2nd weed hatch and the “Sorry Bin”

Today miserable windy and wet weather contributed to our reluctance to leave the warmth of the cabin.  After several hours I became slightly “stir crazy” and started looking around for something to do.

The second weed hatch in the “sorry bin” hadn’t been checked since Waiouru was launched so that became the maintenance task for the day.  The “sorry bin” (AKA bow thruster locker) contains just about everything you will be sorry you didn’t have if something were to go wrong with a critical component on the boat.  For example; it contains the toilet self pump out kit and the porta pottie (both have never been used).  If we didn’t have them I’m sure we’d have a toilet problem (Murphy’s Law).

As you may have guessed the second weed hatch provides access to the bow thruster.  It was something I included in the boat specifications and I’ve been surprised by the number of boats that don’t have an access hatch.  I’ve also been surprised by the number of boats that don’t have grills over the ends to their bow thruster tubes.  I recall one boat with a bow thruster problem calling in to the wharf where were were doing the fit out having to be craned out to access the thruster (which was in the centre of the tube).  There was no access hatch and no grills on the ends of the tube.  The owner told us he usually had to replace the propeller every two years or sooner.

The top of the weed hatch is the square white plate in the above photo.  To the left (partially obscured) is the bow thruster electric motor and the black bag to the right contains the porta pottie.  I positioned the bow thruster off centre, to the left (port) side of the boat.  The boatyard didn’t want to fit it in this location telling me it should be in the middle for equal thrust in both directions.  I insisted it go off centre for two reasons.

1. The motor and weed hatch obstruct the clear space in the locker.  Offsetting it increased usable storage capacity.
2. I disagreed with their belief that having it offset affected the thrust.  The water has to be pulled from one end of the tube and pushed to the other.  In my opinion the resistance was therefore irrelevant.  The thrust from the bow thruster seems to support my position.

Once the stainless steel securing screws had been removed I had to tap the plate with the club hammer to break the seal.

Even though the top of the hatch is above the water level I’d made a gasket from rubber window tape to seal the hatch.  At this point I realised I’d made a false assumption erred in my judgement.  I had assumed that as the canal water is clear at this time of the year I’d be able to see the propeller.  I’d failed to remember the propeller is in a tube painted with black two pack epoxy.  The water was blacker than midnight.  On a more positive note, I was pleased to see there was no sign of the black epoxy degrading.  Upon feeling around the propeller I was even more pleased to find it clean of rubbish and the blades in good condition.

Everything was then reassembled.  I added some petroleum jelly to the threads of the machine screws before inserting them.

Jan will no doubt yawn and complain about another boring technical post but it was the only interesting thing that happened today.

Jump to Light Speed

I was reminded of a line from the theme song to the film “Flash Gordon”.  If I remember correctly it was “For God’s sake strap yourself down!”  Poor Jan didn’t get that opportunity on the mooring as the Anglo-Whoosh hire boat passed whilst making the jump to light speed. At least she was able to hang on.  Neither of us could understand why the need for speed when there was a line of moored boats behind us followed by a right angle bend. 

We prepared Waiouru and decided to cross the Pontsycyllte Aqueduct.

The passage wasn’t quick as we seemed to be pushing our way through leaf porridge.  Last time we cruised this way I missed the left turn on the far side and ended up in Trevor Basin.  It was Day 1 at the tiller of a hired narrowboat and I think I did a 56 point turn to get back out.  Yesterday I walked the same route and found the arm into the basin almost full of hire boats.  Probably not surprising as the hire season is over.

The basin is beyond the bridge behind the hire boats.  To my surprise it was empty, hence our decision to move there.  Actually I had looked a the mobile phone and TV signal coverage and the basin appeared to have good coverage for both.  Today I hadn’t anticipated the arm being completely blocked by hire boats.

There was a considerable amount of boat shuffling and juggling to clear a path for us to the basin.

You may be able to see the Telford Inn in the above photo (white building centre left).  There is a second photo below.

The inn was constructed in the late 18th century as a residence for Matthew Davidson, the supervisor of the construction of Pontcysyllte aqueduct.  Apparently rooms were kept here for Thomas Telford’s use during his visits to the site.  Telford subsequently used Davidson to supervise the construction of the difficult northern entrance of the Caledonian Canal in Scotland.

The inn is reputedly haunted.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

We awoke to heavy rain and high winds.  Looking up through the houdini hatches proved difficult as they were covered in leaves.  However there was a break in the weather at 10am with no wind and a blue sky.  A decision was made to top up the water tank from the adjacent CRT water point and then cross Pontcysyllte Aqueduct whilst the weather held.

