Bartimaeus

We set off early hoping to beat the rush of hire boats at the locks just ahead of us.  We arrived to see a boat waiting to go in, so it wasn't a long wait.  These were some of the folk who had been having an eightieth birthday party on the towpath the previous night.  As they went out, another boat came in from the other direction.  This crew told us there had been a hold-up at the previous lock and that there were a number of boats queued in either direction.

By the time we got to the second lock, there was no sign of big queues, though we still had to wait for the birthday boat again.  As lock queues go, this was insignificant.  Progress along the canal continues to feel slow because the current is significant.  Under bridges in particular we slow to a crawl, with the fast moving water often pulling us towards one side or the other.

We moored up and found lunch in a nearby garden centre.  I was pleased to be able to restock with decaffeinated instant coffee.  I drink a lot of it, but always seek out a Fairtrade brand - that can be annoyingly hard to find in some places.

After lunch we moved on again and moored up at Chirk Bank.  I knew we were approaching the Chirk Aqueduct, but I wanted to stop and have a look at it, and I knew that mooring would be tricky once we'd reached it.  We found rings in a shady spot - it would have to do.

We set off down the hill first and crossed the River Ceiriog on the road bridge.  That side of the river is in Wales.  The sheep and lambs in the field didn't seem bothered by us wandering through to get some photographs.

We found a footpath up the other side of the valley in to the small town of Chirk.  We got a bag full of groceries from the local shops before continuing towards the railway station and following the line of the railway back towards the boat.  The railway runs in a cutting and then a short tunnel before the viaduct.  The canal crosses the railway in a tunnel at this point - a little lower down and on a different alignment.

We walked back across the aqueduct which was by now busy with gongoozlers and three boats going up stream and then having to wait at the tunnel mouth for boats coming the other way.  We noticed a sign at the far side saying "Welcome to England".  The other side welcomed us to Chirk Aqueduct in two languages.

It was late afternoon when we returned to Bartimaeus, but we decided to move on - hoping for better sun exposure and improved network connectivity.  The rush on the aqueduct seemed to have subsided - we passed the last of the oncoming boats just after casting off and then had the aqueduct to ourselves.

The narrow profile made for very slow going against the current.  We enjoyed the peaceful crossing on electric drive.  It was sometimes hard to resist the urge to try to go a bit faster, but there was nobody else in front or behind, so we could just enjoy it.  I was easily able to hop on and off to take photographs, leaving Clare to drive.

The border is the western-most point of the connected canals in England, though not the easternmost point in Wales.  As we approached the far side, we saw the sign saying "Croeso i Gymru" - it had been behind us when we were walking across.  There were also bilingual signs warning us of the various hazards we might encounter in the tunnel.  We've seen similar signs many times before, but these were slightly different apart from the additional language.  We'd almost passed the first one when I realised that it had a warning of spiders!

The other sign looked slightly different, so I had a closer look.  This one seemed to indicate that we should give way to bats.

The tunnel is straight, but is at an angle to the aqueduct.  Once we were close enough we could see that there was nothing waiting at the other end so Clare drove in.  This is one of the first tunnels to be built with a towpath which historically would have allowed boats to be pulled through by horse.  Having it to ourselves meant that we didn't have to cope with fumes and noise from diesel engines.

Clare found it hard to keep us off the walls.  Just as under the bridges, the narrow channel makes for fast moving water which tends to pull the boat to the side it is already closest to.  Driving upstream is similar to balancing a broom on your hand - it isn't very hard, but it is unstable and requires concentration.  It is inevitable that the boat will scrape the side.  The tumblehome of the boat generally ensures we don't scrape paint off the roof, but centuries old tunnels don't come with guarantees.

Some way through we became aware of a boat waiting for us at the tunnel entrance.  They had their tunnel light on ready.  I would have turned ours off in a similar position to indicate that we were not coming through yet, but many inexperienced boaters turn them on and then forget to switch them off.

Although there was no other communication, Clare felt pressured by the presence of the other boat, which spoilt the transit for us a bit.  When we emerged we found there was also a canoeist waiting to go in.  We exchanged friendly words with him and the driver of the other boat.

We continued through the cutting until we found convenient mooring rings in a sunny spot near Chirk Marina.  We had our first al fresco dinner of the year on the back deck just as the sun was setting.  More bats came out for their dinner a little later.