Round houses

Walking around Ellesmere today (nothing serious) I noticed a couple of round houses.  The first is on the junction of the canal arm and I’ve previously photographed it from a different angle.  Today’s photos were all taken with our old phone.

You can see the round section facing the canal.  Apparently the canal engineer Thomas Telford used to stay here when he visited to inspect the construction.  I’m somewhat cynical about this claim as also every town and village seems to boast about a building being used by Telford.  I’m more inclined to believe the round part of the building was used to monitor boat traffic.

There was a second building in Ellesmere with an unusual turret.

 

Why was it constructed?  The front appears to have bricked up windows.  A mystery!

The arm leading down to the winding hole and Tesco has filled with boats.  One assumes for the weekend.

I’m not sure I would want to moor here over winter as one of the locals told us the arm has frozen over to a depth of 8 inches. The main canal is less likely to freeze because it Is running water.

My walk took me back through the southern fringes of Ellesmere until I reached “The Mere”.  I thought The Mere referred to the lake to the east of the town, however I’ve discovered it is also the name of the park on the hill to the south of the town.  Eventually I found myself at the western portal of Ellesmere Tunnel.

I had been wondering what was above the tunnel and walked up to have a look.  I was slightly amused to see there is a road junction on top.  Not what I had been expecting.

On my way back to the boat I could see the signs of recent storm damage.  A large tree had fallen over close to the edge of the canal and had been cleared leaving the upturned root system.

With all the recent high winds we have been paying particular attention to our mooring locations.  Trees can provide shelter but they are also a potential hazard.