A blast from the past

Llangollen trip - probably 1983

I was recently sorting through some old prints of a canal trip I shared with three friends back in (I think) 1983. I think I was 22 at the time and we hired a boat from Meastermyn Cruisers sharing the week with John, who later was to be my best man, and Rod and Rita, mutual friends from Norwich.

It was an Easter trip and we had predictably mixed weather including snow on the Middlewich Branch.

The purpose of this post is mostly an act of self humiliation to show a very young me with a deplorable dress sense!

Cords and home made jumper - not a good look!

The odd thing is the image of me outside the shower. I look so thin but I distinctly remember feeling fat all through my adolescence and onwards..... youth is wasted on the young.

I am told that at the age of 57 I still adopt the same chest out pose!

It's interesting to note that at the time the lift bridges on the Llangollen were still made of wood and activated by hanging on a chain. I even found a photo of me reliving my childhood climbing up the counterbalance beams using the twin metal braces as handholds. 

As a teenager I often used to climb to the bridges, and shut them by running on the inclined deck, and then jumping off just before it slammed into the ground. In know, I know, very hard on the infrastructure and bad form to treat BW property in such a cavalier manner- but things seemed different back then.

It's funny which episodes stick in the mind. The boat must have had a TV because we watched Woody Allen's "The Sleeper" and if you have ever seen it you will realise why the very small loo was christened the Orgasmatron. Miss World must have been showing at the time as well because Rita, being a forward thinking lady, described it as a "meat market" and John and I spent the whole week winding her up by enthusing about its delights and merits.

Seeing these old photos from 35 years ago makes me realise what an enduring role the canals have played in my life. 

Prees Arm - Quina Brook

Prees Arm - Quina Brook


After a bit of a slog up the B5476 I finally arrived in Quina Brook, a once thriving hub which included a inn, coaching station, canal houses and of course a substantial array of lime kilns which were raison detre of the canal's existence. Well, Actually the plan was to reach Prees itself but having reached the kilns of Quina Brook in 1806 they were out of money and out of enthusiasm.

Quina Brook lime kilns

Even in the driving rain it was easy to get a sense of purpose about the place, a hive of industry hiding beneath a rural veneer. The thing which puzzled me was the source of fuel for all these kilns. I am not aware that there were any coal deposits in the area so I guess it was all brought in by canal.

Workers cottages at Quina Brook

The site comprises nine lime kilns, four which are collapsing in the garden of a house which stands on the line of the canal and a further five in a low bank nearby. These second five are in a poor state of repair but two draw pits remain intact giving a good idea of the scope of the enterprise.

The old coaching inn at Quina Brook

Prees Arm - the missing bit

Prees Arm - the missing bit

Hmm, a blog post about a missing bit of canal - thats a challenge.

This far end of the Prees Arm was the first to be abandoned and is both the least distinct and the most inaccessible. But all is not lost - there are more roads which provide some decent opportunities to cross the line here and there.

The Wharf

First up the canal loops round a small hamlet and  surprise, surprise, an old wharf store lovingly restored by its owners and the canal bed visible next door. I was told that there is an original crane inside but sadly all the locals were attending a funeral so there was no chance to ask for a look.

Canalside warehouse

The canal then crosses the road and heads east, its line being used as hard standing for the local coach firm. The line then strikes off but is tantalisingly out of reach. I skirted round on the B5476 which runs parallel to the route but failed to find a credible way to cross the line again. Even more frustrating was the knowledge that  Edstanton Park Farm sits on the route and a subsequent look at Google Earth reveals an oblong pond - you guessed it - exactly on the canal line! 

From there the route is very indistinct to Quinta Brook - site of an extensive set of line kilns built into the low cliffs.

Prees Arm - The dry section

Prees Arm - the dry section

The first mile of the hunt for the abandoned section of the Prees Arm lulled me into a false sense of security. Those first furlongs had been on a well maintained towpath, but as the water ran out so did the towpath. 

There was a hopeful looking sign which suggested a parish footpath along the old towpath, but it was all so overgrown it was soon apparent that progress would be impossible. Instead I resorted to the adjacent road with the aim of picking up the route wherever possible.

Before long an earth bank had been pushed over the line, giving easy access to Jubilee House but then the road diverts away to the north, tracing but never touching the line of the canal. If I am to follow this route I am going to have go "of piste" for a while and hope to regain the road at the next crossing about a mile ahead.

