Belt and Race's

We woke up at 6.30am to watch the Grand Prix only to find that the race had been delayed because of rain. We had a hard frost and it was minus two outside so we lit the fire after the heating had gone off and it stayed lit all day. After the race, Del then started on the engine, and took off the covers. After removing the belts he found out that the spare belt that Beta had supplied us was 50mm too big, typical.....

Del then had no choice, and had to be happy with just turning the old belt around even though it was split halfway through. Lets hope we can get a new belt quickly. We then run the engine for a couple of hours with no noises, but we don't know for how long.

The sunshine was with us all day and Del went looking for more wood and wiped down Derwent6, working up a appetite, while Al cooked a lovely Sunday lunch with twelve Yorkshire's. We scoffed the lot, but after our early start we then had trouble staying awake!

A Walk to Whitchurch

We got up at 6.00am and watched the qualifying at the Korean Grand Prix. Del then chopped up some wood to keep us warm all day while Al cooked breakfast. Afterwards Del then went into the engine room and cleaned the bilge and checked the levels. He also checked out a pulley noise which had developed again. Sam from Foxton Boat Services had changed both pulleys six weeks ago and on inspection you could see the pulley was not square and the belt was a groove out on the generator pulley. To make matters worse it was about to break because it had a split halfway through it. It is difficult for Sam to get to us because of where we are at the moment, so Del will be having a go at it tomorrow, if it lasts that long. Lucky we asked for spare belts to be supplied during the build of Derwent6.

In the afternoon, and as the weather wasn't that good, we went for a walk into Whitchurch and was surprised how nice it was. You can moor up a small arm and then walk up the old canal into town. They are still planning to have a small basin at the end which would encourage people to go into town every time they were passing.

We got back in time to run the engine and the belt lasted enough to charge the batteries. We then watched telly all night with Strictly & X Factor!!

Self service today, Sorry!

We had a bit of a lay in this morning, and Al finished her book while Del did the brasses and cleaned out the bilge! We ended up getting off at around 11.45am and soon got to Ellesmere tunnel. We then passed the two lakes, Blake and Cole Mere. Then we twisted and turned in and out of the fern in the countryside. We were getting low on diesel and didn't fancy paying Ellesmere Marina prices of 83p a litre. So we decided to go to Whixall marina at 71p but couldn't get a answer on the phone to see if they were open.

We decided to go for it and took the turn up the Prees arm and went through the two swing bridges in shallow water. When we got moored at the marina no-one was about. We managed to find a guy who had just got off his boat and asked if they were open. "Oh he's out training today so it will be closed all day, but you can pay for diesel on card" There was a credit card machine alongside the pump and it was self service...........but only at a 60/40 split. It worked out at 93p which we ended up paying, but we were gutted and only put fifty litres in to keep us going, knowing it's a lot cheaper elsewhere down the line......

We then crept out as it was so shallow and found a mooring just outside the junction.

We set up telly and lit the fire again and settled down for the night, and this fella settled down with us.

Monty! We will be back

We were up early as we wanted to get on the services this morning, but by the time we decided to leave someone else was already on them, so we turned round at the end. You have to go under a lift bridge to wind (turn) so Al put the bridge up and then waited for Del to turn and return back. We then managed to get on the services where we had a pumpout and topped up with water. We then took a steady two miles a hour till we got to Queens head where we hit top speed of three miles a hour.

We saw loads of Kingfishers but still never managed to get a photo of one and also we saw loads of Buzzards. We had to get to the Frankton locks between 12 and 2.00pm as we had a booking for today. We got there at 1.30pm because of a few hold ups like you see in this photo. Everyone was having fun though.

We made our way up Frankton Locks and then we said our goodbyes to the locky at the junction, and then turned downstream again to Ellesmere. We will definitely be back on the Monty in the future. The Police helicopter training centre is around here somewhere and we were being buzzed by them every 20 minutes or so. Yep! this is what happens to Tax payers money, we did give them a wave though. We arrived at the arm at 3.30pm and managed to slot Derwent6 into the only mooring space. We set up telly for the football and Al went into Tescos before we had dinner. After dinner, there was a 'knock knock' at the side hatch, and Elsie from nb Bendigedig was walking by. We had a nice chat before we head off in different directions for the winter.

The Full Monty

With clear blue skies ahead we set off at 9.00am this morning.... We soon got up to the first lock but had loads of problems with leaves round the prop and the canal being really shallow. Once we got down through the second lock it seemed to be a bit better. We did have a laugh passing this hire boat. Have a look at how they have moored up. Hope there's no cyclists around here!!!After a hour and a half cruising we got to Frankton Junction where the start of the Montgomery canal appears. We had booked our slot yesterday as they only allow twelve boats a day to go up and down the lock flight. This is because the Montgomery would take all the water from the Llangollen if more boats went down. We were lucky today as seven boats were coming up, and only us and another boat were going down, meaning there would be plenty of mooring spaces. We were amazed at the Monty, it seemed like you were on a small river as Derwent6 weaved in and out of the reeds.There seemed to be plenty of water on the first four miles and you then have to drop to two miles per hour as you do the last three miles. It is just so quiet out here and the wildlife is fantastic. You can't see any houses for miles around as a lot of the canal is a nature reserve.

