We woke up to the freshness of the mist on the water combined with the morning sun. (Thank you, my Year 6 English teacher).
And it was cold!
In no time, we reached Hurlstone Junction, where our climb via the locks to Wales officially began.
The impressive Hurlstone Reservoir that towered overhead us for about 1km is used both as drinking water and as a supply to the Shropshire Union Canal below.
A couple of Canal Trust volunteers were on hand, which was probably just as well because we had 3 boats in front of us. One of the volunteers, Fred, puts in two days a week volunteering, and said he’d probably see us tomorrow at Grindley Brook IF we made it. (We were there at 9am, but that’s tomorrow’s story)!
The day was turning into a beauty weather wise, such a contrast from yesterday!
The sunshine made it nearly enjoyable following 3 boats up the locks, and we had the added bonus of doing lots of extra work helping those retirees, who usually have only 2 crew members, wind the windlasses. We’re such lovely kind, considerate people assisting others. Little did they know we had an ulterior motive…we were time poor Colonials, and whereas they had a couple of weeks to get to Llangollen, we only had 3 days!
Once we had conquered the initial climb towards Wales, it became a day of swing bridges, lift bridges and beautiful countryside vistas.
This road lift bridge was in such a scenic spot. The road traffic had to wait for 3 barges to go by…not sure they were too impressed, but we certainly loved it!
Our pub of choice for dinner was the ‘Horse and Jockey’ at Grindley, described in our guide book as having a resident ghost.
The food was pretty darned good, and a bit more exotic than we’d come across before. Thai and Italian!
We sent the waitress on a wild goose chase trying to solve this ghost mystery for us, but all she could come up with was that the pub dog would not go down to the cellar in the old pub but was happy to do so in the refurbished building. So obviously, during the renovation, said ghost had scared itself away!
But I’m sure I found the evidence we needed of an old grey haired faceless ghostie in the ladies, though!
Kanga And Wombats Adventures 