Pontcysyllte means ‘The bridge at Cysyllte’ in welsh.  The southern side of the aqueduct is Frontcysyllte and the northern side Trevor.  The Dee Valley runs roughly west to east here and the aqueduct was built to cross the valley utilising the most suitable natural crossing point. 

The original plan was for the canal to cross the Dee Valley and continue a northern route to Chester.  A feeder was constructed between Llangollen and Trevor to supply the canal with water.  What actually happened was the rapid expansion of railways made the proposed canal from Trevor to Chester financially unviable.  However the feeder to Llangollen was subsequently widened for use by narrowboats.

We had previously crossed Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in 2001 during our first one week canal holiday.  On that occasion there was little time to closely examine the construction of the aqueduct.  Living on Waiouru gives us more time to enjoy the sights.

The aqueduct consists of a cast iron trough supported on 18 hollow masonry columns.  The columns taper ( like a four sided pyramid).  It’s 307 metres long and at it’s highest point, 38 metres above the river.

I found the method of fixing the masonry rather interesting.  A mixture of lime, water and bulls blood was used.  Thomas Telford was the civil engineer but the principal canal engineer was Jessop.  Telford had previously built something similar, albeit on a smaller scale.  Using cast iron arches saved on weight which meant the columns could be hollow and the span of the arches greater. 

The cast iron trough that carries the water is not bolted to the iron girders underneath.   Instead lugs on the girders hold the trough in place.  I was interested to note the sides of the trough a made from many sections of cast iron plate that are bolted together through the flange.

You may have noted in the above photos that the angle of the flange joints are not vertical.  They follow the angle of the curve in the arch below.  I assumed this was to give additional strength to the structure but have since read it’s purely decorative.  The joins in the flange were sealed with a combination of Welsh flannel, white lead and iron particles.

The footpath is suspended above the trough.  This allows water to pass around the hull of boats. 

The lack of a safety rail on the off-side makes for a great view from the boat.

This next photo gives an idea of the cast iron arch frames.  There are four think skeletal cast iron frames to each arch.

  

For a 210 year old structure the design is revolutionary being very light.  It’s also very stable because it carries a static load.  A road or rail bridge has a static load and a ‘live load’.  When there are no trains on the bridge the load is static.  But when a train starts to cross the bridge there is an impact load and then a live load on the bridge.  The aqueduct carries water so the static and live loads are the same.  When a narrowboat crosses the aqueduct it displaces it’s own weight in water (Archimedes in the bath) so the boat doesn’t add anything to the load.

No signal and the mangle

Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday.  We started the day with a weak and intermittent internet signal which gradually got worse until it was non existent by late afternoon.  At least we had a TV signal  (Yes Judith [nb Serena], we went out and had a look.  We were moored on the blue mark!)

The large timber products factory In Chirk certainly makes its presence known by dominating the skyline.  We were moored sufficiently far away to avoid the noise.

Oh, and yes Favourite Mother In Law…….. I know it’s a mangle rather than a washing machine!

I remember mum had one along with a ‘copper’ when we lived in Waiouru.  The copper was a very large deep round tub made of copper.  It would be filled with water and a fire lit underneath.  The dirty laundry would be boiled in the copper and then once clean, rung out by passing it through the mangle.  If I recall correctly it didn’t take long before she had an electric washing machine!

The poor internet coverage outside Chirk Marina accelerated our plans and we decided to move.  The first task was to go into the marina and have a pump out.  We made an error during the preliminary discussion about the pump out and told the staff we had a macerating toilet.  As a consequence they didn’t do a rinse.  Lesson learned, next time I will tell the boatyard we have a dump through system!  The pump out wasn’t essential, but we considered it a good idea as we will be going up through the ‘narrows’ on the final approach to Llangollen and have read that it Is shallow.

The canal now clings to the side of the valley with the River Dee below.  The area is rather attractive, although the leaf soup at this time of year can make the going slow.

This part of the canal follows Offa’s Dyke.  The construction of the dyke was ordered by King Offa of Mercia.  It’s a linear earthwork which roughly follows the Welsh/English boundary. The dyke consists of a ditch and rampart constructed with the ditch on the Welsh-facing side, and appears to have been carefully aligned to present an open view into Wales from along its length.  Wkipedia states the reasons for constructing the dyke are unknown.  It might have been Offa’s way of defining the border with Wales or a first line of defence against the Welsh.

The canal takes a 90 deg turn at Froncysyllte to cut across the Dee Valley.  The large canary yellow building at Froncysyllte is The Aqueduct Inn.  Originally built as a coaching inn in the 17th century it looks like there may be great views from the beer garden, although the colour scheme might put us off our food.

When last this way in 2001 we think the pub was white.  Lemon… Yuk!

