One more day to go the Monty

Our second to last day on the Montgomery Canal

I walked ahead to prepare Aston Top Lock and John cast off in the rather strong wind! However the lock was no problem and we began our journey to Frankton.

LambThis lamb watched us go by - ahh....

There were three narrowboats moored beyond Queens Head Bridge (76) including our fellow Cornish narrowboaters on Nb Andante. Beyond the moorings was an apparently unlicensed craft; now do we report it to BW?

Catamaran canoe mooredCatamaran Canoe

It was an overcast day, so Heath Houses was not so picturesque as when we came down. The BW work boat had moved from the entrance to Rednal Basin and I was able to get a couple of shots of the old swing bridge. I was interested to see that it has what looks like rails on the bed of the bridge.

swing bridgeClose up of Rednal towpath swing bridge

The information narrowboaters are given by Colin the Lock Keeper at Frankton says "Please do not moor against the gabion baskets; they hold the canal liner in place, and are not strong enough for mooring ropes!" So what are gabion baskets?

gabion basketsThese are!

Apparently the banks are constructed with hollow concrete blocks filled with compost. The wire and stones (baskets) are the outward sign of the inward structure which has now been "naturalised" by reeds and plants.

We stopped at Perry Aqueduct briefly and I took some photos from the bank of the stream below. Pete's Montgomery Canal website has some photos before restoration of the aqueduct here and of the section from Lockgate Bridge to the aqueduct here

under aqueductLooking SE under the Aqueduct

We reversed into the Weston Branch which is just after Lockgate Bridge (71) to dump the rubbish and top up with water again. (I had used the washing machine a couple of times since leaving Maesbury!) The strong wind made this manoeuvre a bit tricky but we managed it eventually without hitting any of the narrowboats moored opposite the water points!

Weston BranchWeston Branch beyond the BW sani-station

We decided to moor on the opposite side of the Branch rather than go to the bottom of Frankton Locks as there were narrowboats still ascending and descending - it was not 2pm yet!

Montgomery Canal, Aston Top Lock to Weston Branch

2 hours 29 minutes, 4.02 miles, 2 locks

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