Tuesday 7th July
We waited for the shop to open for the paper and set off just before 9 for the run back to the Frankton Locks. The run too just about 3 hours and we fully expected to have two boats in front of us as we had seen them go by before we left. Apart from that it was very quiet so we we surprised to see that we were 7th in line when we reached the locks. There is not a lot of waiting space so it was a bit of a juggle. It was two hours later that we were through the locks and turned left back onto the Llangollen. As we passed bridge 1 we were surprised to see familiar faces on a narrowboat called "Jam Today". Geoff shouted out..."Is that you Norman Tench" and since it obviously was we pulled in somewhat sooner than intended. They were on board with sister & brother-in-law. A pleasant hours visit with them whilst they came on board. They then had to carry on but we decided we had had enough for the day so stayed put. The canal was extremely busy with boats passing both ways. Much muttering from Geoff as to whether we would carry on to Llangollen or not..........
I too a walk up to Maestermyn marina to see if they had a gas lighter for the cooker as I was thoroughly fed up with using matches. They didn't but one of the assistants kindly told me he had bought one the other day for £1.50 in the Pound Shop in Ellesmere...where we had been a few days ago!! However I described the problem with our automatic sparker and they said their engineer could look at it if we came past the next day. Towpath not at all good around here but it was worth the trip.
Wednesday 8th July
Off at 0830 bound for Chirk. We stopped at Maestermyn marina and the engineer pronounced that it might just have been a loose connection and that we should try it for a while before resorting to a new sparker. They were extremely helpful in there and made no charge for their time.
Weather so-so with occasional showers the forecast said. The reality was somewhat different. The showers soon turned to persistent rain which was at it's heaviest as we were doing the 2 new Marton Locks. It was very unpleasant so as soon as we were through the locks we looked for a suitable place to moor and call it quits. The first two places we tried were too shallow....getting wetter all the time!........ but eventually we found a suitable place and went below to change and dry out. Later on the rain cleared and we found we were in a very pleasant spot so the rest of the day was an improvement. Still no Internet though.
Thursday 9th July
Made the short trip into Chirk that we should have completed yesterday and moored just before the Chirk Aqueduct. Geoff did his normal explore and came back to say shopping was on. Armed with rucksack and wheelie trolley we walked the 15 min trip into Chirk. A town well worth a visit. The church was very interesting and the town well kept and with adequate shops.
Our mooring was very congenial but a little lacking in sun. However we had geese on the opposite bank which appeared to fascinate Geoff who kept taking pictures of them!!
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