Bartimaeus

We had enjoyed the cycle ride and outing to Chirk Castle. More bright weather was ahead. We had an appointment with the Montgomery canal so we headed towards it, picking up much needed water en route. There were a couple of locks on the way and Shane worked them risking his gate crossing manoeuvre that gives me the heebie jeebies. He is taking a short cut, without a thought for my nerves.

The Montgomery locks have lock keepers on them, so you can only go down them when they are staffed and they are only staffed in the morning. We saw a couple of boats pass and realised the lock must be set our way, so we cast off. The lock was open so Shane drove in and I hopped off to close the gate. It was a staircase lock, so I was glad to follow the lead of the friendly lock keeper. I noticed an unusual feature where you could see the water rushing through the passage from one lock to another. This normally happens below the water level of the lock but here it was exposed.

Before we left, the lock keeper asked if we had been there before and he gave us a quick run down of the facilities and pubs along the way. The next two locks were separate and with a different lock keeper. We generally recognise canal and river trust volunteers by their lifejackets that they are required to wear and their dark blue CRT tops, be they sweatshirts, fleeces or waterproofs. This chap was wearing a dark blue boiler suit that had "canal and river trust" in English and Welsh on it. I remarked that I hadn't seen the CRT boiler suit worn before and he smiled and said he had been a farmer before volunteering and just feels comfortable in a boiler suit. I agreed that he could feel "ready for work" with it on and you didn't get a gap on your back bending over to wind paddles or push gates. He said it was perfect except that he had managed to catch it at the back and tear them, wherupon he turned, bent over and pointed at his behind. I told him I could see it and it was at the other side. It was just as well it was a boiler suit with his jeans underneath, I added.

We made use of the bins at the facility point we had been told about and then headed on down The Monty until we found the moorings near the pub. It had brightened up and Shane was keen for another ride, so we got the tandem out after lunch for a short ride to the nearby town of Knockin, where the convenience store was proudly named The Knockin Shop. It even had its own merch. There were mugs and t-shirts. Shane considered them but none were red. He did indulge in a coffee and a pain au raisin and we picked up bread and a few other items.

We saw there was a small church so we went to see it. There was a lovely lilac tree blooming and a peacock butterfly was flitting around resting on the black gravestones. 

I was surprised the church had a fish on the top of its weather vane, it not being a coastal town, but I suppose the fish is also a Christian symbol. The church was open and we looked in. As usual I took a picture of the organ as I know an organist who has tried many of the organs and can often identify them. Some are very grand or distinctive. It is a bit cheeky of me to expect him to recognise one from such a humble spot. But the altar has a sense of grandeur all the same.

Being close to the border, I noticed that while this was England, many of the men on the war remembrance boards had Welsh surnames. 

I can never quite work out how people reconcile "thou shalt not kill" as  a commandment, but killing in wartime and dropping bombs is not a sin. 

Outside in the graveyard more butterflies were about, The brimstone is a very bright yellow butterfly, and moves very quickly and I barely get near. It seemed to be flirting with two white butterflies and only once I checked my book did I find that only the male brimstone is sulphurous yellow and the females are greenish white. When it settles though it always folds its wings, displaying only the duller underside, so while I got close, we only get a slight sneak peek of the inner wing at the very edge.  Mostly the dandelion it was drinking from was showing the brighter yellow.