Ellesmere to St. Martin’s Moor
Saturday 18th May
The day dawned bright and sunny but, by 7.20 am we now have
cloud cover. I rather suspect we’ll have more rain before long.
Once again our Rusty had us up in the early hours, this time
it was 4 am, but at least we’d been abed for 6 hours. She is now lying on the
floor fast asleep, having been out again at 5.30, just after I got up.
We are having trouble figuring out just what’s causing these
tummy upsets. I think that the only thing to do is, take her to a vet at the
earliest opportunity, along with samples of the food we’re giving her. Perhaps
he/she will be able to offer some advice regarding what she should be eating at
her age.
So, back to today, we will take another walk into town and
suss out an alternative pub for tomorrow. Last time we were at Ellesmere we
took a walk down to the local mere, where we took a few photos and had an ice
cream. At that time I feel sure we used a pub near there, but Wifey disagrees.
She thinks we took Rusty with us, and we don’t normally take her in pubs. If
there is a pub where I think there is; and my memory does play tricks on me
from time to time; then we will use that one.
This year, rather than go down the Montgomery first, we’ll
push on to Llangollen and do the Monty on our return trip. If we can moor up at
the Queen’s Head, we can take the bus into Oswestry, which we did last year.
Sunday 19th May
Today has dawned bright and sunny, which is just as well,
‘cos the fire has now gone out. OK, so I like my home comforts, there’s nowt
wrong wi’ that, so there. It’s only gone out because I put some coal on to the
burning embers, thinking it would pick up, instead I succeeded in snuffing it
out altogether. As it happens, the sun is now high enough to warm the boat up,
so we should be alright, assuming it doesn’t turn cold again.
Our Rusty seems OK this morning. We are eliminating certain
items of food from her regular intake, hoping we can at least lengthen the gap
between each bout of tummy upset. Her main diet seems OK but, having tried her
on fresh chicken and turkey; cooked, of course; both of which didn’t seem to
agree, we are now eliminating her treats, one by one. It doesn’t take long for
her to bounce back from one of these upsets, but it would be nice to eliminate
them altogether.
Wifey and I have had a slight dispute about our visit here
last year. I say we called into a pub at the top of a lane that leads down to
the Mere. Until we walked around the town to that pub, she still wasn’t sure
but, now that she’s seen it she feels sure she mentioned it in her diary. I
think that, due to Rusty’s age and the fact that we were going for our Sunday
beer and chat and don’t take her in pubs, she thought we had Rusty with us when
we walked by the Mere. And there was I thinking I was losing my marbles!
Today, of course, with it being Sunday, we’ll visit that pub
again. We might even take a walk by the Mere again and enjoy an ice cream.
Whether that enjoyable repast will come before or after the beer, we haven’t
decided yet.
I discovered something very interesting yesterday, something
I have not been made aware of until now. A boat pulled up behind us yesterday
afternoon, just as I was walking Rusty. The lady had problems getting down from
the stern deck and, when she finally did so, she then had trouble pulling the
boat in. When I spotted the man getting off using a pair of crutches, I thought
it would be a good time to lend a hand.
After tying up I asked how long they were staying, to which
this gentleman replied, “As long as we can get away with it”. I replied, “But
surely, this is only 48 hour moorings, isn’t it?” To which he astonished me by
saying, “No, this stretch of canal is within the local parish boundary and, as
such, you are entitled to moor here for 14 days.”
This rule applies whenever a stretch of canal lies within a
parish. I don’t know which parish this area comes under, because that’s not
made clear in our Nicholson’s Guide but, on the other side of Ellesmere Tunnel,
which is almost a mile behind us, that stretch is covered by Welshampton and
Lyneal parish. It’s possibly that Ellesmere is a parish in its own right, but
then the Ellesmere Arm would also be 14 days, unless they have a separate bye
law dictating otherwise.
This information is interesting in that, wherever a stretch
of canal falls within a parish boundary, regardless of any notice boards
stating otherwise, 14 days is allowed. If there is a notice erected by the
local parish warning against lengthy stays; something I have never seen; then,
regardless of what BW/CRT says, 14 days it is.
This is how some of our continuous cruisers get away with
moving from bridge to bridge; bridge hopping they call it. They move from one
parish to another and stay two weeks at each location, and BW/CRT can do
nothing about it. Who can blame them, especially if they are still working and
have kids still at school? Why pay the exorbitant marina fees when they don’t
need to? Hmmm, very interesting!
Monday 20th May
Wouldn’t you know it, yesterday was gloriously sunny, this
morning we have rain. It’s stopped at the moment, but you can bet your cotton
socks it will be raining when we move on.
Yesterday and Saturday I had no problems with the WiFi unit,
this morning it’s running with a reduced signal. I particularly wanted to
change June and Keith’s email address at Google, but I can’t seem to find the
page where this is done and, when I get to my blog I have trouble signing in.
Not to worry though, I’ll get there in the end.
We walked down to the Red Lion pub yesterday and discovered
that it’s very much like the Dragon at Willington, nowhere to sit and have a
quiet pint because almost all seating was reserved for diners. You can guess
who won’t be visiting that pub again. Surely they are not so greedy for people
who want to eat, that they can’t allocate seating for those who want to use it
as a pub! Thankfully such places are rare but, having walked all that way only
to find reserved notices on all but one table came as something of a shock.
Next thing you know drinkers will be barred from pubs unless they also have
food. Now, there’s a thought!
This morning, come rain or shine, we’re moving on. I won’t
know where until Wifey gets up. Destination is her province, I just drive the
boat.
Tuesday 21st May
We are now at the top of Frankston Locks but, rather than go
down and onto the Montgomery, we’ll be heading for Llangollen and will probably
stop at St. Michael’s Moor for a night or two. We’re planning to arrive in
Llangollen for Saturday and stay until Monday morning. We figure that, by the
time we arrive in Llangollen the holiday boaters will be leaving and there will
be plenty of space.
This canal does seem rather quiet this year and, where there
would normally be a good half dozen boats along this stretch, there is one
other boat here. Several boats passed through yesterday, but none of them
stopped here and, as far as we could tell, none went down the locks either. We
suspect that some holiday hire companies are not doing too well this year.
We have now omitted some of the stuff we give Rusty and are
alternating her meals and, just by doing those two things, she’s perked up over
the last couple of days. Hopefully she’ll continue that way.
About our WiFi unit:
Sandra kindly reminded me that their email address had
changed, as a result of which they are still receiving our blog at the old one.
Now, mobile broadband is not quite as reliable as Ethernet, or whatever you
landlubbers call it. Therefore, when we are cruising there are times when, even
though I am able to send and receive emails, it is not always possible to
access the WWW. This morning is a case in point and, although Sandra’s message
came through, I can’t access my Google blog account. No doubt all will be well
at our next port of call. Alternatively it could be a whole lot worse.
There is also the problem of actually locating the area of
my blog where changes to automatically sent blogs can be made and I have yet to
find that page!! But, have no fear we’ll get there in the end.
Wednesday 22nd May
Crumpet Day.
Ah, ha, methinks I have managed to alter those addresses, so
Sandra and June should get this blog, which I’m posting from St. Martin’s Moor
on the Llangollen, where it’s very windy and threatening rain.
So much for Summer!
Cheers me dears from,
Dave, Sheila and Rusty, whose tummy I can hear rumbling even
as I type. Looks like we’re in for another of her bad days.
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