The start was promising. The canal bed was intact, even in water here and there and an intermittent towpath offered a reasonable rate of progress. The path became less distinct after the first two barbed wire fences (I wonder why!) but having gone so far I had kind of passed the point of no return, so it was a case of pressing on and seeing what I could find.

The canal stretches on in a generally south easterly direction, tree lined and often in a shallow cutting. It still serves as a drainage ditch, although this has been cut into is base and progress is mostly along the dry bed either side of the stream. The problem is that as well as becoming wetter and wetter underfoot, and the undergrowth denser and denser, It was becoming really remote with just a couple of farms to keep me company. It's the sort of place I seriously worry about being taken for a wild animal and shot at, in spite of my bright blue coat. My saving grace was the weather - who would be out in this sleet?

I finally came to a stop about 400yds short of the old bridge crossing I had been aiming for. The can had been ploughed in and barbed wire fences hemmed me in on all sides. I would have tried to make a bid for freedom through an adjacent farm but the canal bed was too wet to cross. In the end I struck off to the south, crossing pastures in the hope of hitting a country road my Blackberry GPS suggested was nearby. Success - I found the road and followed it round to the old canal crossing and so completed this obscure section.

A word of warning. Going isn't easy, even in April before the undergrowth comes up and the route would be impassible later in the year. Of course, there is also the added complication that it is all on private land with no public rights of way either along or across it so one has to adopt a somewhat progressive approach to the rights to roam if you want to explore this bit!

Waters end on the Prees Arm

Prees Arm - Nature Reserve

Prees Arm - Nature Reserve

Beyond the navigable section leading to Whixall Marina there is about a mile of in water canal, but cut off from the rest of the watered section by a mud berm (no Inspector Clouseau jokes please) and a bank of reeds.

Prees Arm nature reserve

The waterway is referred to as Shropshire's longest pond and the associated towpath offers an excellent nature walk, the clear waters supporting an array of unusual plants and animals. But not all parties are quite as enthusiastic. 

The following was lifted from the Shropshire Botanical Society's 2000 newsletter:

The Prees Branch Canal

The Prees Branch Canal is a side arm of the Llangollen which runs from the south side of Whixall Moss towards Wem. It was never completed and part of what was built has now been filled in. In the 1960s it was found to have a rich flora, including Frogbit, Red Pondweed, Needle Spike-rush, Flowering Rush, Butomus umbellatus, and the hybrid sedgeCarex x boeninghauseniana - the only place where this particular hybrid has been recorded in the county. But in the 1970s an ideological battle was fought over the development of this canal for a marina, where boats using the Llangollen Canal could dock. It was argued, successfully, that development would not harm the ecological interest of the site, and the Shropshire Wildlife Trust ended up with the southern end of the canal while the marina went ahead. Subsequently, all aquatic plants promptly disappeared from the marina and the northern parts of the canal, whilst even the reserve has subsequently and steadily declined in quality. It still has Tubular Water-dropwort, Oenanthe fistulosa, and water-violet,Hottonia palustris, but the Frogbit seems to be on the verge of extinction there. This is perhaps a lesson to be remembered for future debates on the consequences of restoration.

The  watered section ends abruptly with Armco piling crossing the canal bed after which the canal bed runs dry, as dry as a bone, crossing the line of a country road.

At the time of my visit sleet was driving across the canal closer to horizontal than vertical, numbing my face and finding every chink in my waterproof armour. I figured that I would have the place to myself but even in such atrocious conditions I passes an elderly couple who greeted me cheerily and explained that it is their habit to hake a country walk every Wednesday, come rain or shine.

This water park, no matter how denuded it is claimed to be, offers a pleasant walk from Whixall Marina. Even if you get no further along the line of the Prees Arm, this is a walk not to be missed.

Prees Arm - the navigable bit

Prees Arm

Navigable Section

April 2012

Other posts in this series:

1. Navigable section to Whixall (this post)

2. Watered section - Shropshire's longest pond

3. Dry Bed - the inaccessible bit

4. Lost Furlongs

5. Quina Brook

The exploration map

Our journey along the Llangollen  Canal included a trip along the remaining mile of the Prees Arm, entered at Whisall Moss Junction with its imposing junction house.

