Left turn to Llangollen, but only just...

Nantwich to Grindley Brook, Shroppie and Llangollen Canals, 15 miles 13 locks

It was a very sharp turn to the left to head for Wales, in fact we were on the way to Chester I was sure at one point, as the wind almost made decisions for us!

But with a bit of persuasion I tempted No Problem round to the left and came back and moored at the bottom of the first set of locks on the Llangollen Canal..

Now here is one canal that I have not been on, and I have been on most since I started boating in 1975.  I was looking forward to it.. well was/am because we are only as far as Grindley Brook.  Mind you, looking at the mileage since last Friday, I am surprised we have done so much!

After a bad start where I didn’t see the signs to lift the fenders until the front of No Problem was in the lock.. DOH!!!  Got stuck! , so I had to reverse out much to the amusement of all the onlookers as I travelled the 65 feet down the side gunnel to lift the fender praying that the wind would not swing me too much.. then back and another 60 odd feet down the otherside to do the same.. but keeping cool, and smiling at the gongoozlers.. I managed to enter that first lock without too much trouble before making our way slowly up the canal through the locks as they appeared..

Then at one lock we were taken aback by the numbers of flowers and tributes left by people by the lockside.. see, you can be travelling in the most remote areas of this country and still come upon scenes that tug the heart strings.. “To Dad” “Will be sadly missed”, and some tributes with no words.. I wonder what happened here on that day not long ago..

Passing some lovely open farmland, this was an odd sight..

Seagulls of some type all congregated together in the middle of a field, doing nothing but lying down with their legs tucked underneath them like a herd of cattle might do if they had occupied the field.. no I am not going off my rocker.. I just thought this was rather odd thats all!!  .. Well I have never seen anything like it before!..

OK.. so onward..

And after spending the night near Wrenbury we pulled the pins this morning to pass through the electric lift bridge at the Alvechurch Marina Hire Base.. and here I could not get No Problem round the corner to go through the bridge because of all the narrowboats from the hire base on the right..

But with a bit of shove and push at the front, and help from those working to ready the hire boats for the next holidaymakers, No Problem was soon on her way and through the bridge..

Nice pub here, well it looked nice from the outside, might explore the inside on the way back!

Water flows along this canal from the mountains in Wales to the other end of the canal at Hurleston where there is a reservoir that it flows into.  I was surprised at the amount of water coming by, apparently it is some 6–12 million gallons of water per day flowing down, and here at Quoisley Lock you can see the flow..

This means trouble for me as I try to steer 67ft of No Problem into the locks with that lot flowing broadside just at the entrances!… I am having to approach at a speed very much faster than I like..

I remembered the breach further along this canal that happened in December 2004 I think it was.. Goodness if you can imagine all that water piling over the top of the canal and into the valley.. sheeeeeeesh.  On the lock sides there are little ‘houses’ where stop planks are located that slot into the sides of the canal to stop the water flowing,

but to be honest I wouldn’t know how on earth they would stop all that water from flowing down these embankments if there was to be a breach.

Ha always funny when I go into a lock going uphill because you never know what you are going to see when the crew open the top gates to let the water into the lock to raise me up.. a surprise at Willeymoor Lock.. and I had only just made lunch too while I was waiting for the lock to be made ready..

If the wind today had been in the other direction I might have known by the moorish smell that greeted me as I ‘appeared’ from the deep!  That would have saved me slaving in the galley..

Still,  we have been out tonight to the Horse and Jockey just over the road at Grindley Brook where we shoved in the pins for this evening.. tis pouring with rain now, I think winter has arrived..