How busy is the Llangollen at the moment?

[Leemc]

Honestly thought it would be very busy, absolutely not and been a pleasure 

[Rob-M]

15 minutes ago, Leemc said:

Honestly thought it would be very busy, absolutely not and been a pleasure 

That was similar for us last August, I think everyone thinks it will be busy so stay away.

[johnmck]

Private boaters avoid the Golly in high summer, gawd knows how many times we have been warned off going. But we have and thoroughly enjoyed it. This year, we have enjoyed an extended stay. Partly due to Ali working off the boat, then covid struck. We have stayed in the basin four times and every visit, found a corner mooring free, off the floating pontoons. The days to avoid the basin appear to be tuesday/Thursday. Hiring patterns have changed, with many now doing short breaks rather than weekly hire,

Love the Golly. Be sorry to leave it. The hirers are a happy bunch on the whole. April and September are the months to avoid. Tis when the silvertops leave the marinas for a supposed quiet time!

[TheBiscuits]

14 hours ago, booke23 said:

 

I agree, and you've got the best bit to come, the aqueduct and the last few miles to Llangollen.....a truly spectacular few miles of canal. 

 

And on the way back downstream, turn your engine off and put your tiller hard over when you enter the aqueducts - both Pontcysyllte and Chirk.

 

Drifting across in perfect silence is magical.  It really does make me think more about electric boating, and little BobBiscuits thinks it's like flying through the clouds.

[Rob-M]

3 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

And on the way back downstream, turn your engine off and put your tiller hard over when you enter the aqueducts - both Pontcysyllte and Chirk.

 

Drifting across in perfect silence is magical.  It really does make me think more about electric boating, and little BobBiscuits thinks it's like flying through the clouds.

My dad suffered badly with vertigo so when we went over when I was a kid the boat was left to travel across on its own and we all had to sit inside.

[robtheplod]

14 hours ago, tree monkey said:

I have an original nut and bolt that was useto hold the sections together,the nut still spins on the thread

 

great to have, is there a good story as to how you got it?     should we be worried when going over the aqueduct?!!  

[booke23]

38 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

It really does make me think more about electric boating,

 

It's funny, I was just thinking that myself last night. Where I'm moored up at the moment, there is a 20ft cruiser that keeps going past.....the owner just goes on short pleasure cruises from their home mooring. It's got an electric outboard, and as they silently went past last night at sunset, it occurred to me how nice it must be. He also has what looks like a 200w solar panel on the roof, so at this time of year he probably gets his propulsion battery completely charged for free. 

Edited August 9, 2022 by booke23

[tree monkey]

39 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

great to have, is there a good story as to how you got it?     should we be worried when going over the aqueduct?!!  

It was one of the many removed and replaced during the renovation, one of the locals acquired it for me,

[Leemc]

Bit busier today between Whittington and Chirk. Stopped to help two holiday boats through The New Marton locks, they had no clue what to do, hirers handover virtually non-existent with regards to locks.

Now moored up in Chirk- great spot 👍👍

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Leemc said:

Bit busier today between Whittington and Chirk. Stopped to help two holiday boats through The New Marton locks, they had no clue what to do, hirers handover virtually non-existent with regards to locks.

Now moored up in Chirk- great spot 👍👍

Depending where you are (Chirk? Chirk Bank?) a walk down to the Bridge Inn is recommended, proper friendly locals pub with good cheap beer and food 🙂

 

You could also do worse than strolling up to The Aqueduct Inn for a beer before going over it...

[Leemc]

39 minutes ago, IanD said:

Depending where you are (Chirk? Chirk Bank?) a walk down to the Bridge Inn is recommended, proper friendly locals pub with good cheap beer and food 🙂

 

You could also do worse than strolling up to The Aqueduct Inn for a beer before going over it...

We are right on Chirk Bank so will do as instructed 🍺🍺🍺cheers

[IanD]

13 minutes ago, Leemc said:

We are right on Chirk Bank so will do as instructed 🍺🍺🍺cheers

Great view of the Chirk Aqueduct/Viaduct from the terrace outside the Bridge Inn too -- and a similar comment for the Aqueduct Inn at Froncysyllte... 🙂

Edited August 9, 2022 by IanD

[Leemc]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

Great view of the Chirk Aqueduct/Viaduct from the terrace outside the Bridge Inn too -- and a similar comment for the Aqueduct Inn at Froncysyllte... 🙂

I just did what Ian told me to do. Brilliant afternoon in Bridge Inn. 3 pints of Salopian Shropshire Gold and may go back for evening meal later. Great beer and very nice prices

cheers

[Philip]

How busy is the Shropshire Union currently?

[IanD]

27 minutes ago, Leemc said:

I just did what Ian told me to do. Brilliant afternoon in Bridge Inn. 3 pints of Salopian Shropshire Gold and may go back for evening meal later. Great beer and very nice prices

cheers

 

Glad to help 🙂

 

They had Shropshire Gold when we were there, but we drank them out of it by the time we left -- admittedly this took us some time, but we're nothing if not persistent. And we had to wash the food down somehow -- good simple pub food cooked while you wait (may take a bit, oh dear, let's have another beer...) at excellent prices. Still a proper pub, not a thinly-disguised restaurant... 😉

 

BTW if you want to eat in Llangollen the Corn Mill is an excellent (if rather more pricey) gastropub with very good beer, but busy so you might need to book.

