The Old and the New

It was lovely returning to Audlem after visiting it back in 2021. In between work, and while Rob was visiting his Mum, I browsed around the old Mill, exchanged some reading material at the little book swap kiosk, wandered around Turnpike Fields, foraged some wild

garlic, discovered a very boggy walk along a stream and tidied up the roof garden. When Rob returned we went down the lock and moored opposite the famous Shroppie Fly pub - handy for fish and chips from the local chippy, and to listen to Vox Americana, a really good live band, at the pub.

Then it was down another three locks and we got to the winding hole - the furthest extent of our travels along the Shroppie when we first set out on Jasmine! It was a glorious morning and we had a lovely cruise to Coole Pilate, a beautiful wide grassy area with picnic benches, where we stopped for coffee. It was so lovely there we ended up

staying and I took the chance to take all the plants off the roof and clean the green-tinged non-slip surface. I gave the planters a good tidy up and cleaned the starboard side of the boat before enjoying a beautiful sunset.

A frosty start as we went down the two locks at Hack Green and saw our first lambs - plus lapwings! And then we were back in Nantwich. If you've followed our travels from the start you'll know this is one of our favourite canal towns, so we were very excited to be back and it didn't disappoint. The town still buzzes with plentiful shops and tuneful buskers, plus all the lovely old timber-framed buildings. We even went to a pub quiz at The Oddfellows which was great fun - and came second!

Rob ended up driving to Crewe to get a new tyre for the car (we blame all the potholes...) and we got some coal from fuelboat Halsall as it went past. As much as we love being in rural areas, towns do come in handy for shopping, laundrettes and picking up parcels, but it was soon time to head off, via the services to top up

with water and get rid of the rubbish and recycling, heading to Hurleston Junction where we turned left and went up the four locks onto the Llangollen Canal. Last time we only made it to Whitchurch but this time we are determined to get right to the end and visit Llangollen finally. A lovely man and his daughter helped us up the first lock - until their lively spaniel, Betty, decided to take a dip (all retrieved without any ill-effects, luckily!).

Although navigation along the canal was abandoned in 1944, the route was retained as it supplied water to South Cheshire from the River Dee at Horseshoe Falls - 50 million litres of water a day! - and going upstream you can really feel that you're pushing against the flow of the water. Incredibly, despite this, we still managed to get grounded between a couple of the locks, resolved by letting some more water down. Mooring in another lovely rural spot the other side of the boat roof got cleaned and some wood got chopped.

Arriving in Wrenbury we met some lovely fellow boaters and I had a long chat with Lynne who wanted to pick my brains about being a virtual assistant. Later on we met her and her husband Nigel at The Dusty Miller for a drink. This pub had been shut last time, but now it was the other one, the nearby Cotton Arms, that was

closed, sadly being turned into

houses. Apart from this, the lovely little village was much the same, apart from some new housing. The exciting news is that the little garden centre along the canal is now thriving under new management, soon to have a café as well. I chatted to the new owner and the friendly horticulturalist there and bought some cheery violas for the roof garden which, along with the tulips and daffs, is looking very jolly at the moment.

Then we were off to The Big Smoke, to stay with Rob's youngest son where we were treated to a delicious meal along with his oldest son. The following day we travelled to Barnet for my aunt's 90th birthday meal at a lovely Mediterranean restaurant, and then visited my Dad in Surrey. Back at the boat the weather was continuing to be hideous, with what seemed like constant

rain and towpaths now knee-deep in mud... In between this we moved on, doing nine locks on one day (quite a lot for us!), including the six locks at Grindley Brook, three of which are a staircase. Arriving in Whitchurch we took advantage of a sunny moment to walk into the lovely old market town, ending up at the Crafty Dragon for a pint, a little place run by the Magic Dragon Brewery that hadn't been there on our last visit.

Whitchurch is full of interesting old buildings and history. It's the only town in Shropshire on an original Roman site, being on a major route between Chester and Wroxeter. While Rob was away, I did some more exploring, including finding the lovely refill shop, Refill Your Boots. We opted to revisit the Black Bear, the pub we went to when we were there before, again to have a meal out, this time to celebrate being together for 8 years - with two and half of those living in a small metal tube - we both probably deserve medals!

Heading off under the lift bridge on Good Friday we were excited to now be on new waters! After a night of heavy rain we were enjoying the lovely sunny morning - until we had ten minutes of complete downpour! We moored up near Whixall Moss, a raised bog created

by the retreating ice during the last Ice Age. The peat surface was decimated by cutting for garden use in the past but the delicate habitat is now protected by an SSSI and the area is rich in rare insect and plant life. Despite having to alter our route due to large areas being underwater we had a lovely walk around part of it. We both felt it seemed savannah-like and expected to see woolly mammoths roaming around it - so we were delighted to see that remains had actually been found here! The evening was topped off when Rob spotted an owl perched on the top of a nearby telegraph pole - long-eared we decided, peering through the binoculars into the dusk. Unfortunately our hopes were shattered in the morning when it was still there and turned out to be a fake!

We carried on, passing the Prees Arm which we plan to visit on our return journey, and had to go past an area where there had recently been a breach - apparently only noticed by someone out walking! By the time we went past, there were plentiful sandbags and a contractor keeping watch.

There are nine glacial lakes in this area and we moored above the beautiful Cole Mere which we walked around early the following morning. Moving on, we came across Blake Mere, another gorgeous spot, but this time we were able to moor right on the water's edge (see porthole pic!). Sadly the weather wasn't great, but Rob did sit on the bench by the water and paint for a while. The internet signal was ropey to say the least, but just enough for me to work, and we finished off the Easter weekend with a nice bottle of wine and a veggie roast.

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Sunset on the Shroppie