This really is a superb spot – peaceful but with the odd walker.

Nice weather helps, only let down by a poor Internet connection!

Found a mooring for the night adjacent to Cole Mere. There is a country park nearby, with a lovely path around the Mere – it is nice to be able to walk Barney on decent footpaths.
The weather is still good, with a reasonable forecast for the next few days – canal boating is much more fun when it’s not raining…

A gentle start this morning, all fairly uneventful – apart from meeting boats at the first 3 lift bridges, which speeded things up as we were let through.

We investigated the Prees Arm – pleasant enough but nothing special, and have now stopped for lunch by Whixall Moss. Tempting to have a wander, but we’ll probably press on towards Ellesmere and stop somewhere quiet nice and early.

Whitchurch was a much needed shopping trip, but it started to rain on the way back to the boat.
As the mooring there was too noisy, we plodded through the rain to a quiet spot a mile further on. The only company here is 5 swans!
After we moored, the rain stopped and it’s now a very pleasant evening.

Wasted what seemed like ages manoeuvring into the Whitchurch Arm of the Llangollen Canal, only to find no moorings. So we turned around and moored on the main canal and followed a pleasant path into the town.
A nice church

But few useful shops. A quick Google search and we found out why – a large Tesco hidden in the town.

Which is where we are now..

A relaxed start this morning – a couple of lift bridges at Wrenbury, and the occasional lock. The canal doesn’t seem that busy so far, which is good.
Barney is still unhappy about being in the boat when we go through locks – we are still working out the best solution…
Luckily the forecast rain held off until just after we stopped for lunch.
Now we’ve stopped, a relaxed Barney :

An impressive church – unfortunately the bells rang all night!

Had an excellent meal here – just glad we got there early as it was getting quite busy when we left.

A glorious summer evening – what holidays in the UK should all be about.

Barney & I went for a walk this afternoon – I can only assume that the Cheshire residents never leave their Range Rovers as most paths were virtually nonexistent.
The dog proof stiles were all well maintained though, but not well enough to stop Barney ‘Houdini’ from getting through.

Nice weather and a couple of caches found, so it wasn’t all bad.

Phil

A busy morning, with 9 locks; so far with minimal queuing. The weather has been ideal, not too hot and not too cold. Barney has been a bit of a nuisance though – trying to jump off the boat at inopportune times – had to shut him in in the end.
We have just stopped for lunch above the top Baddiley lock – and will probably just go as far as Wrenbury today.