7th June 2015

By getting up at a time that can only be called “twirly” we set off at 7am in an attempt to beat the queues at Grindley Brook Locks.  This worked very well and we only had a wait of around 15 minutes before we were rising up to the top of the staircase.  The lock keeper told us that it was “really, really, really busy” there most of the time but at 10 am most of the hired boat crews had barely got out of their beds! * We had a little chat about the previous locks that we had found with top gates open and paddles still up.  He claimed that the worst offenders were the Dutch because flat lands don’t need lots of locks and where they do exist they are mostly manned!

As we approached bridge 44 we found that this was a particularly favourite spot for anglers.  There must have been about 15 of them.  One forgot to pull his rod in but raised it high enough for us to pass under like a mini lifting bridge.

At an innocuous looking corner at Bettisfield we had to move across close to the towpath bank as boats were moored on the left and another boat was coming our way.  Much to our consternation we immediately found that we were aground, had lost steerage and our bow was heading for one of the moored boats.  Fortunately the owner was aboard and she and Romy fended off at the front while Peter poled off the stern and we went on our way unscathed.  The kind lady told us “oh yes it’s terribly shallow on that corner but it’s worse further up”.  We carried on determined to keep as far from the edge as possible at all times.

At Ellesmere the visitor moorings were all very busy and many people were out on boats for their first time.  We were flagged down by a lady who told us that one such boat had become stuck in the reeds and was being towed out.  We moored temporarily until that had been sorted out and then we continued on for a few hundred yards and found plenty of space for Oliver where we planned to stay for two nights.

* This was not borne out by our experience going in to Llangollen Basin!