3 May 2014 Ellesmere to Chirk Tunnel: A New Day

 

This is part of yesterday's journey, coming out of our first tunnel. We are boating past the beautiful
Ellesmere lakes. Just approaching late afternoon. Lots of fisherman, with their trolleys loaded up with tents
and rods.

A cottage perched on lakeside .

Into  Ellesmere to moor for the night, pretty town with a more manicured large lake in centre called
The Mere.

Again no disappointment with the surrounding countryside this chilly morning.

Beech House, former headquarters of the canal company, now residential.

Lunch stop today, in Hindford @ Jack Mytton country inn. The name comes from an eccentric 19th
century squire who drank to excess, with a leaning to the outrageous! eg.trying to saddle up & ride a
bear, just one of his documented escapades.

Now for my addition - the long version:

L arose way before the rest of us and walked to The Mere beside Ellesmore village and took some close up of
the resident swans.

Returning past the end of the Ellesmere Arm.

Old crane for loading goods onto the narrowboats.

From the bridge across the entrance to the arm - down that way and around the corner we are moored.

Looking the other way old warehouses - now a CRT yard.

Countryside views as

we wend our way to

the Jack Mytton Inn for lunch.

Cottage and

garden lockside at one of the New Marton Locks which westward are the last to be encountered and back the way we've come its 20 miles to the next lock - boating bliss!

This boat has come out of the lock and NB Emily is in the back ground approaching the lock.

Oh dear it looks like things are going to shit for our helmsman not helped by another boat coming hard up his arse.  Sorry folks, can't remember the outcome.

B snapping more Friesians for their dairy farmer friends.

Serious discussion was held regarding how one would extract a cow from the canal if it fell in.

Passing the old and

the new on the way to....

Chirk Aqueduct, the start of which we are nervously approaching.

70 feet high and crossing the River Ceiriog, the aqueduct was opened in 1801, the railway viaduct next to it opening 40 years later. AND we've just crossed the border into Wales. The next obstacle, Chirk Tunnel looms at the end of the aqueduct.

Looking through an arch of the viaduct.

G on the tiller.

Mild panic as we exit the aqueduct and see a boat coming through the tunnel - what to do, hover or head for the landing?

After 3 boats came through - its the quick or the dead around here - we took the plunge into 459 yards of darkness.

Nearly out, but what's going on up ahead?  The traffic on the canal had been increasing throughout the day. Unbeknownst to us it was the start of a long weekend and with the huge increase of especially hire boaters like ourselves, chaos would ensue.

There were no boats moored on the visitor moorings (about where the boat is skewed across the canal) so with nerves slightly frayed up we took the opportunity to moor up in the

soon to be peaceful cutting for the night.

G, spruce as a goose after a shower feeds a visiting duck.  G, a duck hunter of old, had done a great job during his stint at the tiller and I was concerned he might see this little duck as his just reward.