Moorings at Maesbury Marsh on the Monty

Wednesday, 07 April 2010 18:22

Maesbury Marsh on the Montgomery Canal is a good place to spend a few days

...if you enjoy walking, wildlife, canal history and just chilling! We moored on the moorings beside the Canal Central building, just south of Spiggots Bridge (80) and there are also moorings (occupied by other narrowboats when we arrived) nearer Crofts Mill lift bridge.

The view across the fields was towards "The Fields"

This was once an Anglo Saxon farm but the building is 18th century. In St. John the Baptist's Church there are memorials to the Davies family that lived there then.

We took a walk into the village along the towpath and crossed the canal at Maesbury Marsh Bridge (79). The Navigation Inn is on Main Road (we sampled their fish and chips - very nice but a little "nouveau cuisine"). The pub was probably there before the canal, but only the section on the road. The warehouse restaurant was adapted from a canal warehouse later.

Navigation Inn

The Montgomery Canal splits the village in two and Pennal Cottage was possibly the Wharf Cottage and originally the gate house for the big house, Llwyn On.

Pennal Cottage from Main Road

Llwyn On originally faced south and owned the land that the Monty cut through in 1795. The owners felt the canal was too near and turned the main entrance towards the road.

Llwyn On from Canal and as it is today

Opposite Llwyn On (and very close to the pub!) is Sycamore House - once the Wharfinger's house (canal wharf manager). Close inspection shows that the left and right bay windows are not windows! This may be an architectural quirk, as apparently the house was built when the Window Tax was no longer in force! The extension on the right is more modern than the main house.

Sycamore House

The Lodge is a little further up the road, on the corner opposite Wain Lane. This became the gate house of Llwyn On when the entrance was moved. The white frontage and more modern additions hide the stone cottage within.

The Lodge - front and back

There is a bit of a dispute as to where the old Post Office was but it was possibly here, near Wain Lane. We walked a little further on and then there is a choice of routes. Turning left into Coed y Rae Lane takes the walker back to Spiggots Bridge (80) and the canal. We carried on along the Main Road.

Ah, but you will have to wait for the rest of our walk!