Easter and the Llangollen Day 5 - On to Chirk

In my last post I mentioned the change in bridge numbering starting with 1 again but suffixed with a "W".  Adam commented to say this was do to the fact the Montgomery was meant to be the main route of the canal.  The Llangollen branch came later and so to avoid confusion with bridge 1 at the Hurlestone end of the canal a "W" was used as well.   Thanks for that one Adam.  

This morning we woke to bright sunshine and a gentle breeze.  Most of the strong winds were thankfully dying away as storm Katie tracked further out into the North Sea.  In fact, despite being 8am, the sun actually had some warmth already.  

After prepping AmyJo for cruising we left at 9am.  This was to be a shorter cruise today as we wanted to Stop at Chirk.  On both of the last trips we did this way we cruised through Chirk so this time wanted to stop and have a look round.

Leaving the Napton Junction visitors moorings

 There were few boats on the move and so we reached the now open Jack Mytton pub before seeing anyone on the move.  As we past through the bridge one could not help feeling it might have been built from a left over air raid shelter judging from the corrugated construction

several bridges hereabouts were constructed in this manner.  The Jack Mytton is just ahead on the left.

 We cruised through the lovely countryside with the Berwyn Hills visible in the background.  The sun putting in a good appearance warming the day, however, now and again heavy showers cut in making the day feel cold again.

The view on the way to New Marton locks.

At New Marton locks we joined our first queue all be it one boat going up ahead and another waiting to come down.  Both crews were on their first day out and were really grateful when Chris arrived to help them.  For the boat going up this was their first lock.  The lady clearly relieved when Chris offered help and advise.

Hire boat newbies come to terms with their first lock assisted by Chris

We did not wait long for our turn despite none of the arriving crews above or below offering any  help.

 At the second lock we could see people but no boat.  As AmyJo rose up the lock all became apparent.  They were in fact canoeists, who disembarked and carried the canoe around the lock.

Canoeists ahead towards the lock

A few more clouds were building and a couple of the showers became quite heavy.  Just as the rain stopped a trust boat hove into view and started to wind right in front of us.  We had to stop and awaited for them to complete the turn, then carried on.  Mercifully it was quite sheltered with little wind so AmyJo sat quite patiently where she stopped throughout their manoeuvre.

The trust boat winding while we wait on.

We reached the pretty Chirk Bank visitors moorings about 3pm just as the only moored boat pulled of.  Rather than moor before the bend we tool the first downstream rings on the straight.  Chris wandered why I did not want to moor further forward by the bend and the answer came shortly after as a hire boat crashed into the bank right where AnyJo had been not 10 minutes before.

Visitor moorings at Chirk Bank.  The centre line was a just in case but was loose enough not to do any harm.

The mooring ahead of AmyJo where we originally stopped and where the hire boat misjudged his turn.

After clearing down from the cruise we took our selves off for a walk to the village via the aqueduct.  A slight drizzle had set in putting paid to my plans to fly the drone.  Still, we got some nice pictures with Chris's camera from above the tunnel portal.

Chirck Aqueduct seen from directly above the tunnel portal.

Chirk village Church and a BT car with a faulty cloaking device by the look of it.

Umm BT never could get things to work properly :-)  Seriously, just multishot camera frames melded together.

The view from the village.  The canal runs above the farm house where the houses in the background are.

And the Aqueduct from the village main road.

Our mooring for the night.  AmyJo is moored just behind the boat in the distance.