No further on the Montgomery - so far

Tuesday, 06 April 2010 19:33

We arrive at the end of the navigable section linked to the main system

The Montgomery is still being restored. Just beyond Maesbury Marsh is the end of the section that links to the Llangollen. We were making for this small canal village for a weekend stop.

The stripy bits are yet to be restored, photo of map on storyboard

Park Mill Bridge (78) was the limit in summer 2000 and the winding hole there is barely usable as it has become blocked by reeds. It is a sharp blind bend under the bridge.

Maesbury Marsh used to have some industrial buildings and a couple of wharfs. There is the remains of an old bone mill on the off-side (spot the chimney) and some permanent moorings before the bridge (79).

Towards Maesbury Marsh

Beside the bridge is the Navigation Inn. The old warehouse on the wharf has become part of the pub which is now thriving thanks to the extension to the navigation in 2003.

Navigation Inn and bridge

We planned to  explore more of Maesbury Marsh once moored. But first we passed the BW sani-station on what was another wharf (buildings destroyed by fire in 1968) with the remains of an old crane. Sadly the arm of the crane is no longer there (it was in 2005). The black box on the edge is a narrowboat counter - the number of boats on the Monty is carefully controlled.

Sani-station and the Ormerod and Crierson crane

We spotted more interesting buildings in this area, but that is another blog! Crofts Mill Bridge is a lift bridge and it was just beyond this that we winded in 2005. It is opened with a windlass and hydraulic gear - VERY hard and LOTS of turns! There is another large in-line nature reserve just before the bridge.

Crofts Mill lift bridge

Just beyond the bridge is the Mill Arm (for more details see Pete's website) which is fed from Morda Brook. Here there are permanent moorings and a wharf for Maesbury Marine Services.

John took Epiphany on to the winding hole, 250 metres beyond the bridge. The navigation terminates here, just before Gronwyn Bridge (82) so he winded. I waited, as I was too tired to open the bridge again and we swapped roles!

Winding hole and Gronwyn Bridge beyond

We moored by the eco friendly "Canal Central", a multi-purpose shop, post office, café and information centre. I will introduce you to Maesbury and its sights soon. There are a number of good walks from our mooring.

Canal Central

Montgomery Canal, Aston Locks to Canal Central, Maesbury Marsh

1 hour 12 minutes, 2 09 miles, 0 locks