Canal Boating

Couldn’t get our boat till mid-afternoon so we visited Chirk Castle just over the welsh border.  Once again different from other castles we have visited previously.  Built to defend the Welsh border in 1310 it was later converted into a home in the 17^th century.  They had to hollow out 15 feet of stone from the internal walls by hand. (Labour was cheap in those days). Loads of staff who were happy to chat and provide inside details and quirky facts about the various rooms and their contents.

Canal boating:  After receiving operational instructions followed by a quick lesson we were off.  I know they’re called long boats but I was surprised how narrow they are. (Ours was just over 2 metres wide and 60 foot long).  All the mod cons – microwave, TV, two toilets shower and radiator heating (just like school).   We successfully navigated two locks (fortunately we had several boats ahead of us that we could watch and look and learn from).  We then cruised a bit then moored for the night.

Day 2 – We continued our journey crossing back into Wales and over our first aqueduct (the Chirk) completed in 1801 the through the 420 metre Chirk Tunnel.  The countryside was very scenic – green and mostly farmland.  Our second aqueduct was The Pontcysyllte, the highest and longest aqueduct in Britain.  One side of the trough has no protection and you feel as though you are suspended in mid-air.  It took 10 years to build and opened in 1805 so you can see that they’ve been around for some time and is a testament to the engineering skills of the day.  As we continued on towards Llangollen the canal became narrower – just wide enough for one boat so one had to be patient queue and wait your to turn to proceed.  We moored that night at Llangollen and treated ourselves to a pub meal of pie and chips.  Michelle had a curry which you can get with ½ and ½ (1/2 rice and ½ chips – why? Beats me!).

Day 3 -  Ater a substantial feed of mushrooms on toast, thanks to Nick, we headed into town and visited Plas Newydd – a home owned by two aristocratic ladies who formed a ‘deep attachment’ and after two attempts to elope together started a new life at Llangollen in1778 with their maid.  Quite radical for the times.  They turned the it into a gothic styled house with ornate wood carvings and stained glass windows (much of it recycled).  The ladies eccentricity captured the imagination of Regency society and they were visited by many famous personalities from the era including Wordsworth, Duke of Wellington and Sir Walter Scott.  We then started retracing our journey stopping mid-afternoon for a bevy and a wander through Tretynant to stretch our legs before again crossing the Pontcysyllte aqueduct.  

Day 4 – The following morning we continued retracing our journey.  Back through the Chirk Tunnel then we moored and went into Chirk for supplies.  We sampled the local savouries, checked out the church wandered around the graveyard.  Next we recrossed the Chirk aqueduct, navigated the two lock and continued on into new territory travelling as far as Ellesmere.  Once again we sampled the local brew and had an excellent pub meal.

Day 5 – Up early as sadly our canal boat adventure was nearly over.  We turned around and boated back to our starting point.  We had a great time and met lots of interesting people along the way.  Though in no way are we experts, our canal boating skill did improve and we only put a few extra scratches on the boat.