Navigating the Prees Arm

Most boaters experience of the arm is a convenient offline country mooring, somewhere to stop  for a night or so with only the owls and cows for company. This is a shame as the remaining waterway to Whixall Marina is very pleasant, passing under a couple of wind up lift bridges rebuilt on the classic Welsh Canal style and a solitary brick bridge by way of contrast.

Whixall Moss Junction

The canal is both narrow and shallow, but recent dredging work has at least resulted in a channel which is more then than the eight or nine feed encountered during our last visit. What is more, the mooring offered at the far end, opposite the marina is glorious. Its a sign of our growing experience that we were not put off by the no mooring sign which must surely relate to the Marina itself - there is no reason why we should not tuck ourselves into the very end of the navigable Prees Arm.

Whixall Marina - current head of navigation

Our aim, as well as revisiting a favoured spot, was to explore the non navigable sections of the Prees Arm through to its terminus at Quina Brook - the diminutive waterway never even reached the village which gave it its name.

As with many country canals, the navigation was no great success, meandering on for a few miles till it reached lime kilns at Quina Brook. The venture struggled to attract both investors and customers, eventually closing down in stages till finally are left with a short channel reaching what was a clay pit, now reborn as a marina.

Prees Arm lift bridge

My research into lost canals is usually quite comprehensive but on this occasion it was limited to a pre 1950's map found on the internet, which failed even to cover the entire length to be explored. To make matters worse, I awoke to a storm and a layer of snow. Not the pretty white stuff but wind borne sleet, so no one wanted to join me in my perambulations. So, having donned full wet weather gear, I left Belle and Jeff hunkered down beside a warm fire and braved the elements on my own.

A more complete map lifted from Shropshire Canals

The Prees Arm was about four miles long when complete, and its exploration can be broken into the five distinct sections identified above. 

Easter 2012 - Marbury

Easter 2012

Ellesmere to Marbury

April 2012

18 miles - 9 locks - 8 hours

Oh those Gall Stones - they had me up again from 4.00am - two nights in a row and I am starting to worry before I go to sleep.

Prees Junction

I usually tough these things out but today I was in no fit state to steer so Jeff assumed command whilst I went back to bed and a couple of hours sleep. There was one incident early on when we were driven hard aground and the dog walkers were subjected to the sight of me in my pajamas poling the stern off.

Apart from that I slept to the drone of the engine emerging as we approached Prees. Jeff is always amazed at my near photographic memory of canals - one look around me at Bettisfield Moss and I was able to say - Prees Junction in 15 mins. Scary!

Wixall lift bridge

Sleet set in as we approached Witchurch, but fortunately two of the lift bridges were opened for us by other boaters and we soon arrived at Grindley Brook where a familiar lock keeper waved us down. We paused beyond the railway bridge and returned to investigate two second hand bookshops beside the canal. We shouldn't have bothered, the one right by the canal is the size of a phone box and we had to enter one at a time. The other, in garden shed, had a bit more scope but little of interest. I did pick up a handful of Waterway's Worlds from the early 1980's which took me back to my boating days with my parents - all those long gone hire companies.

A snatched shot through the stop plank hole...

With Jeff unwell and Belle busy I tended the boat myself, slipping into the solo routine I often use for isolated locks when its just the two of us. Its a bit slower but so what? I'm in no hurry.

We moored just above Marbury lock on rings installed by the Shropshire Union Canal Society, a lovely sheltered spot with views over the fields and well away from the honking goose. I put in a call to BW about the Maesbury pump put machine and its desire to swallow cards without offering a service in return. The BW lock keeper, who we had met at Grindley Brook and Welsh Frankton, was great, pledging to get a replacement card to me, either on the boat or at Wrenbury.

 I am now avoiding fat - lets hope for a better night.

Easter 2012 - Ellesmere

Easter 2012
Trevor to Ellesmere
April 2012


7 hours - 15.5 miles - 2 locks

A classic bank holiday Monday - wet from start to finish.

The mooring in the Ruabon Arm is to be recommended, quiet, secluded and sheltered from the wind, but mostly away from the incessant coming and going on the mainline. A lovely canal but at times blighted by its popularity.

