Wrenbury, Llangollen – Wednesday 8 August 2012
Last night went ‘ashore’ to a friend’s for a meal and back aboard by 23:00.  Today was another quiet cruising day – I started the locks at 09:00 and was through the Grindley six by 10:00.  While the locks were working I chatted to the lock-keeper about the problem I had going up, the volunteer had reported to the office about boats being caught on the cill in the middle lock, but, importantly, hadn’t said the two boats were going UP not DOWN.  The office therefore took it that it was boater’s error.  When it happened when the lock-keeper was there he immediately stopped the use of the flight, and checked the cill where there was a bit of concrete re-inforcing bar exposed that must have caught on the base-plate of the boats.  He then called it in as emergency but continued to allow the use of the lock (on two-up two down) and when the engineers arrived the locks were shut briefly and the protrusion was cut off.

There were no other boats heading down and I met a boat coming up at each of the locks after the flight of three; that has continued for the complete ten locks I’ve been through.  I also had luck at the Wrenbury lift bridge (it requires a key and controls the traffic with lights) as a boat was just going through as I approached and they held it for me.  I have moored just past the Church lift bridge (the last one on the Llangollen) and have seen how to really annoy the locals – a crew (not holidaymakers) wound the bridge up and then got back on their boat and just left it up in spite of the signs.  Other boats coming along all thought that it was supposed to stay open so they left it as well.  Shortly there was a family group of two adults, two dogs and about ten kids on the bridge side of the canal with no way of winding it back down.  I walked up to the bridge and threw them a windlass so that they could lower the bridge.  My good deed for the day!