Orrible Day

Wednesday, 24th,August 2011
Queens Head, Montgomery Canal to Ellesmere.
7.5 Miles 3 Locks and a Double Staircase Lock.

We left our mooring at Queens Head this morning allowing plenty of time to get to Frankton Locks which opened at noon.

The owner of this boat moored at Queens Head is obviously a fan of the Big One.

Signs of the huge amount of work it took to restore this section of the Montgomery Canal.

We turned into the the Weston Branch arm services and struggled to tie up due to the strong wind, once secured I emptied the Cassettes at the service block. This service block is possibly the best kept services I have ever used and a credit to whoever looks after it, be it British Waterways or the Shropshire Union Canal Society volunteers.  The guide books are a bit confusing as to whats here, so for other boaters heading this way it has water taps, toilets, including disabled and elsan disposal there is also a skip for boaters rubbish, you could say it's the full Monty (get it, Monty Canal, never mind).

We were 4th in the queue at the first of the two single locks as the Lock Keeper organized things, by now the wind had picked up again and the skies were darkening at the second lock it started to rain hard.

Plaque on the upper single lock.

Clearing the top lock in the heavy rain Jayne disappeared inside to dry out and get the kettle on, we turned right and headed back towards Ellesmere, it rained all the way only stopping as we moored up, we will be here for a couple of days.