Bridge 12 to Wrenbury - Llangollen Canal

Thursday 6^th June

Coming to the locks

Going up the locks

A lot of Trees along here

We are moving onto Wrenbury today and the sun was shining as we set off from our mooring.  We were soon approaching the first of the three Baddiley locks, there was a boat ahead of us and they were just leaving the lock, so I had to empty it first before Kev could bring the boat in.  A boat was coming down so we left the gates open for them and went onto the next lock.

Coming into Wrenbury

Approaching the lift bridge

A boat was coming down, so I went up and helped and when they came out the lock, it was our turn.  Another boat was coming down so once we were up the lock, we left the gates open for them and went on to Baddiley top lock.  A boat was coming down that one as well, so once he came out, the lock was all set for us.

Going through the lift bridge

There was another boat waiting to come down and the lads from there came and gave me a hand so we didn't take long to do that lock and we were on our way along the canal.  This section had a lot of trees hanging over the canal which made it quite narrow in places but we didn’t pass many boats so it wasn't a problem.  We then came to a big bend, went around there and we were approaching the first of many lift bridges on this canal.  We were going to moor before the lift bridge but the moorings were under trees, so I walked around the corner to see if the moorings there were any sunnier and they were so we decided to go through the bridge and moor there.

Inside the Church

Dog Whippers Pew

As I was walking back to the boat, a lady came down and opened the bridge and her husband brought the boat through, there was another boat going the same way as us so the lady who had opened the bridge kindly kept it open for us both to go through so I got out if doing that one!

We moored up in a nice open sunny spot before Wrenbury Wharf and the next lift bridge.

Lovely Window

We had lunch then walked up past the Wharf and lift bridge where there is also a nice looking pub called The Dusty Miller. We walked up the road past another pub called The Cotton Arms and into the village where there is a Spar shop.  We had a look in there and it’s a well stocked shop with a post office and selling local produce, cakes and hot pizzas, a really nice friendly and busy village stores.

St Margarets Church

We also called into the church, St. Margaret’s, and it was open so we had a look inside, it’s a big church and really nice with nice wooden pews with doors on them and a lovely stained glass window.

 There is a pew by the door called "the dog-whippers pew".  The job of the dog whipper was to throw out unruly dogs, and to keep dozing parishioners awake during particularly tedious sermons and the front door was enormous.   We walked back to the canal on a footpath from the church, through a field and came out by the first lift bridge.

What a big door

Wrenbury Village Stores

We dropped our shopping off at the boat then walked back up to The Dusty Miller and went in for a drink, it’s a really nice pub and friendly, we had a look at the menu and it looked interesting, so we may have lunch there tomorrow.

We are now staying here at Wrenbury for a few days as John, Sharon and Smuggler are coming up to their boat which is in a marina not far away and are going to call and see us so that will be nice, also the forecast for the next couple of days is not good so will be good to stay put and keep dry.

Moored at Wrenbury