Chirk, Wrexham, Wrexham LL14 5AD, UK
It is Thursday afternoon on a very mild and sunny day, and we have travelled yet again over the Chirk aqueduct and through the Chirk tunnel to take up our temporary moorings in Chirk Marina so that we can go to London for Bob’s eye surgery knowing our Celtic Maid is safe.
We left our moorings in Trevor on Monday and travelled back over the Pontcysyllte and Chirk Aqueducts and through the Whitehouse and Chirk tunnels to take up moorings alongside the The Poachers Pub at Chirk. Our friends from Edgware, Chris and Sue, who have so kindly supported us during our time in the UK with somewhere to stay, good advice and valuable friendship, came on board on Monday for the experience of the aqueducts, tunnels and Llangollen. Oh and of course our company!!!!
As we left Chirk on Tuesday morning, heading back toward Llangollen, we bid a sad and fond farewell to Chris and Jim and Gina on NB Sylph, with whom we have been travelling on and of for the last 6 months. We thought we were parting several times before but circumstances mean that this time there is likely to be a longer break as they head north east and we head north west. We wish them safe and happy journeys!!
We retraced our cruising back over and through the aqueducts and tunnels and through the narrows to LLangollen. We were so relieved that we had already experienced this as we were less susceptible to the many tricky areas on this stretch! For Chris and Sue it was all new. Although they have walked many canals along towpaths, they had never done this one so we could show them a few new things. We also saw many new sights that we had missed the first time.
After a good night’s sleep in Llangollen, moored along the canal rather than in the basin this time, we turned around (well Bron did – flawlessly) and headed back toward Trevor. Chris and Bron chose to walk the 4 odd miles back to Trevor to send back any traffic warnings and enjoy the scenery from a different perspective. Apparently we were supposed to source coffee to be enjoyed on the aqueduct crossing but alas we failed!!!!
After mooring for lunch with a different view of the aqueduct we cruised gently back to Chirk and enjoyed dinner at The Poachers Pub. Chris and Sue were relieved to find that their car was still safely in the carpark.
Fuelled by a cooked breakfast this morning to give them sustenance for their journey home, Chris and Sue left us after three wonderful days. Looking forward to welcoming them on board again sometime soon.
The cruise back toward Trevor (again) to our moorings at Chirk Marina was uneventful and gave Bron some time to pack what we might need for the indeterminate length of time that we will be away from Celtic Maid while we see to Bob’s eye issues.
So we are off tomorrow to London and then some convalescence at Maldon with Bob’s cousins Julie and Phil. We are so blessed to have this level of support from so many people as we continue our journey.
