Bartimaeus

It is quite common on our travels to go to the end of a canal and so have to travel the same section of canal a second time. Sometimes this gives us a chance to repeat an enjoyable visit, or find something we missed or forgot.  The flow on the Llangollen Canal means that the journey times on the way back feel noticeably shorter than on the way out.

Yesterday, I realised that we would be at the Whitchurch Arm at around lunch time, so we could repeat the visit to one of the cafes we'd liked.  We walked in to town, noticing that it seemed very quiet.  As we reached the centre, it dawned on us that it was the Sunday of a bank holiday weekend.  It turned out that neither of the cafes were open, nor likely to be the next day.

Feeling a little foolish, we went back to the boat for our lunch.  The exit from the Whitchurch Arm is such a tight angle that going towards Llangollen is the only option.  I opted to reverse out, so that I didn't have to wind the boat twice which would add half a mile and probably half an hour to our journey.

Clare had jumped off to open the swing bridge on the main line as I reversed on to it.  A man from a hire boat following us out of the arm joined her and offered to close the bridge after them.  Unfortunately they hadn't read the notices and were facing the wrong way.  Clare explained the problem to them, but all we could do was leave them to it.

We got help from the volunteer lock-keeper at the Grindley Brook staircase.  He had been just about to go off duty when we arrived.  Even with his expert help, we got grounded on the cill in the middle lock, just as we had on the way up.  He fixed it (as I had) with a little extra water from above.  As we left, he changed the sign to tell anyone else they were on their own.  We stopped for the night a short distance away, just before the next lock flight began.

This morning, the day started distinctly cooler again.  I wasn't surprised to need a fleece on, but eventually added my rain jacket to keep the wind out and a woolly hat.  The sign warning of ice didn't seem as out of place today as it might have done last week.

By lunch time, we'd arrived at Wenbury, so we went back to the cafe we'd found last time after we'd already bought pies in the shop.  We were disappointed, but not surprised, that it was closed on bank holiday Monday, despite the sign saying it was open seven days a week. Lunch on board again!

Returning the way we've come reduces the number of things that seem novel and interesting.  We did see this push along boat extension that we don't remember seeing before.  It was nicely painted in colours to match its buddy.  The combined length was similar to Bartimaeus, so it may have been the easiest way to add more space to an existing boat.

Most of the bridges on this section are pretty brick arch bridges with the towpath running underneath on one side.  They are fairly tight, and there is a slight worry about hitting the cabin roof.  Clare was quite relaxed on approach to a modern looking bridge that appeared to be much wider.  It was only on close approach that she realised that at canal level it was the same width as all the rest.  A last moment swerve saved us from bumping.

 Towards the end of the day we spotted something we haven't seen so far this year - cygnets!  A family group were keeping close together as we emerged from our last lock of the day.  The parents adopted their usual aggressive pose as we approached, but relaxed again once we were clearly just going by.