On to Chirk Marina.

Wednesday 7th September, 2016 at Chirk.
Yet another peaceful morning; let us hope that this lovely weather continues for a bit longer!

R to the rescue. M had spotted a hire boat broadside across the canal and called R to help. R had met the couple the previous evening and they said that this was their first night afloat! The couple were still abed but had a rude awakening when R had to climb on board to grab the centre rope. An irate male voice from below demanded to know what was going on! Soon the boat was moored up again and R explained that one of the nice things about the canals was that there was always someone around to help. So the irate chap calmed down and thanked him nicely!

We said farewell to Harley and Shelley. We really do hope to see them again; they are a most delightful couple (better be careful what we say - Harley has started reading the blog!). We very much admired their positive, cheerful outlook on life.

R had discovered that there is a Costa in the nearby Wyevale Garden Centre, so he enjoyed a coffee and cake while M looked round the shop. It is vast!

Of particular fascination was the marine acquatic department, where there was an amazing tank of exotic corals and sea fish.
This was a very strange fish! M said she couldn't work out which end was which.

Then off to the famous Chirk Aqueduct, most impressive with the railway viaduct running alongside. The view between the arches was lovely.

Chirk tunnel comes just after the aqueduct and is 459 yards long. It has a towpath, so there is no horse path over the top for M to walk. It is only wide enough for one boat, so it is one-way at a time - but as we were "Tail-End-Charlie" to a convoy of three boats, we just followed on through.

This weekend we are going home for a few days to celebrate R's big birthday with the family, so we have booked MM into Chirk Marina. Our allocated space was very tight but R, as ever, skillfully reversed MM into her allotted space with inches to spare.

We then went for a walk to reconnoitre the route to the station. It turned out to be a challenge as, although the station is less than a mile away, it is on the opposite side of the canal and there are no convenient bridges. The only way across to the towpath side was to walk over the tunnel mouth, round one fence hanging precariously out over the canal, across another wire fence and down a very steep muddy bank. In the morning, it rained, so we decided not to risk the steep muddy bank and walked to the station by road - over two miles!

We will be back on board and moving on next Wednesday - so please watch this space.
Today: 3 miles, 0 locks and 3.1 hours.
Trip: 345 miles, 243 locks and 255.8 hours.