What's with this weather?

The sun is heating my back through my dark top but my chins are freezing in a northerly blast! Yesterday we left Ellesmere and twisted and turned our way past Frankton Junction before I finally gave up just by the Narrow Boat pub.

It was tough going yesterday in winds gusting to mid thirties but at least there weren't too many boats on the move. The theme of stunning scenery in splendid isolation continued as the canal cut its lonely way through the farmland. It really is beautiful up here and with the reduction in boat numbers I was in a happy place, even if the pub landlords are crazy. Take the Narrow Boat, behind us in the picture. This, along with many others, closes from 3pm to 6pm every day. About a mile in front of us the famous Jack Mytton (as featured in Carry on Barging recently) is closed all day Monday and from Tuesday to Thursday only opens at 5pm. Luckily, the Lottie D Arms never closes!

Today was again breezy as we set off, aiming to get as close to Chirk as possible. The difference today was the number of boats we encountered, probably close to twenty. My guess is that they spent the weekend in Llangollen and were into the second day of the return journey. At the last of today's pair of locks there were around eight boats queuing to come down. God knows what it's like in summer, but the outdoor facilities (beer pumps and barbecues and lots of tables) at a lot of the pubs are a good indication that this canal is best avoided (if you're as antisocial as me) in the summer months.

This afternoon we stopped at the Poacher, a Marstons pub.

Is that close enough?

Better yet, we both downloaded one of these from their website.

Free beer!

Back in a happy place again!

Tomorrow we will cross Chirk Aqueduct then do Chirk and Whitehouses Tunnels. The day after that it's the big one at Pontcysyllte. I promise plenty of pics!