August 2017

Hello folks ...Its blog time again.... It’s not the first time we have sailed the Shroppie canal, we first did it 7 years ago as a treat for my 60^th birthday with our very good friends Peter and Sue Huggins.

I love the Shropshire canal with all its quirks. Very narrow in places, impossible too moor due to low water levels and obstructions underwater. However it is a beautiful area. The wild life is lovely but sadly not every one respects the countryside. We had a holiday hire boat in front of us with a couple who couldn’t control it, they bashed from one bank to another, eventually, when ramming the farmers side bank, their large dog jumped off and rushed into a flock of Canadian Geese scarring them to death. Some people shouldn’t be allowed out unaccompanied !! There is a lot of these birds here at the moment, I looked around the other day when I heard a ‘honk’ behind me and there was a squadron of these beautiful feathered creatures coming into land. . a perfect ‘V’ formation. We are so blessed living so close to nature. 

Canadian Geese

We dropped down the Audlem flight with few problems, meeting some people going in the other direction which makes life easier because the locks are with you and saves time, not having to flood the lock chamber before we can go in.

We stopped over near the pub called the Shroppie Fly named after a very fast narrow boat used in the heydays of water transport, the fast juggernaut of the day. It used to be a warehouse with a crane outside to unload the vessels. It turned into a public house in the 1970 and used to be a very popular establishment.

We had a quiet drink...mainly because we were the only people in the bar !! Two other people were having a meal, we checked the menu, but we passed on eating, far too expensive. Silly prices which we are not going to pay. Sadly the canalside pubs are their own worst enemies. Pricing a lot of people out. Am I getting mean ?? …..Answer’s on a £50.00 note please ;-)

Shroppie Fly Pub Audlem

The trip to the Llangollen canal was a bit uneventful, however the entrance to the Welsh arm was far from uneventful ….We got jammed !!!!...We couldn’t get through the lock. ...DOH !!!

The lock at the bottom, I’m lead to believe, was built to an exact size...6ft 10inches...but over the years the walls have bowed inwards due to a poor repairs regime, also we are a bit wider due to having the re-plate, so halfway in…... we jammed. The lock-keepers came and tried to raise us up a bit and pulled to no avail. We were going nowhere, our planned North Wales holiday was cancelled !!! This is happening a lot to boaters recently a few a week according to the lockie.

A passing holiday boat had to pull us out, even at full revs our engine and prop wouldn’t move us..So we continued on to the city of Chester.

Stuck in first lock on Llangollen Canal

We seem to be making a lot of what I call ‘five minute friendships’, some of the locks are wider and can take two boats at a time. Makes life easier, as you share the opening and of the paddles and the gates..(Jenny’s job) I do the driving and chat to the driver of the other boat. Met a couple on a boat called ‘Grumpy Git’ …..turned out to be the opposite, we shared the last lock into Chester and moored in front of them for two days ...a 48hr. mooring. We were joined by another boat called ‘New Dawn’ another lovely couple who came over on the Saturday night for a glass of wine and a cup of tea. Roger and Dawn….Dawn wrote rap...63 years old, but her rapping was brilliant...I sang to her and she rapped to us. Another great night. Friday was shopping day . .topped up at the local Tesco, then Saturday we left the dogs on board and became ‘tourists for the day’ and had a look around the beautiful city of Chester.

Chester is an old Roman fortress town originally, then taken over by Monks in later times. We did the usual tourist things, sight seeing, spent a bit of money in local shops ..Jenny bought a new cap and we bought some posh cheese, was brilliant, Jenny took a few photos, and we just soaked up the atmosphere. There were buskers of various styles an Australian guy from Sidney doing street theatre. Something for everybody.

There were two or three buses doing the ‘round the city’ trips so we jumped on the very old bus (as in the photo below). It is classed as a replica now, but is is a genuine 1912 omnibus which saw life during the WW1 and is only one of three still in existence.

Sorry but ‘goldfish brain’ I can’t remember the make..It has to be classed as a replica now because of all the modifications done to it too conform to legislation required to be a public service vehicle.

We had a lovely lady called Barbara, dressed in the clothes of the day, giving a running commentary and telling us all about the city. It was always being invaded by the ‘heathens over the boarder’ i.e. . . The Welsh….All the churches in the city only have clocks facing away from the Welsh boarder, some have been removed, some never had any clocks in the first place. The reason?. . so the welsh won’t know the time...From which we get the expression.. ‘I wouldn’t give her / them the time of day’ !! It was a really informative half an hour.

Vintage bus.

Jenny and I are on a face book site called ‘The Narrow boat users group’ on returning to Infinity I posted a comment saying what a fabulous city Chester was and recommended any one in the area stop and have a look.

A lady asked if we had been on the old bus for the tour?,

I replied yes ..to which she said ‘I thought you had ..you were on the 2pm bus..,

I was your guide’...Barbara.. Turns out she is a boater as well...living in Chester.

We did a tour of the old monastery, again with a guide, the Cathedral is a beautiful building and terrific history. By the time we returned to the boat, too say I was knackered would be an understatement. I collapsed into the bunk and slept for a couple of hours but it was well worth the effort . . a lovely, beautiful city.

Sunday morning saw us turning around and heading back along the Shroppie. We have decided to return back the way we came and are heading again for Fradley Junction. We did debate doing the ‘four counties ring again, but the Harecastle tunnel is not the best...very long….very narrow and claustrophobic-ally low..… We have been through once, have the plaque, so will leave for another day.

Its pouring with rain today so . . no cruising. May stop here for the weekend ...depending what the bosun says.

Jenny did a check on the blog as I was wondering if it was being read ..I was gob smacked to find out how many followers/readers we have and in the different countries as well.

It appears we have at least...564 followers !!! In the following countries UK..Ireland..France..USA..Singapore (?)..Australia ..NZ..Russia(?) ..Spain.. and Israel so pleased I’m not wasting my time and glad you seem to be enjoying the ramblings of an old phart !!

Right lunch has been served..so I’ll had over to the brains of the outfit to put on her photos.