Navigation Inn, Maesbury Marsh
After the excitement(!) of our boat meeting we drove to a cottage Jan had booked near Llanymynech. First, though, we stopped off at Aldi in Hillmorton for some cashew nuts and beer; and called in on our friend Amanda in Newbold-on-Avon so that Jan could return a borrowed gown (she'd needed it for Speech Day).
Then it was off along the A5 almost all the way to our destination, just south of Oswestry. I've been reading L. T. C. Rolt's biography of Thomas Telford, and I wanted to drive along his Holyhead Road. Yes, the M6 would have been quicker, but you don't see much from a motorway; and driving through towns and villages is much more interesting. I tend not to drive terribly fast anyway, so the time difference between the two routes is not that great.
Anyway, the A5 takes you over, under or past lots of canals: the Ashby Canal near Sketchley (is that where the dry cleaning firm started?); the Coventry Canal at Atherstone; the Coventry again at Tamworth (I took the Tamworth Bypass by mistake, and missed out on Fazeley); the Anglesey Branch at Brownhills; the Cannock Extension Canal at Norton Canes; the Hatherton Canal near Four Crosses; the Staff and Worcs at Gailey; the Shroppie (overhead) at Telford's iron trunk Stretton Aqueduct ... and then the trail goes cold until the Severn is crossed at Shrewsbury, and, off the A5 now, (finally) the Montgomery Canal at Four Crosses.
The cottage we're staying in is a converted cow byre, and is very good. As part of the package the owners promise to drive you to a destination so you can do a one-way walk back. A great service! We took advantage of this yesterday, and were dropped off at the Navigation Inn at Maesbury Marsh so we could walk along the Montgomery Canal back to the cottage. After Sunday lunch at the pub - and a fantastic pint of Station Bitter from the Stonehouse Brewery - we set off down the towpath. After a few minutes we reached Gronwen Bridge 82, the current limit of navigation for boats on the northern connected section of this canal. This is where we cruised to on Shadow in October last year. Now we were on new territory.
new lift bridge
the canal is dry beyond this point
there's evidence of restoration work in many places
Carreghofa Top Lock, restored in 1982
More to come, including pictures of a leaky Vyrnwy Aqueduct.
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