Back home. Eventually...part two!!

 Monday night on our way home we stayed in the first ever Travelodge on the A38 northbound near Burton on Trent

I wish there were more like this..basic, a good bed, shower and bath, a TV, a kettle, clean and tidy. No meals but a café...and a pub...nearby.

The Trent and Mersey Canal was right behind us and we had a pleasant evening walk on the towpath past Barton Marina to the lock at Barton Turn.

The view from our room

Pirate was checked out by a duck!

We heard the first boat chug by at nine the next morning, before we headed for home. 

Even out of rush hour the traffic was heavy and the driving cut throat...we were glad to leave the motorway at Gretna!!

A pleasant drive on the back road to Dumfries then up the A76 and home in daylight, and unpacked before dark.

Pirate had a restless night..so a test in the morning confirmed what I suspected...

Yesterday's skies....now we have a week off...and he has enforced rest!! That's what he needed anyway, but this isn't how we would like it arranged! Not that he would have rested enough without it!!

Therefore, on we go with the sorting and tidying of our own space!!

canal update

I went on the bike today, despite the cold and wet. It was enjoyable however and saved me £3 on fuel or about £5+ in bus fare!
Remember this blogpost?
http://gzandco.blogspot.com/2010/02/canal-journey.html
I went past again, and it was good to see progress. It will be a couple of years yet until we see boats, but it is getting nearer!
So working upwards:- dammed so that clearing (above) can take place, using ex-offenders as a workforce...and they are enjoying themselves despite the cold, wet and stinky mud!

New lock gates
Arch cleared and mended that goes to..

A filler pond, almost cleared
Yes I DID walk over this!!!! Getting better!!
Next pond up, now full
next lock up
next pond up
Top pond and the Fourteen Locks Visitor Centre and Cafe ( very nice!)
The top lock
My transport!
Much of the towpath down as far as the woodyard by The Welsh Oak pub (see your Chartist history) has been given a tarmac surface and is getting more commuter use, but further down (in Newport County) the money is going towards canal maintenance. There the surface is muddy and compacted gravel, so bike, feet and legs and the bailey (yard) were hosed down after the ride.

canal journey

This is looking back down the beginning of the flight of canal locks towards the M4 road.
Here looking up, and you can see where the clearing has begun.
A feeder pool

A ledge each side where the narrow boats could then be fitted three in a lock, but use less water to pass each through
looking along the locks (and showing my modern transport!)
Pensarn Basin and bridge number five
Pensarn Cottage, built in 1792
The higher feeder ponds and locks have been drained ready to be cleared
Part of the feeding system, blocked with stone
A higher lock, showing the plate for the lock gate

The second feeder pond showing the arch connecting to the pond, and the square entry possibly for an overflow
The modern visitor centre and cafe
Looking across the top feeder pond which now sports a dragonfly sculpture, towards Mynydd Maen where the ponies live.
Not the easiest gate to pass when you have two pannier bags full of shopping!!
An original sign for the bridge by Fourteen Locks

A new sign giving the history of the Crumlin Arm of the Monmouth and Brecon Canal
If you are going to have a fence, have one made by Artist Blacksmiths! Work from Myfyrfa Petersen Studios in St.Cler near Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen)
Pontywaen, nearly home, looking towards Cefn Rhyswg
The end of the water, and how some people treat where they live

A new sign giving the history of 13 July 1875 when a neglected feeder dam burst after prolonged heavy rain. The ensuing torrent washed away the flannel factory, drowning the Hunt family who lived there, and ten bodies were washed down to Newport.
The last little hill into Cwmcarn-a sting in the tail when you have been for a bike ride! It is called Twyncarn, but is also called Factory Trip (trip meaning a sharp rise) after the Flannel Factory