Llangollen Canal

Yesterday was our second day in Cheshire, and we had seen no cats at all.  Oh, perhaps they have all performed their magical disappearing acts!

The weather was actually pleasant, without a drop of rain all day.  It was not t-shirts and shorts weather by any stretch of the imagination, but there were times when I didn’t need a jacket.  This was when the sun managed to emerge from behind big, fluffy white and gray clouds.  However, without direct sunlight, a jacket was still a necessity. 

Since I had a couple of hours on my hands while Paula did laundry this morning, I chose to go back to downtown Nantwick to admire the architecture.  (I took my rain jacket just in case.)  Like last night, the streets were mostly deserted.  I wanted to see the inside of St. Mary’s Church, so I waited until the end of the 9:00 service.  The inside of the old church was stunning.  The ceiling was the same cambered beam style of the church in Audlem.  Gothic arches soared to the clerestory windows, and stained glass windows along either side of the nave and at the end of the apse glowed in the sunlight.

Stained glass window in St. Mary's

A particularly beautiful one depicted God’s creations, including a variety of animals, situated in an Eden-like Cheshire countryside.  Halley’s Comet flies through the luminous blue sky in the upper right section of this window. 

Window depicting God's creations

Not as noticeable were faded, painted geometric patterns high up on the brick walls above the nave.  Their subtlety in their unrestored state is remarkable.

Painted patterns above a Gothic arch in St. Mary's

I arrived back at the boat just as Paula was putting away the laundry and Andrew had finished filling up with water.  We cast off the dock and headed further down the Shropshire Union Canal.  After a couple miles, we came to the Hurleston Junction, where the Shropshire Union joins the Llangollen Canal.  We rose up 43 feet through a series of four locks, alternating operating the paddles and gates with other boaters coming and going.  Peter enjoyed manning the tiller.

Andrew and Paula opening the gates to the entry lock of the Llangollen Canal

Puttering up the canal at about 4 miles per hour, we navigated through the two Swanley Locks, the three Baddiley Locks and the Marbury Lock before stopping for the night (although it was still hours to sunset) after covering a total of about 11 miles past open fields and farms but no towns.  The Llangollen (pronounced something like “Thlangovthlen” because it is Welsh) Canal is wider than the Shropshire Union in most places and there has been fewer boats here. 

Someone enjoys boating!

Other than the few times we had to operate locks, most of the day was spent having conversations, reading and relaxing—enjoying the patches of warm sunshine when we could.