Wednesday 20 April 2016

April 19th 2016 - First outing of 2016

Monty the Motorhome is parked up in the car park of The Boathouse Inn at Chirk, on the border of England and Wales. His long winter hibernation is over and with the weather forecast looking promising for the next few days we’ve decided to head out and enjoy the sunshine.
First stop today was at the National Trust property of Chirk Castle. Dating back to the 14th Century it includes a medieval tower, grand state apartments, servants hall and a grim and dank dungeon. This latter feature is the only thing I remember about a school visit to this place 49 years ago! There is also an award-winning garden with clipped yews, herbaceous borders (which are just waking up) and great drifts of daffodils.



Then on to the pub and confirming it was okay to park up and stay overnight. No problems on that score - in fact the car park was virtually empty. However it was only 2.00pm. The name of the pub gives a clue to what is around the corner - a large marina on the Llangollen Canel. A well made tow path leads to the World Heritage site of Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Opened in 1805, with nineteen arches supporting a cast iron trough that carries the canel a distance of 307 metres across the River Dee valley, at a maximum height of 126 feet. Walking across was quite an experience - it is so narrow. Goodness knows what it’s like to take a boat across in high winds. 



This evening we dined at The Boathouse - decent pub food and real ale from The Stonehouse Brewery near Oswestry and The Three Tuns Brewery at Bishops Castle. Then  the rest of the evening was spent with a Dutch motorhoming couple who had parked next to us. 


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