Change Round Day

So, what’s been going on?

Last Saturday our lovely friend, Gill, and her youngest son, William, were ‘delivered’ to us at Nantwich and have been with us cruising from there to Ellesmere on the Llangollen Canal.  We have been so lucky with the weather!  The sun has shone at some point every day and we have had very little rain.  I’ve had crew!

 

It’s been really nice for me having my best mate to stay – there have been lots of opportunities for ‘girlie talk’ and, together, we had a really good mooch around the shops in both Whitchurch and Ellesmere.

 

 

Poor old Will!  He’s been very patient – he just busied himself with crosswords, Terry Pratchet novels and pink biscuits!

There are lots of boats about on the system.  I think the hire boats out-number the private boats but only just.  As we reached Hurleston Junction who should we find moored up waiting to ‘catch’ us as we passed but our dear friends, Sandra and Ken on n/b ‘Kessandra’.  We were so pleased to see them.  They have been out on the cut since the beginning of April and are now making their way back to base.

At Wrenbury, as we were making our way to ‘The Cotton Arms’ (nice pub), we saw our ‘neighbours’ Mike, Jan and little dog Chico on n/b ‘Wah Wah Chug’.  They too have had a really nice time out cruising and are now making their way back to Crick Marina.  If you like old church buildings, the church at Wrenbury is well worth a visit.

We’ve only been on the Llangollen Canal once before but it didn’t take long to remind us how peaceful and beautiful the surrounding countryside is.  No wonder it’s so popular!

Yesterday Gill and Will left to go home and Rodney arrived – hence ‘Change Round Day’.  Some time ago I promised him a trip over The Pontcysylite Aqueduct.  The plan is to cruise to the basin in Llangollen and back to Ellesmere.  The last time we went to Llangollen we got well and truly stuck on the narrow section approaching the town so, of course, I’m convinced this is going to happen again!  We struggled to get into the Ellesmere Tunnel so …………….. omen?  Also, next weekend there is a canal festival being held at Ellesmere so I suspect it will be chaotic there!  Let’s hope the weather remains kind to us as, in the words of my Welsh cousin, ‘there’s no place like Wales in the sunshine’! 

                                              

                                     ‘Small Copper’ butterfly seen during a walk on Whixall  Moss.