Bartimaeus

When we were moored at Chirk Marina for a few days we'd gone for a walk through the grounds of Chirk Castle, but hadn't gone in.  Clare commented on the way that the bluebells were not yet at their best and that we should remember to come back to see them.

She was disappointed to realise that we had cruised through Chirk and out the other side.  I pointed out that it was only a few miles back along a high quality towpath, and that I had wanted us to do a bit more cycling.  The forecast for the following day was for a few showers -  a fine day to visit a mainly indoor attraction.

The towpath ride went well, and we diverted to a cafe in Chirk for coffee (other cafes are available).  A man took an interest in the saddles on the tandem.  In conversation it turned out they weren't locals.  They were touring in their camper van.  Home for them was Anstruther - where we had been in November.

I'm glad we stopped, as the Castle sits on top of a hill.  The last two miles were distinctly uphill.  We managed to get a long way up before we admitted defeat on a short 20% section with three cars coming up behind us.  Once they were past and I'd got my breath back, we managed the rest of the climb.

We didn't follow the signs to the car park, and so found ourselves at the castle gate without having gone by the ticket office.  We had a wander around the gardens, which didn't require a ticket anyway.  The gardens were laid out by a tenant at the beginning of the last century.  The view down the lawn to the countryside below was spectacular.

As we looped through the woods, we were initially surprised not to find bluebells, but eventually came across areas with huge numbers.  And they were looking much better than they had the previous week.

We found our way to the tea room for lunch, and then went to look around inside.  We were politely asked if we had tickets - when we said no, we were directed back to the tea room.  We spent the afternoon pottering around the grand rooms, many filled with portraits of the occupants over the centuries.

The ride back to the boat was not strenuous, even the towpath is downhill in this direction.

Today's plan started with another cycle ride to Chirk - this time for lunch in the cafe.  I'd spotted an alternative route that took us off the towpath after half a mile.  Once we'd got through the village of St Martin's it was entirely narrow windy lanes.  The disadvantage of this route was that there was no level bridge across the River Ceiriog.  The climb up the opposite side was steep in places, but unlike yesterday, we managed to keep going the whole way up.

We arrived from the other side of the village and I noticed a cafe that I had not paid any attention to before.  While Clare was look for something in a nearby shop another man struck up conversation about the tandem.  When his wife appeared he told her that I had offered them a ride.  We had an enjoyable chat that continued when Clare returned.

The Teddy Bear Tearoom looked a little odd at first, but once inside we were greeted warmly, and Clare spotted wool and knitting around and was immediately sure we'd found the right place.  The staff were friendly and attentive and the food was excellent.  The table next to us was reserved for the knit-and-natter group.  As they arrived they started to natter - with us.

One of the group lives near the canal and another lives on a boat.  Once we'd said we were heading on to the Montgomery Canal, she gave us a number of tips about what we should look out for.

We got back to the boat in the early afternoon and set off again.  We have an appointment with a lock keeper tomorrow morning, but the main reason to move was that we needed water.  It was under a mile to the water point.  Once filled we went through the pair of locks and on towards the junction.

Along the way many of the fields were full of lambs.  We hope the ones exploring the overflow satisfy their curiosity before there is a flow of water there.  At one field with calves, the calves all seemed to want to watch the boats go by.

We moored up at Frankton Junction so that we'll be ready to go in the morning.  The instructions are to turn up between 9am and 1pm and speak to the lock-keeper.  We think we should be able to get up in time for that.