The Stream in the Sky

On the 1st of April, and after Rob got me yet again with a timely April Fool, we left beautiful Blake Mere, went through Ellesmere tunnel and arrived in Ellesmere, venturing along the arm in the hope of a mooring. Luckily there was plenty of space and it was the perfect spot to explore the lovely little town with

it's own very lovely Mere. Having had a rainy start it was now warm enough to sit by the water and have an ice cream. It was almost like being on holiday (I know some of you think this is one big permanent holiday!!).

There's an indoor market, a good laundrette, some super little shops and it was great to be near our 'drydock buddies' too, with Colin kindly giving Rob a lift to go and pick up the car, and we went out for a drink at the lovely White Hart pub with him and Michelle and their daughter one evening. There's also an interesting sculpture trail plus Heronwatch where you can view fledgling herons in their nests on Moscow Island. And we saw our first swallows - wonderful!

Our battery/alternator/unknown issue was persisting so we called up RCR (River Canal Rescue - the AA for the waterways) and the lovely Paul (who replaced our starter battery back in November 2021!) came over. Luckily it wasn't the alternator but a connection issue, so that was good news. It was also handy for Rob to visit his mum again. The lovely Sven on fuelboat Mountbatten came past and replaced our gas bottle and dropped off some more coal. We'd been buying 'just one more bag' thinking it would get warmer and we wouldn't need it, but the weather had other ideas... We also saw our first ducklings - 15 of them!

After a visit to the services and a quick catch up with our Insta buddies on nb Capricious we finally tore ourselves away and headed to Frankton Junction. This is where the Montgomery canal (the Monty) starts - an adventure for our return journey - and the evening was nice enough for a sundowner out on the deck. We needed somewhere to leave Jasmine for a trip back to Devon and unfortunately realised the best place was behind us, so the following day I drove and Rob solo cruised back to Tetchill - the perfect spot with a very friendly (but highly vigilant) chap living in the lovely canal cottage by the water, plus a handy car park.

After a busy few days by the sea, including catching

up with friends, getting a haircut and seeing the excellent John Smith in concert (Rob's early birthday present from me) we returned to sunnier weather and had a bird, bee and butterfly-filled walk around the village. We then needed to cruise to the winding hole, turn around and retrace our steps, this time with Rob in the car and me solo cruising Jasmine. After picking him up at Frankton Junction we then bumped into Colin and Michelle out on a weekend jolly from their marina and enjoyed a coffee and catch-up on the bank. We also helped un-ground some fellow boaters who'd got stuck in the shallows whilst trying to avoid another passing boat and enjoyed a lovely long walk down the peaceful Monty.

After going up the two beautifully situated Marton locks we stopped at St Martin's where the wild garlic was in profusion and the wildflowers were stunning. It was warm enough now to only light the fire later on and even let it go out overnight on occasion. We had a visit from Rob's friend, Bod, which coincided with an unexpected sight - a Harris Hawk (Molly) and a Short-eared owl (Tango) being taken out for a walk along the towpath!

We combined moving the car with a walk across Thomas Telford's impressive 70' high Chirk aqueduct over the River Ceiriog which opened in 1801. Parallel to this - but higher - is the train viaduct, designed by Scottish Engineer, Henry Robertson, and opened in 1848. Together they make a spectacular sight. Having moved the boat to Chirk Bank we were able to walk in the valley below both structures, through wide valley fields filled with gambolling lambs and were delighted to spot Dippers in the river.

Chirk is a lovely little place, with a well-stocked greengrocer and numerous cafes, and our mooring, although slightly shaded by trees and surrounded by high wild garlic-filled banks, treated us to the sound - and sight at dusk - of a pair of Tawny owls. Our early start to head over Chirk aqueduct was hampered temporarily by our engine deciding not to start. The issue I mentioned earlier clearly had not been resolved... We did finally get it going and set off, fighting against the flow as we went over. At the far end is the mouth of the 459-yard Chirk Tunnel, one of the first to have a towpath inside. It's one way and we unluckily caught a convoy of boats coming towards us so had a bit of a wait to go in. When we finally did we were at the mercy of the flow again, with our chimney (which is in need of replacement anyway) bearing the brunt of the curved tunnel side...

Once through, we had a brief chug before heading into the shorter Whitehouse Tunnel and

finally mooring up in Froncysyllte - the first place we've really struggled to get a workable internet signal. With a bit of manoeuvring of hub and aerial we finally got it going and set off to walk across the big one - the 1007-foot long Pontcysyllte aqueduct -

the highlight of the canal network. Another of Telford's creations, it stands 126 feet above the River Dee and although it has railings on the towpath side it has nothing on the other side of the iron trough... It's not for the faint-hearted, I can tell you! Being a sunny Sunday, Trevor basin at the far end was busy with boats, canoes, people and dogs. We had a mooch, sat in the sun with an ice cream and Rob bought me a Llangollen mug for posterity.

Back in Fron we finally got to meet Sandi on nb George, a solo boater and Insta-vlogger,

which was great. The other highlight was that Rob finally fixed our electrical connection issue - hurrah! The weather had turned wet and cold however, the fire was once again lit, and we were pleased that Sven was passing so we could top up our coal supply (yet again...). Then it was a short hop, through the little lift bridge at Fron and a night moored on the approach to the Pontcysyllte aqueduct, ready for an early start the next day - eek!

We set off about 7.30am. It was a bit grey, not the sunny crossing we'd have liked, but it was very still - a bonus when crossing what's known as 'The Stream in the Sky'! As the water in the trough goes under the towpath we weren't pushing against a flow which was very welcome. Especially as, halfway across, Rob handed the tiller to me, got down on one knee and proposed! Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather! I managed to keep steering in a straight line (although I think we did scrape our way along the side a bit) - and say 'yes!'.

I think that's probably enough excitement for one episode so I'll leave it there. Tune in next time to find out how we celebrated our news!

Sunset on the Llangollen canal