 

Also have a lovely walk up to the Horseshoe Falls and stop for a refreshing pint or two at the Chainbridge Hotel, see photo. Are you starting to see a certain pattern here? 😉

 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by IanD

[Paul C]

2 hours ago, Philip said:

How busy is the Shropshire Union currently?

I drove past Barbridge on Monday at 6am, a few spaces but that's about it. It was REALLY busy around there about a month ago. I don't have any more recent insight.

[Leemc]

2 hours ago, Philip said:

How busy is the Shropshire Union currently?

Loads of space at Barbridge about a week ago, not surprised considering the prices at that rip-off pub.

[Sea Dog]

3 minutes ago, Leemc said:

Loads of space at Barbridge about a week ago, not surprised considering the prices at that rip-off pub.

The shelf is 'orrible opposite there too. Best left in the wake imho.

[billh]

On 09/08/2022 at 17:28, Philip said:

How busy is the Shropshire Union currently?

Just come up from Brum, through Manchester to Ashton. Very few boats actually on the move anywhere. However, many boats were moored not moving particularly at Nantwich, seemed like miles of boats, many with people aboard .Perhaps " we can't go anywhere cos of water shortage" so staying put. Normal water levels on all canals except part of Rochdale 9  and summit of Ashton (about 6ins down). Slight delays at Audlem with slow boats.

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, billh said:

Just come up from Brum, through Manchester to Ashton. Very few boats actually on the move anywhere. However, many boats were moored not moving particularly at Nantwich, seemed like miles of boats, many with people aboard .Perhaps " we can't go anywhere cos of water shortage" so staying put. Normal water levels on all canals except part of Rochdale 9  and summit of Ashton (about 6ins down). Slight delays at Audlem with slow boats.

 

Nantwich was absolutely rammed when we went through in early June before peak season and the water shortages.

[Leemc]

Made it Llangollen yesterday. No queues  for any of the tunnels or aqueducts. Slowest part of day was in those two narrow sections, battling(slight exaggeration 😉) against the current!

if it’s the same on Friday should get up to 10mph💪

[Tracy D'arth]

On the way back have a look at the rear pews in Wrenbury church. There is an unusual dog pew.

[IanD]

46 minutes ago, Leemc said:

Made it Llangollen yesterday. No queues  for any of the tunnels or aqueducts. Slowest part of day was in those two narrow sections, battling(slight exaggeration 😉) against the current!

if it’s the same on Friday should get up to 10mph💪

 

It depends exactly when you go through, it's very noticeable that the water speed can vary -- at least it was when we went up, there was a big visible surge in flow (at the wrong time for us!) which later died away after we moored online. I assume some extra water had been let in at the top end...

[Tony1]

 

Does anyone know if the fuel boat goes all the way to the basin? I think its Mountbatten, the one that moors near Swanley Bridge. 

Unlike last year, it looks as if most of the Llan will remain open for most of the next winter, so I'm pondering whether to spend 2 or 3months there when it gets a bit quieter, maybe starting early Nov. 

But I might have the old rose-tinted glasses on.

It was lovely being in those quiet rural spots (e.g. around Whixall Moss) during the summer, what with the warm and late evenings and the general 'holiday-camp' vibe with all the hire boaters, but I'm not sure my 13 mile grocery ride to Whitchurch and back will be so much fun when the roads are potentially icy, and with it getting dark around 4pm. 

That said, the winters are getting less severe, and the number of truly icy days seems to have reduced, so I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's a spent a few months there during the winter. 

Last winter the closures restricted things a bit, but I moved between Nantwich, Middlewich, Northwich, and back around to Chester and Ellesmere Port a few times, so there were plenty of towns and facilities. But I'm conscious that on the Llan, the towns are fewer and the shopping trips can be longer, unless you stay close to the towns. 

And on a general note, are the full time liveaboards starting to give some thought to what might be a good cruising area for the winter? 

 

 

[tree monkey]

14 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

Does anyone know if the fuel boat goes all the way to the basin? I think its Mountbatten, the one that moors near Swanley Bridge. 

Unlike last year, it looks as if most of the Llan will remain open for most of the next winter, so I'm pondering whether to spend 2 or 3months there when it gets a bit quieter, maybe starting early Nov. 

But I might have the old rose-tinted glasses on.

It was lovely being in those quiet rural spots (e.g. around Whixall Moss) during the summer, what with the warm and late evenings and the general 'holiday-camp' vibe with all the hire boaters, but I'm not sure my 13 mile grocery ride to Whitchurch and back will be so much fun when the roads are potentially icy, and with it getting dark around 4pm. 

That said, the winters are getting less severe, and the number of truly icy days seems to have reduced, so I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's a spent a few months there during the winter. 

Last winter the closures restricted things a bit, but I moved between Nantwich, Middlewich, Northwich, and back around to Chester and Ellesmere Port a few times, so there were plenty of towns and facilities. But I'm conscious that on the Llan, the towns are fewer and the shopping trips can be longer, unless you stay close to the towns. 

And on a general note, are the full time liveaboards starting to give some thought to what might be a good cruising area for the winter? 

 

 

There used to be a fair number of winter liveaboards on the Llan but CRT had a clamp down because of a bit of piss taking but I think they have calmed down a bit

 

saying that I'm it's perfectly possible to winter on the llan and it rarely freezes, be a bit careful in the Ellesmere arm though because that will freeze And keep an eye on the closures if they close above the aqueduct they often will reduce the flow and it will freeze more easily.

 

Apart from Whitechurch there are supermarkets nr the top of new Martin locks (stans), Chirk, Trevor and Llan itself