A trip from Whixall to Trevor with a diversion down the Montgomery canal

[Telstar17]

Hello Everyone, thought I would post a little about our trip that we returned back from on Friday.

 

Day 1

Picked up the boat from Whixall which is a lovely marina with a good Cafe - we were on our way quickly but were happy with the standard of handover from anglowelsh.

 

motored along to Ellesmere with a quick diversion into the town for some tea and sugar (we forgot) and some hand soap (anglowelsh forgot) and made plans to return - all the local shops were shut as it was after 6 but looked nice. the towpath was very busy along here with moored boats including the small arm into ellesmere which had another anglowelsh boat moored in the winding hole being repaired - ironically the one we hired in march but had no problems with - glad we moored up outside and walked in. had BBQ for tea but left no trace on the towpath. incidentally if you want less of walk moor on the llangollen side of ellesmere rather than hurleston but be warned the towpath is much nicer on the hurleston side. 

 

Day 2

got to frankton junction at 9am exactly right as the CRT arrived - brilliant we thought. we were 3rd in a queue of 4 but were happy enough wed be through the locks within an hour. however there were no less than 8 boats waiting to come off the montgomery as the locks were closed the day before due to the bank holiday - no boats could be let down until the first 6 had been let up due to the extreme narrowness of the canal at the bottom. we made up our minds to be early in the queue the day after when leaving the monty. we also met a lovely pair of brothers who were in the queue ahead of us along with their dog Lucy. we finally got onto the montgomery at 12 oclock!

 

we went to the end of the monty - its a very pretty canal and the wildlife was the best we saw - i assume this is due to the less used nature of the canal. we turned around and made way to the queens head wharf - we knew the pub was closed but planned to walk to another pub 'the punchbowl' about 15 minutes away. sadly this does not serve food. if you are planning on visiting the Montgomery and visiting pubs along the canal do not visit monday to wednesday - most of the pubs are shut those days and those that are open dont serve food. 

 

we motored on and tried to find a mooring close to the locks but had a nightmare as there is no armco or mooring pins for a long way. we ended up mooring on the bottom lock landing of graham palmer lock - someone had already moored on the top and made our emergency curry for tea!

 

day 3 

 

after making bacon for breakfast (some was shared with lucy whose owners were actually the boat on the top landing of graham palmer lock, theyd struggled to find a mooring as well) and pulling a full pair of pants off the prop (we think we picked them up late on tuesday and didnt bother to check then)

 

we managed to go through frankton back onto the llangollen quite early on wednesday and cruised chirk aqueduct and tunnel which were an amazing experience if hard work as the flow through both seemed very very strong. we moored just by the lift bridge before Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and had food and drinks in the aqueduct in which was absolutely fantastic if a bit of an uphill walk. would recommend it to anyone. 

 

after our evening meal we traversed the aqueduct which was the perfect time in my opinion - the magic hour of sun set was absolutely superb and the view was spectacular. we planned to turn around in trevor basin however it was completely full of boats. we then had to reverse our 70ft boat out past moored boats and anglowelshes remaining hire fleet at trevor. luckily those moored were very generous and gracious with their help including steering our boat as we have very little experience reversing so far. we managed to wind in the turning off the aqueduct and into the narrows towards llangollen.

 

we made our way back over the aqueduct (much quicker thanks to the flow now helping) and were surrounded by bats which was incredible. we then really struggled to find a mooring as the sides were concrete and we were unable to bang in pins. we managed to find one but it was much later than we had planned and ended up  mooring in the pitch black. if going to trevor/llangollen recommend you find a mooring early as the choice was extremely limited.

 

day 4 

we cruised back towards new marton when i noticed a vibration in the rudder. while waiting for the first lock i opened the weed hatch and pulled off some more fabric/plastic bags. and then we hit our biggest problem. the boats engine would not start. luckily some CRT staff were on hand - they had a look and also couldn't start it but decided to manually take us through the lock to save the full load of water from the boat coming up which we did - i acted as horse and was absolute beat by the time we'd reached the bottom. luckily after 30 minutes the boats engine magically restarted and we moved on again - we were glad as there was a queue of *12* boats waiting to go up and it would have been a nightmare dragging our boat past all of them. 

 

we arrived back at ellesmere around 3 and had a wander around the now open shops - would really recommend this it was a lovely market town with some really good local food shops, delicatessen and bakery. we ate massive steaks in the red lion and returned to the boat to move on a bit closer to whixall before mooring up for the evening which was probably our least dramatic mooring.

 

day 5 

 

the last day started not great as the engine took a while to get going again. we managed to get going eventually and after a quick ring anglowelsh were very understanding and we arrived back at whixall around 10. after telling them about the issues which included a very very leaky stern gland (wed used a full cartridge of grease in 3 days wed had the boat and it was running in by the end of each day, taking 10-15 turns to drop the water) and the engine issues we left and went to Llangollen for the day as we hadnt quite made it in the boat and had a lovely lunch in the Corn Mill!  also managed to get some of one of my favourite cheeses 'rock star' from the snowdonia cheese company and few bottles of mead froma lovely delicatessen next to the main car park.

