A hop, struggle and query

Why didn’t our one reader from Yorkshire promptly correct yesterday’s post.  The Battle of Marston Moor occurred in Yorkshire rather than on the Shropshire/Wales border.  Old Marke Trevor had to travel a long way to stick his sword into Oliver Cromwell, but the Royalist still lost the battle.

Before we commenced our short cruise this morning there was a quick trip into Chirk .  Jan wanted some bread and her weekly magazines.  Chirk has the usual village shops (Spar, fruit & veg, bakery, butcher, hair saloon, chemist, pubs, takeaways, etc).  Something we must remember on our return journey.

The war memorial surprised me.  Three sides were fully lined with the names of the local men killed in the Great War.  But only 19 names from WW2.   I wonder if the high WW1 casualty rate was an unforseen consequence of the “Pal’s Battalions”.

 

It’s a curtain factory now, but this building has the look of a former school.  Bell on the roof and stone shields high on the gables facing the road.

Next to it is the Chirk Council offices.

Someone had left their washing machine on the far bank.  No spin there.  I think the two churns are for cream?  They look too small for milk.

Further along, this owner has brightened up their portion of the canal bank.

The transit through Chirk Tunnel proved to be a bit of a struggle.  This is a flowing canal and we’re going against the current.  The tunnel is narrow which constructs the flow.  Consequentially we found ourselves ‘'”crabbing” through with me (successfully) attempting to avoid removing any of the paint.  The second factor was the “leaf soup” which kept clogging up the propeller.  It’s normal for this time of year but it didn’t make moving through the tunnel any easier. 

There are moorings on the eastern side of the tunnel but they are in a cutting which at this time of the year was dark and damp.  We continued on stopping just short of Chirk Marina.  I wasn’t sure whether the propeller was fouled and had a quick look in the weed hatch.  At this time of year the water is rather clear and there was no need for me to feel the temperature.  Finding the terrestrial TV signal proved the be an issue.  There were no nearby houses so I took a guess.  That resulted in finding 10 channels, but not the one Jan wanted.  After walking back into Chirk (more food shopping) I identified the direction of the aerial wasn’t quite right.  After tweaking it we managed to get 20 channels.  But still couldn’t get the one channel Jan wanted!  Oh well, can’t win all the time.