6 May 2014 Llangollen to Trevor Pt.1: Dyspepsia Building

 After a lovely break in Llangollen we are preparing to depart the safety of the Marina .

Done all our chores, been to the laundromat had a huge wash up so ready to go.

We have our own clean up fairies. Geoff would give Dyson or Hoover a bit of stiff competition with his hearth brush & shovel. He is the only one with the knees for the job.

M supervising..

Have to say after awhile the days are beginning to run into each other, so forgive if I start to repeat or jumble days up and photo sequence.

Thought I would show you our beds, we have two separate mattresses, the crack runs under our legs.the bottom one folds up during the day to enable a walk through. M is mastering The Western Roll over our legs if need be, can be a problem if she has not acquired maximum momentum .

Hard to capture the moment !

We are heading back to Trevor / Cefn Mawr (that's me translating into Welsh.) to moor for 1 night then back across the Aqueduct . Retracing our journey, then to Chirk for 2 nights while M&L catch train to Chester for appointment. Wonder wether our friendly duck will be there again.

Have bought a little roll of lamb for a Rst in couple of nights after their train trip.

Think you may have already seen, from train window.above..

On our way to Llangollen .must concentrate ...we have appointed Geoff as the Canal Cop today & we have managed without incident. Obviously M has put in her resignation and is on stress leave!

Mind you the holiday weekend revellers have all gone home and things are much quieter. Of course the men will relish telling us " Not a problem" when we get through. Nevertheless I have hidden all biscuits and chocolate . M could so easily have a relapse just thinking about her horror experience!!!

I am counselling her.

Cheers everyone,we love & miss you.

Now for the long version:

We did not have to depart until the afternoon so took the opportunity to visit the laundromat and stock up on provisions.

Walking down the steep path from the canal into town: B leads the way

Crossing the River Dee

Laundry done and resupplied we untied and set off about 1.00pm. Passing the trip boat which



is pulled by a chunky Gypsy Cob (which, for you non horsey folk, is a type of small draught horse) - you can see his bum sticking out of the stable.

The trip boat goes up to the end of the canal and back.  I watched it set off yesterday; the pony has to really dig deep to get the boat moving but once moving the task did not look too onerous. During peak periods when the trip boat is full 3 ponies are rotated throughout the day.

Even here the canal seems very narrow with quite a few sharp bends.

About to hit the bend with L at the tiller.

Heading into the narrows after G has given the all clear.

Once again, the views were fantastic, on

both sides of the canal.

Going with the flow we made good time.

The Llangollen Canal is the feeder 'stream' for Hurleston Reservoir beside junction with the Shroppie Canal. Drinking water for south Cheshire flows from Horseshoe Falls (upstream of Llangollen) into and along the canal at the rate of about 55Ml per day. So we were getting a nice little assist.

Once we reached Trevor instead of making a sharp right hand turn onto the aqueduct we made an equally sharp left turn (taking, from memory, the equivalent of about a 6 point turn and several minutes with the added stress of holding up other boats whilst doing so). Then we had to thread the needle through the moored boats and go under the bridge in the distance to the few visitor moorings available.

Once under the bridge we were relieved to see only a couple of other narrowboats. We turned in the winding hole and G and I emulated the boat pony and pulled NB Emily back into one of two little arms just beyond the winding hole and we moored up in front of this guy below.  Note: this pic is not taken at Trevor - L and I walked past him a couple of narrowboat trips later.

B & G, conservative country people were uneasy, dubious of the dreadlocks but after having a chat with our new neighbour for the night, as you do, they relaxed.