Back up Frankton Locks and the lucrative Parking Meter Mooring

Frankton to Ellesmere, Montgomery and Llangollen Canals, 3.75 miles 4 locks

Once again a very pleasant day, the clouds that brought the rain which fell overnight had gone by this morning.  I ventured out with Lucy this morning with the intention of exploring the now disused arm of the Weston Branch which is very close to Frankton Locks.. walking to the end of the watered bit, around 80 yards I came to a complete halt as there was nowhere to go, no footpath, just a ditch across the old course.. I was really disappointed not to have been able to walk along the old course.

I decided to have a wander in the other direction and found a nice walk setting off across the fields from the Graham Palmer Lock, and when I got back to No Problem there were 4 boats waiting to go back up the Frankton Locks.  Everyone waiting for the noon chimes when the locks would be officially open for use!..

Here we go then up the first of the four.. you can just see the top lock in the distance, this is a staircase of two.  The areas surrounding the locks were beautifully kept by lock keeper Colin who managed traffic up and down today making sure that no water was wasted.  We told him of the problems in the car park with the druggies the night before just so he was aware.  He said he would like to make that a no go area, as he had spent much of yesterday morning clearing up after a rave party the night before!

I was hoping to be able to moor by the wall so that I could take a ‘classic’ pic.. I have the same scene hanging on the wall here on No Problem, an Alan Firth print of NB Welshpool moored just by that black bollard.  But I was waved straight into the locks by the lock keeper and as others were waiting at the top to come down, I didn’t think it a good idea to stop and moor!

Onward then to Ellesmere with a quick grab of the camera to snap this very lucrative mooring for the owner of the house.. you would need loose change though for this one!

But at least there are no wheels to clamp on a narrowboat if it stays overtime!

The freezer is full again from the butchers, and I picked up some nice veg too.  Actually it is quite busy here with plenty of boats moored in the arm to leads to the town.  I decided to moor outside the arm this time, glad I did too!

Prees Branch tomorrow then.. they have fixed bridge No 1 so I hear.. it has been broken for a week or so. Lets hope that I am able to walk the disused part of THIS branch, a ‘nature reserve’ it says in the book..