 

if anyone would like some more information please let me know!

 

[oboat]

Has the Pub at the Kings Head permanently closed? It was open all week.

Kings Head was to get a small marina but when the BW/CRT lock restrictions were introduced it was no longer viable.

The Bus service was only hanging on by the skin of its teeth.
The lock restrictions have had an extremely negative effect on the local economy.

They put a lot of potential visitors off so the permitted environmental visitor level numbers were near met.
One reason why restoration work (Schoolhouse Br) stopped. 

[Telstar17]

6 minutes ago, oboat said:

Has the Pub at the Kings Head permanently closed? It was open all week.

Kings Head was to get a small marina but when the BW/CRT lock restrictions were introduced it was no longer viable.

The Bus service was only hanging on by the skin of its teeth.
The lock restrictions have had an extremely negative effect on the local economy.

They put a lot of potential visitors off so the permitted environmental visitor level numbers were near met.
One reason why restoration work (Schoolhouse Br) stopped. 

Do you mean the Queens Head pub in the village of the same name?  it was right by the canal with some bollarded moorings? if so the pub is not permanently closed - it was only open Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday which we were very sad about - wed been highly recommended it by people coming off the Montgomery on Tuesday

 

[PeterF]

regarding the Monty, we ate in the Queens head Thursday last week, excellent meal. For any other visitors, there is plenty of mooring on the short arm with the services between Frankton locks and Graham Palmer lock.

 

@Telstar17 from your description we were the 4th boat that travelled down that day, getting through at about 12.30. I was glad we did not rush leaving Ellesmere at 09:00. We ended up staying next to the services on the short arm between Frankton locks and Graham Palmer lock Tuesday, between bridges 80 & 81 Wednesday and Queens Head Thursday, exiting the Monty on Friday. We enjoyed the trip, saw several species of butterflies and dragon flies plus other wildlife. I took a walk to beyond bridge 85, Crickheath Wharf to see the restoration work.

Edited September 27, 2022 by PeterF

[Telstar17]

3 hours ago, PeterF said:

regarding the Monty, we ate in the Queens head Thursday last week, excellent meal. For any other visitors, there is plenty of mooring on the short arm with the services between Frankton locks and Graham Palmer lock.

 

@Telstar17 from your description we were the 4th boat that travelled down that day, getting through at about 12.30. I was glad we did not rush leaving Ellesmere at 09:00. We ended up staying next to the services on the short arm between Frankton locks and Graham Palmer lock Tuesday, between bridges 80 & 81 Wednesday and Queens Head Thursday, exiting the Monty on Friday. We enjoyed the trip, saw several species of butterflies and dragon flies plus other wildlife. I took a walk to beyond bridge 85, Crickheath Wharf to see the restoration work.

 

we thought about the moorings there but they were apparently packed in the morning before we arrived  and didn't want to risk not finding a spot - definitely a place id recommend looking for a mooring if you want to be off the Montgomery early!

 

if it was the grey and red boat behind us you have a lovely boat! made us very jealous of your bow thruster as we had to do a little bit of back and forth to make the turn especially due to the other boats moored on the landing there.  

 

the insect life was the best I've seen definitely - many many varieties i just wish we could have seen the otters that apparently live around the canal. our plan was to have a look at the restoration but with the delays getting through Frankton we were on a tight schedule knowing we had to be off on Wednesday and had the aqueduct as our main target for the trip - the main reason for our trip down the Monty was to take picture for the silver propeller award!

[oboat]

On 27/09/2022 at 09:10, Telstar17 said:

Do you mean the Queens Head pub in the village of the same name?  it was right by the canal with some bollarded moorings? if so the pub is not permanently closed - it was only open Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday which we were very sad about - wed been highly recommended it by people coming off the Montgomery on Tuesday

 

Yes, it's an interesting little hamlet, when you look into its history, good to know the Pub's still open, thanks.
It's a pity few people go past Queens Head or take the bus into Oswestry.

[Timx]

I found the Montgomery canal a bit boring, wouldn’t do it again, but glad you enjoyed it, nice diary.

[oboat]

10 hours ago, Timx said:

I found the Montgomery canal a bit boring, wouldn’t do it again, but glad you enjoyed it, nice diary.

I would say a lot boring, if one only go's to Kings Head. The P of W section IS interesting.
But it gets very little use! 
Boats only going to K Head were the original reason the lock restrictions were put in place.

[Telstar17]

14 hours ago, Timx said:

I found the Montgomery canal a bit boring, wouldn’t do it again, but glad you enjoyed it, nice diary.

I think if the weather is bad it definitely could be as you cant see a huge amount from the canal - but the weather was good and the wildlife was excellent. if it is later in the week im sure the selection of pubs would help too 😀

[David Mack]

10 hours ago, oboat said:

I would say a lot boring, if one only go's to Kings Head.

Has the pub changed its name with the passing of the last monarch?