But I had a snag last night, I seem to have developed Gall Stones which are excruciatingly painful at times and last night was one of them. I was awake in agony for two hours, trying hard not to wake Belle and Jeff. This is bad in the house but in the confines of a boat it is unutterably miserable. 

This was a day to put on the wet weather gear and press on. There are no locks to interrupt progress so it was just me, the weather and a few other boaters with someplace to go. It was a clear run to Chirk but then I fear I upset a few people, quite unwittingly.

Traffic at Chirk Tunnel

As we approached the narrows south of Chirk I saw a day boat and a hire boat pulling in behind a row of moored boats which had made the channel a bit narrow. I assumed that they were stopping, as there was still plenty of room to pass any oncoming boats. Not so, they were novices and had decided to wait for the channel to clear. Oops - by the time I realised this (they were shouting at me!) I was parallel with them and it would be harder to go back than go on. It was a bit tight but we got through ok and made ourselves scarce! Sorry guys.

Marston locks were a bit busy and we has a three boat wait but that's not bad for a bank holiday. The worst of it is handling wet ropes with cold fingers.

With an ample supply of hot tea I pressed on to Ellesmere where I found a space in the arm near the new Tescos. This whole dairy area is finally being redeveloped although the canal warehouse is getting more and more dilapidated. 

With fuel supplies getting low we chopped up a couple of fencing posts we has retrieved from the cut. A bait damp but at least they give of more heat than Taybright.

Sorry about the paucity of photo's - it was too wet to get the camera out.

Easter 2012 - LLangollen

Easter 2012

Maesbury to Langollen

April 2012

Our protracted stop yesterday had to be compensated with a bit of a stretch today if we are to make Llangollen in time for Easter Sunday service at the parish church. Two easy days compressed into one long one.

Maesbury Marsh

The snag was the starting point, Maesbury Marsh which is three hours from Welsh Frankton which opens between 12.00 and 2.00pm. This mid day passage meant a lazy start and a beautifully solitary run along the length of the Montgomery when we didn't pass another moving boat. 

But we did pass a moored boat at Maesbury which bore the unusual location of Shropshire Canal  - but its significance didn't strike me till Charlie Boyce popped his head out to greet me. This is the Charlie Boyce who showed me round his tunnel at Old Wynd, Coalbrookdale last month. Small world!

Having tried and failed to make the pump out work at Maesbury we paused at the junction of the Weston Arm and took advantage of the only rubbish point on the canal. The canal is low on facilities  but high on solitary atmosphere. We were 30 mins early but the two boats leaving the canal were already in place and the lock keeper had us into the locks by 11.30 and out on the the Llangollen by 12.30.

Welsh Frankton top lock

Our return to the Llangollen make a return to business as usual, strings of hire boats shuttling to and fro but mercifully it was all quiet as we passed through New Marston Locks, just one boat ahead at what can be a bottleneck.

We paused at the pool between Chirk Aqueduct and Tunnel, making a quick detour to the local Spar to restock. For all its canal attractions, Chirk wasn't too impressive, all overshadowed by the Cadbury's factory which spews a choclatey aroma over the town.

Approaching Chirk

As you get into the upper reaches of the Llangollen the flow becomes very noticeable, particularly in the bridges and tunnels where westbound traffic slows to a crawl. Fortunately we led a convoy of six boats through Chirk Tunnel and from there we were out on out own. We reached Froncysyllte at the last of the evening suns rays illuminated the Newbridge Viaduct and then dashed across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in undignified haste, not really giving the structure the time or respect it is due. With light failing at 7.30 we turned into the final four mile stretch at Trevor, the channel narrowing even more and the speed dropping to  near 2mph.

Chirk aqueduct and tunnel

Even in the gloom the Vale of Llangollen was beautiful, with good views offered through the branches of the leafless trees. There was nothing moving on the arm, just us and a handful of walkers - the hire boats had given up long ago and were clogging up all the available moorings - one had even even decided to stop in the narrows which left about 6ft 11in to pass. 

Approaching Llangollen

The Llangollen main drag was nose to tail hire boats, lots of heads turning to see who was ghosting past at gone 9.00pm. No chance of mooring here even if we wanted to, so we crept into the main basin and much to our surprise half the bays were vacant. Why use the crowded wharf when the basin is available. 

So that was it, the end of a long 12 hours on the move. Time for something to eat, a DVD and a good nights sleep.