A decision was made to moor before the bend only to discover the internet signal was even worse than yesterday.  I took the phone for a walk further along the towpath and discovered it could get four bars signal strength 200 metres further on, so we moved.  There’s now good internet coverage, but the dot in the sky has been lost along with most of the terrestrial TV channels.

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.

A short move

We had another email from CRT today confirming the Llangollen winter stoppages have been delayed until late November. Consequentially we can take more time to reach Llangollen.  Today we moved all of 300 metres stopping just short of Chirk Aqueduct. 

Many of the public footpaths through the local countryside have not been recorded on the Open Street Map and today I went for a walk to add a few to the map.  This also allowed me to take further photos of the aqueduct from a different perspective.

  The Bridge Inn is located on a bend of the B5070 road leading to Chirk. In the background are the Chirk Aqueduct and Viaduct.

A better look in the next photo.

And then a closer look.

The majority of the walk was to the east of the canal around Ifton and St Martins.  The area looks very rural but when I passed this next building I knew there must be something more to the local history.

The sign above the main door states ‘Ifton Miners’.  It’s a former social club for miners employed at the nearby Ifton Collery.  The collery was the largest underground coal mine in Shropshire employing over 1500 men.  It closed in 1968 due to underground fire problems and the loss of its markets.  The pit was subsequently converted into an industrial estate.  Apparently much of Shropshire has an association with mining.  Coal deposits dot the county, with coalfields around Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Coalbrookdale, the Wyre Forest and the Clee Hills.  Metal deposits were mined at Llanymynerch and in a large swathe of south west Shropshire, with copper mines at Clive and nearby Weston.  You may recall I mentioned the Weston Branch canal in a post several days ago.  Most of the mines were worked by gangs of men controlled by a Chartermaster, who contracted the labour to mine owners. Chartermasters used to pay the men in rooms at local pubs.  An earlier version of labour hire companies where the employees had very little job security.

On the western outskirts of St Martins a large set of gates appeared from the mist.

It’s the entrance to Bryngwilla Lodge.   From what I can work out the lodge was built in the early 19 century for Charlotte, Lady Dungannon. It’s also the southern gateway to the great house of Bryn-kinallt, first built in 1612.  It’s shown on 19th-century maps to be surrounded by a large park, designed around 1808.  There was no large building near the gatehouse (lodge) but eventually I found Bryn-kinallt gardens in Google Earth on the other side of the River Celriog to the east of Chirk.  That information allowed me to find a website about the estate <here> where I was able to read more about the history.  A few interesting points.  The estate was owned by the Trevor family (the village of Trevor is further along the canal) who can trace their history back to 942.  they are also descendants of Llewellyn the Great, who was Prince of Wales (1194-1240) and the Kings of Ireland.

In 1662 Marke Trevor was created 1st Viscount Dungannon by Charles II for gallantry, after wounding Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Marston Moor.  The canal passed by Marston Moor and on looking at the map it isn’t far from Bryngwilla Lodge.  Marke Trevor didn’t have to go far to find Oliver Cromwell!

Brynkinalt Hall is still owned by the family.

Damned Foreigners

We have been slowly making our way towards Chirk.  After passing under the bridge in the next photo the occupant of the boat just beyond ask us “Is that a maori name?”   We confirmed he was correct and he then called out “Kia Ora” (hello in maori) before mentioning his partner was a kiwi.  Then he mentioned she was from Whangarei (our old town).  A small world!

We called it a day upon reaching the “Poachers Pocket” pub where we had a Sunday roast lunch.  Both of us opted for the beef (5/10).

The noisy locals heard there was a late lunch at Waiouru and raced over to see what was on the menu.

Whilst taking a short walk around the local area I was rather surprised at how high the canal is.  We’ve only gone up the two locks at New Marton and there are no other locks from here to Llangollen.  This part of the canal is the ‘Chirk Bank’ and the land to the right of the canal falls away quite steeply.  It was bought home to me when I noticed the high road bridge in the distance which takes the busy A5 across the River Celroig.

The A5 bridge can be seen in the middle of the above photo.

The Chirk Aqueduct is only a short distance further along the canal.  The aqueduct is 23 metres high and 220 metres long.  It was completed in 1801, four years before the more well known Pontcysyllte.

It was designed by Thomas Telford using his innovative new method involving the use of cast iron.  The masonry exterior conceals the cast iron trough.   The adjacent railway viaduct was designed by Scottish engineer Henry Robertson and completed in 1848.  It’s approximately 9 metres higher than Chirk Aqueduct.

The 1840’s saw a serious boom in railway construction including a number of proposals to link Shrewsbury and Chester. There were serious objections to the proposed route by local landowners and Robertson was forced to complete his survey work by night.

Chirk Tunnel is at the northern end of the aqueduct.

