Nice pictures Steve. Looking at the ever more encroaching weeds on the open section from Frankton I get the impression that certain persons in high places would be happy if they stretched right across the canal. The unused sections look less cluttered (as the Maesbury section once did) as the eco weed planters are not there yet. From the Maesbury restoration costs most of the money spent was on the plants brought in as being the proper plants for the area. (Rather than those that had grown in the canal naturally since its original opening.) On the detached section there is a horse drawn hotel boat using the full open length and the sunshine boat that uses one end of it day on day. There were day hire boats but they have gone. (It took two day hires to do the full open section - we did it years back - it is beautiful.) Maybe our descendents will boat it and more if it ever does open FOR BOATS to Newtown - but don't hold your breath.
--- On Wed, 22/7/09, Steve Wood <[email protected]> wrote: From: Steve Wood <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [canals-list] I am going boating To: [email protected] Date: Wednesday, 22 July, 2009, 1:13 PM Eycott, George, VF UK wrote: > Anyone got any advice? Do we need to book to do any bits of it? Anything > that we "mustn't miss"? You need to book to do the Montgomery, and it will take up at least two half days of your schedule because the passage window is only short (12-2) and in the middle of the day, but it's well worth it. Call BW Northwich 01606 723800 before 10am on the day of passage. Out of season you have to call them 2 days ahead, but I don't recall the date when the system changes. I'm writing this sat on board at Maesbury actually. Having the luxury of plenty of time and access to a car, I've just explored the route down to Newtown, which is fabulous. Carreghofa Locks and the almost adjacent Vyrnwy aqueduct immediately made it into my top 5 waterway locations; stunningly beautiful. Very conscientious of BW to put cill warnings onto a closed lock! Also all the bridges have been numbered with those little wooden signs that appeared last year. Sad to see the lack of use of the open section though - I can see parts of it needing a second lot of restoration at this rate :-( As for the Llangollen, I'd not actually done it before and it doesn't disappoint. Apart from the obvious locations, I really liked Whixall Moss and will be spending time there on my way back. I found Ellesmere to be a lovely town, and it has the best shops. Llangollen itself is very pleasant and the walk up to Horseshoe Falls is worth the effort. The marina moorings have water and power at no extra charge (I should hope so at £6 a night!) and are a nice place to use as a base for a day or two. If you need a larger town or want a break from the water, all bus routes lead to Oswestry which is a pleasant town and much larger than any places closer to the cut. Make sure you get your hands on a copy of the free SUCS guide to moorings on the canal, available from the lock keeper at Hurleston (and no doubt elsewhere.) I'm in the process of uploading pictures at the moment, so take a look at my gallery pages later today or tomorrow: <http://www.bream. org/gallery/ main.php? g2_itemId= 228> Steve NB Bream [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