After four hours we got to the terminus and managed to moor up right outside The Navigation Pub. We then went to the farm shop and it was a self service shed with a honesty box outside. They did everything in the vegetable range and everything had just been pulled out the ground. They also sold pickles and chutney's and in the fridge was mushrooms, milk and cream.

Don't you just love the fact that people still trust others in this world... We then went back to Derwent6 for a quick shower and then walked round the pub. They were doing a early bird deal with 15% off, and we had been recommended by three other people (thanks Adam) to go so we gave it a try.

We had a lovely meal and a bottle of wine, alongside a open fire, a perfect end to a perfect day!

Stan's Superstore

It was a funny day today as we had heavy showers one minute and sunshine the next, so we decided to stay put for the day. Al had always wanted to go to Stan's superstore, ( http://www.stans-superstore.co.uk/ ) where people travel miles to visit and it has won superstore of the year for the last two years on the trot. Its a family run business and there is a lovely history to the store which you can read on the website.

We were told about it by a couple out walking their dog, they even gave us a map of how to get there. "You've both got to go, you can't miss it" they said

It was a thirty minute walk across the fields from where we were moored. So we set off while the sun was shining.

We thought we would have breakfast and were blown away with the price of £1.79 for a full English, and it was 90p for a cup of coffee.

We then walked round the store and the prices were unbelievable. It was a good job we couldn't carry it back otherwise we would have bought the store. They sell everything and for sure it has been the best superstore we have been in. It was like walking into a discount supermarket but with a real quality feel about it. The staff were very helpful as well. Everyone round here shops here...

After we got back to Derwent6 with bags in hand, the heavens opened, so we started with a cup of tea and then lit the fire.

Al got into a new book she had brought at the store and Del went on the hunt for wood. With the gusty wind we had, a tree had fallen nearby and Del was soon loading it onto the roof. It has been busy today with hire boats too-ing a fro-ing in the wind and rain. It was nice to have a relaxing day today, but we will be on the move tomorrow as the weather predicted is sunny all day.

Back in England

We decided to get up at the crack of dawn as we wanted to miss the traffic coming in and out of Llangollen. From being a quiet weekend it had suddenly got very busy Sunday night. We counted eighteen boats in the basin and seven outside on the canal. We crept out and it was still dark. Good job we've got a decent light on the bow of Derwent6.

Al walked ahead through the narrow sections and we were still passing moored boats waiting to come in. We still scrapped the bottom in a couple of places and met one hire boat right in one of those shallow sections. It took us ten minutes for the water levels to recover, and get us floating again.

We soon got to the famous aqueduct and had to wait while two boats came across. We then got to Chirk tunnel and had to wait for three boats to come through, it must be busy in the basin in Llangollen now.

We crossed Chirk aqueduct with the railway along side, and made our way back into England. The leaves in the canal are all over the place and everyone was having trouble clearing their props. We twisted and turned our way to St Martin's where we decided to moor.As we got inside and lit the fire the wind got up and it started to drizzle, good timing! Al had a casserole going all day and it was nice to just sit down and eat by a cosy fire. She had also made a sponge cake and made some bread while we were travelling. After our early start and all this food we just zonked out!!!!!

All charged up

We had more sunshine this morning and Del walked down and got the papers while Al did breakfast... We just chilled in the morning listening to the radio watching the boats move in and out of the marina, whilst at the same time taking advantage of the shoreline and getting all the washing up to date. We had to move today as our 48 hours were up and after speaking to the mooring warden he allowed us to moor just outside for another night, as it was so quiet. So we spent the afternoon charging the batteries to the full capacity and also charging other things like camera's, toothbrushes and phones. After a stroll around the town, we polished the rest of Derwent6 so now we are ready for the winter. Del even did some brasses. We topped up with water before we moved outside the marina ready for the off tomorrow.

In the evening it started to get really cold outside, so we snuggled round the fire and watched telly with Strictly, X Factor, and Desperate Housewife's, so not an early night!

Oggie Oggie Oggie !!!

After a night of rain and the ducks waking us up in the night, it was a nice surprise to wake up to bright sunshine. We could hear music in the background as there was a big food and drink festival on in the main pavilion in Llangollen. Yep Al was up and out like a rabbit, but first we had to find the mooring warden and get our ticket to stay here for a few nights. It costs £6.00 a night, but you do get shoreline at no extra cost. We then went to the festival and were first amazed at how big it was inside. There were loads of stalls with loads of different foods to try, and we just couldn't get away from the wine and beer tasting. There were also loads of food demonstrations, we had a great time. We then came out and went into town as Del wanted to try a real Welsh Oggie (which is like a extra large Cornish pasty) and we then walked it off with a trip to the Horseshoe Falls. We came back following the tracks of the steam train.When we got back to Derwent6 we lit the fire and watched Strictly and X Factor with Fajitas in a new sauce we got at the show...