Can you believe a year ago today, we moved on to Daisy Duke and began our adventure on the English canals!
We are currently sat in the sun at the Shroppie Fly enjoying a celebratory drink!
Since our last blog, we did a return journey over the aqueduct and I skippered the boat. It was much more terrifying than when Paul skippered as I couldn’t keep a steady hand and so Daisy kept bumping off the sides. Still, it enabled Paul to get some amazing footage!
We then passed the Cadbury factory at Chirk, when the coco beans are processed and the smell was absolutely divine! A short while after this we moored up and Paul got his new chainsaw out to chop up some wood. This kept him busy for ages whilst I logged on to work!
Rather than head back on to the Shroppie, we decided to explore the Montgomery canal, which is known locally as the Monty. You have to book the Monty as the CRT only lets up to 12 boats enter a day. This is because half of the water from the Shropshire canal goes for treatment to feed the people of Crewe and so they have to ensure that only a certain amount of water gets taken by the locks that go down on to the Monty.
I really enjoyed the Monty as it goes through 7 miles of countryside. Paul wasn’t as keen though as the water was very murky and he had to stop a few times to clear the propellor.
The Monty is still under construction and when fully repaired, it will be possible to get all the way to Newtown in Wales. The few locks were a dream and we even saw a solar panel farm which we have never seen before. Hundreds and hundreds of them collecting energy from the sun.
After spending a couple of days on the Monty, we headed back on to the Llangollen and then down the final flight of locks back on to the Shroppie. Paul and I had an epic argument on this day which resulted in me stomping off for about 5 kilometres and then sitting back to watch Paul single handedly coming down the flight of 4 locks! It was a hot day and there was quite a strong wind which made manoeuvring the boat quite tricky – ultimately this was the catalyst for our row, but we eventually moved on 🤣 A lot of people ask if we often fall out and we can honestly say that the rows are few and far between!
After turning south on to the Shroppie, we moored up on the towpath at Nantwich and caught the train back to Derby for a short break so that we could enjoy various birthday celebrations (Dot, Lily & Shirl).
We are back on it now though and today saw our first lot of baby ducks! Hopefully they will soon learn to keep a distance from the boats.
We also have to decide where we are headed next and so the next blog will include a map update from Paul but, for now, we leave you with a couple of videos looking back over the last year.
Love to all.
Jo, Paul, Zak & Daisy xxx
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