terms, conditions and exclusions.

Secret Bunker

Before we knew it, it was Thursday morning. We were up early with the dog - again!  The weather was warm and sunny, so we decided to have an early morning cruise. It wasn’t long before we passed the sign for the secret nuclear bunker. We visited this place once, and highly recommend it. This vast, underground complex was declassified in 1993. Entering the place through massive blast doors, you’re immediately taken back to the ominous days of the Cold War.

Towpath Warriors!

From here we descended the two locks at Hack Green. A short way from the locks were some sheep on the towpath. They’d obviously escaped and must have tunnelled their way out in a bid for freedom. Three of them, Tom, Dick and Harry, were clearly the ring leaders and no doubt were carrying forged papers. You could tell they were giving orders by the “we’re in charge” vibes they gave off.

Stained Glass in St Mary's, Nantwich

A couple of miles or so from Hack Green lies Nantwich, which is where we moored up. We like visiting this picturesque town which offers a good variety of shops and many listed buildings. St Mary’s Church is particularly impressive. Another building I couldn’t help noticing was the old police station. This was also a magistrate’s court with associated cells. It’s now flats/apartments. Closing down police stations and reducing police numbers is an astonishingly gormless policy. Why are so many top decision makers such clueless dunderheads?

Police House, Nantwich

We left Nantwich early on Saturday morning and a short while later turned hard left at Hurlestone Junction, immediately tying up ready to ascend the four locks onto the Llangollen canal. There was already a narrowboat in the first lock; its crew had raised the top paddles to fill it, but unfortunately they’d left a paddle open in one of the bottom gates, partially draining the pound above. Consequently they became grounded. The crew were novices, but Linda came to their rescue and gave some much needed guidance on correct lock procedure, then went on to the next lock to let some more water down. The grounded vessel was eventually refloated and they continued on their way up the flight. By this time another boat had tied up behind us and the “first mate” kindly helped Linda run enough water down so that we could all pass through the four locks.

Llangollen Canal - waiting for the sun to shine!

At the top lock something got caught up in our propeller, badly affecting steerage and forward motion. I tried a quick burst of reverse (this sometimes clears the prop of rubbish) but this didn’t work. I managed to get the boat into the lock and turned off the engine. While Linda slowly filled the chamber I removed the weed hatch and put my hand down into the murky depths. I found a combination of carrier bag, brambles, two ropes and some thin sticks hopelessly tangled round the prop. Even using a knife it was a battle to remove said items, but eventually I was able to lift the tangled mess clear.

By early afternoon we were moored in a quiet spot near the village of Wrenbury and that’s about the size of it for this week. Bye for now,

The Floating Chandlers

PS We intend to cross the Pontcysyllte aqueduct on this trip. It’s quite an experience, I can tell you, especially if you aren’t overly keen on heights, like what I’m not. It took ten years to plan, build and test this aqueduct you know, and was opened on 26th November 1805. Pontcysllte is really hard to pronounce. According to one version on Google it is vocalised as “Pont-Kus-Sulth_Teh”. Sadly, dear reader, I cannot confirm how accurate this is.

Curious Cow

Moonlit Mill in Audlem

Addlington

Puddles after the heavy rain 

Moody sky at Cool Pilates

Night Night

Hack Green