The tunnel is 421 metres long and one of the first in the country to include a towpath.  It’s only wide enough for one boat and traffic is uncontrolled.  Boaters need to make sure the tunnel is clear of oncoming traffic before entering.  The Llangollen is the most popular canal on the network and long queues are likely to be found at each end during summer.

At the end of the day a hire boat with a kiwi crew passed by commenting about our boat name.  No need to mention the rugby! 

New washing machine and it’s stuck

There was time for a short walk around the top end of the Montgomery Canal before we headed further west.  An initial 4 locks take you down onto the canal.  The first two are a staircase which are locked by CRT as access to the canal is restricted and controlled.

It looks like a fairly substantial change in levels.  My guess is about 15ft.

There is a rather attractive canal side cottage below the locks.  Shortly after the locks the Weston Arm branches to the left.  This short arm now contains moorings and the CRT facilities.

Looking into the arm with the canal leading back to Frankton Junction on the left.  The Weston Branch has been filled in and I wanted to know where it used to terminate.  After some searching I discovered the branch went to Weston Luttingfields

I wasn’t able to find the reason for the construction of the Weston Branch and assume it was the same as the Montgomery.  Unlike most canals the latter wasn’t built to make money from transport.  Instead its primary purpose was to transport lime for agricultural purposes, which would allow the Upper Severn Valley to become better agricultural land. As a result, the promoters of the canal included local landowners who hoped to achieve a return on their investment through greater crop yields, rather than relying upon share dividends.

Back at Frankton Junction I found a gaggle of Fountains “veg pledge” vehicles and workers.

We were in the midst of making the turn from the Montgomery onto the Llangollen when a hire boat appeared in the bridge hole behind us.  Looking at the boat colour I assumed they would only follow us for a short distance to the hire base at Maestermyn Cruisers.  There were two employees at the wharf waiting for the boats to return.

There is quite a long line of moored boats here which we slowly passed on tick-over.  Both of us commented on the advertising colour scheme on this boat.

We were heading down a short straight when Jan noticed the trees in the photo below.  Unfortunately the photo doesn’t do justice to the live scene.  There was a very light breeze and the leaves were moving slightly creating a golden shimmering effect.

You will have to imagine it!

At New Marton Bottom Lock we found a potential retailer for the new washing machine.  There was a shop soiled one out front.

 

Funding the purchase won’t be a problem as we’ve found a ready source of cash.

Or is this an unmarked water point?

Jan provided lock instructions and advice to a young family on a hire boat at the bottom lock.  They had come from the base at Whitchurch and had never seen a lock.  14 years ago we were in the same situation and kindly assisted through New Marton Top Lock by a live aboard couple.  Favour returned!

The inside of the pram cover has been looking a a motley grey/brown colour.  It’s uniform across the entire surface and I was unsure whether this was the original colour.  Today we got out the ‘Pink’ cleaner and with a combination of cloth, pink and elbow grease the interior was wiped down. What a difference.  We’re back to the original light grey.

 

There is now a second matter to be addressed.  The half full led on the black water tank is continually illuminated.

The likely cause is a stuck probe and I know what is probably causing the probe to be stuck.  There are three options.

1. Ignore it.  We know the capacity of the tank in days and don’t really need to use the gauge.
2. Disconnect all the wiring.  Remove the sender unit and clean it.
3. Fill the tank and “slosh” the contents around before emptying it and hoping the obstruction is rinsed off the probe.

Chose the easy option first.  I’m going with Option 3.

Around the Montgomery & Bridge Numbers

We have decided to cruise the Montgomery Canal on our way back down the Llangollen Canal.  Winter officially starts (for CRT) on Monday so we will have to remember to give CRT 48 hours notice of our desire to go onto the Montgomery.  CRT lock the paddles on the top lock to control access.

There has been a slight shudder through the tiller for the past couple of days.  I thought it might be a leaf ball on the propeller and have been giving the boat regular bursts of reverse to flick them off.  My suspicion was there might be more to the matter and decided to check the shaft and propeller.  The water is starting to get colder hence my earlier reluctance.  Down the weed hatch I went and sure enough I could feel a small bundle around the shaft in front of the propeller.  I couldn’t rip it free and had to revert to using the breadknife.

The first thing I noticed on leaving Frankton Junction was the change in the bridge numbers.  From Hurleston Junction to Frankton Junction the bridges are numbered 1 to 69.  After Frankton Junction the bridges commence 1W, 2W etc.

Then I realised the numbering from the start of the canal continues down the Montgomery Canal.  Bridge 70 is the first bridge on the Montgomery.  Apparently British Waterways added the ‘W’ to the bridge numbers after Frankton Junction to avoid confusion; particularly for emergency services. 

Sorry… short post as there is an important game to play!

And now we have run out of data allowance.  This will publish on 1 Nov!