Well surprise, surprise, another fantastic day in prospect and we are heading off to new ground too. It was quite a night for the football, even on the radio. The agony and ecstasy will continue.
All is set, and while the boats start to come up the individual locks lower down we are given the nod to descend the staircase.
When we got to the top of the New Marton Locks there were about three boats ahead of us. Being on holiday there was no rushing and just as one left the bottom gates and we were just about to close up to drop the next one down a boat came into view for coming up so we had to wait. It was quite nice to see the couple we had met on the way up at their first lock since picking up their boat and they were handling it all like pros. and had had a great time.
It wasn't long before we were at Frankton Junction and making the turn into the Montgomery Canal. The first part of the 'Montgomery' was actually an arm of the Ellesmere Canal and was opened in 1797, but not completed all the way to Newtown until 1821. It was never massively profitable as it was mainly carrying agricultural produce and limestone. After WWI it declined massively and lack of maintenance saw more operators away. In 1936 there was a breach about a mile from the Frankton junction and the company did not bother repairing it, and in 1944 there was an act of parliament closing it to navigation.
The Frankton Locks are only open 1200 - 1400 and I think a maximum of 12 boats are allowed down. Helen went off to find the lock keeper before heading down as the first pair are a staircase. He was at the lower locks running water down as boats trying to get into the locks were on the bottom.
The mile posts are all sponsored and are optamistic of getting the canal open all the way to Newtown.
The plaque on the lock keepers shack says it all, and we should be eternally grateful for all those that work tirelessly to open new stretches of old canals, and keep those in water navigable too.
The pair drop the boat down about 15' and these were the leakiest gates we came across on the canal.
We came to the Weston Branch that led off but now is just a spur. We decided to stop to top up with water as it was all free. Whilst doing this we had a long chat with a local who came in his car to the car park with his do most days. It was such a pleasant afternoon, with a bit of breeze and nobody else here we decided to push over to the other side and stop for the night.
After the busy Llangollen Canal it was a real tonic to just sit, with hardly a sound to be heard, and read. It is a lovely spot, especially in this weather. Not so much I suppose if it was silling down with horizontal rain.
5 comments:
Not too far from us at the moment Tony.
Hi There, you have come over as an unknown source so not sure if we have missed you or not. We actually went on to the Montgomery on Wednesday 4th and back up onto the Llangollen on Sunday 8th, and we are now pottering back down towards the 'Shroppie'. Say hi if you pass us and put a face to the 'name'. Cheers for now, Tony and Helen.
Chris Lea - thought it showed my mail address
Hey There, we were just talking about you two the other day. We were looking for where we could get the bus to come over and see you both. We are off home next week but we are then heading south towards Wolverhampton, say in three weeks time. Not hard and fast yet but if you fancy a day out on a boat let us know. If you haven't got it my email is right at the top of each page.
I emailed you -hope you got it
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