England - August 7, 2014

Almost 6 hours of solid sleep, but then a stuffed nose and pounding head woke me up and kept me awake.  Colds are not fun.  After breakfast I returned to Duchess and was able to doze for about an hour which did make me feel a bit better.  I think I may have some cold medication – but it’s in the large suitcase that is encased in plastic and stored for the duration in the engine room of Duke.  Ah, well. . . .

Estelle, Bill, Ros, and Barrie got off to walk along the towpath.  The walk here is lovely, under large oak trees and beside a large lake just behind the towpath.  This area is well forested since it was the policy of the Shropshire Union company to plant elms and oaks along the canal in order to provide raw materials for replacement for their fleet of wooden commercial craft.  (The elms have long since succumbed to Dutch elm disease, but the oaks remain).  Estelle marched along vigorously. . . .

There have been no locks which increases our speed.  Unfortunately this canal is shallow which creates a different set of problems – particularly when Andy must maneuver the boats around difficult turns and through narrow bridge holes.  So we continued moving through lunch since we’re aiming to moor for the evening at Chirk, with a good pub that is supposed to have WiFi.  

Every morning the menus for lunch and dinner would be posted on a board hanging in the main salon.  This is the scheduled dinner for this evening.  Behind it are several steam railway pictures posted because that’s where Andy works during the off season.

About 3:30 we hit the first lock of the day.  Made a nice diversion from the placid floating down the canal we’ve been doing, although the calm water and lovely trees alongside the canal made for some lovely scenery. 

The New Marton Bottom Lock was followed fairly quickly by the New Marton Upper Lock which together raised the canal by 12’ 4”.  While locking through and waiting we had tea, with homemade carrot cake, and then continued on our way at 4:40.  Andy was determined to arrive at Chirk while the shops were still open, a goal I supported in the hopes there might be cold medicine to be purchased.  (There was; not the best kind, but I’m sure it will help to some degree.)

At 5:30 we moored around the corner from the Poacher’s Pocket pub, a great location.  The pub had WiFi so in addition to enjoying a half pint of cider I was able to catch up on some e-mails.   

Returned to Duke at 7 for our evening meal of bangers and mash.  The portions were substantial.

To the cabin at 8:30, hopeful that the cold medicine will result in more and better sleep.