Shropshire to Llangollen

 We had another problem with our dearly beloved boat. Travelling again along the Shropshire Union canal, the pretty bridges didn’t make up for the inclement weather. Wind, rain and 8 degrees!.  We thought we were doing fine, confidence restored, when we realised that despite our careful skill our batteries were still not getting charged by the engine. So the wonderful blokes at Norbury weren’t so clever, and we still can’t rely on our electrics.!! 

We got to Market Drayton after about 5 days of trying to get there, as it has an Aldi and a Sainsburys. We were desperate to find some warm clothes, but these little towns don’t have the major clothing retailers as ereyone orders everything online. There’s nothing in town centres these days except for hairdressers, barbers shops, predominately Turkish, Vapes outlets and Tattoo artists. I’m afraid this is true. 

We were both so cold and fed up we nearly started to lose it! For the first time, we actually felt like giving up. What chance do we have of getting our boat looked at again on a Friday afternoon in Market Drayton? Well, guess what? Someone at the wharf gave us the name of a freelance engineer called Ian. Andy rang him and explained our situation. He sounded very confident and said he and his wife would be there in half an hour!!. And he did! He turned up in a professionally painted van, with his wife, both of them living on a Narrowboat, and in their seventies. Meanwhile I had gone walking into the town to see if I could find a charity shop that sold hats and gloves, but not a chance! 

When I got back to the boat the guys were there, Ian head down in the engine bay, diagnosing a stuffed Alternator. Well, what did I tell you? They rang around the ‘Wrekin’ and found a place in Wrexham that had a reconditioned alternator. This was 11/2 hours’ drive away, 2 o’clock on Friday afternoon.  Incredibly, the pair of them insisted it was no trouble. They drove there, got the part, drove back through Friday traffic, and Ian fitted the newish alternator . Meanwhile he had wired up the boat so that while he was away we could have the engine going and charge up the batteries. The guy is a genius. All for £250.

So we spent the next day happily shopping in Aldi for hats, gloves and thermal everything. What a difference. The sun even tried to come out, and we were so happy we both learned to jump the locks, of which there were many, to save walking all the way around. 

Inclement weather forecasted again, and we were in Nantwich. This is quite a nice place to take a few days out, so we decided to sit out the unavoidable rain and enjoy not moving. Before we got here, a strong wind came up at the top of the Locks, and it was very uncomfortable. I started sneezing and by time we had moored up I was beside myself with misery. I thought I was allergic to the central heating, but the next day it was quite obvious that I had a cold. This is the first one since the Queen Mary so I can’t complain. It had to happen.

When you’re feeling like shit, and the weather is crap, it’s not a good time to make any decisions, so we did the Washing. There was a Marina at Nantwich, only 20 minutes walk to where they had a laundry from where we were moored, so we got our trolley out and stacked up all the bed linen, tea towels, etc. We trundelled down the steps, under the Aquadact, through all the puddles, in the spitting cold rain. Unluckily, there was a queue for the washing machines. Our washing ended up taking three hours and 16 pounds by the time we got machines dryers, But we met some other boaters that had all sorts of stories to tell as you can imagine. I was still sniffing and carrying on. But there’s nothing like having clean bed linen and towels and it felt like we got a new boat. Magically the next day my cold had gone, and there was a dry sky (not blue). 

So we set off from Nantwich across the amazing Aquaduct.

I’ve been talking a lot about the things that have gone wrong on our boat, but really it’s only been the engine. Part of it has been operator error, and part of it a bit of bad luck and normal boating.

I’ve been talking a lot about the things that have gone wrong on our boat, but really it’s only been the engine. Part of it has been operator error, and part of it a bit of bad luck and normal boating.

Inside the boat is magnificent. We have central heating which works at the touch of a button. When that’s warmed the boat through,  we light the diesel heater and that alone keeps us warm for the rest of the evening, and is great to cook on as well! 

We have had long, hot showers with abundant hot water. The TV works well and the modern comforts such as USB sockets and remote controls have made life a lot easier than it could be. 

The English countryside is stunning. This is the best way we could ever have imagined coming back home from Australia. 

Yesterday we cruised past the alluring turn off to the Llangollen canal. 

 Instead We have taken the deep Locks  of the Middlewich branch of the Shropshire Union Canal and are headed south east, back to Worcestershire.

 It is a stunning morning. 

The Australian banks are playing silly buggers with our money as we’re not in the country and England won’t recognise us at all, so we have to get to somewhere with decent Internet phone reception, and sort them out . 

It’s time to face reality. Now that we have a car, we can move the boat wherever we want  to. We have a booking at Droitwich Marina for Christmas, but who knows? Plans can always change.