Home at last.
May. 5th, 2013 09:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frostfoxCame back via Llangollen.
We parked at J&D's hotel and drove into town then walked up Castell Dinas Bran, which was in theory, a mile, but mostly up and lots of switchbacks. http://www.castlewales.com/dinas.html
We had lunch at the Llangollen canal wharf, I had a savoury cream tea - a pot of tea, a cheese scone, a pot of cream cheese and a pot of tomato relish, and very good it was too. Oh, and a slice of homemade chocolate cake. Nom.
Jaine and I went on the canal for the 45 minute horse drawn trip, which was livened up by us running aground and me finding a new use for the thumb stick, used it as a short but sturdy barge pole.
http://www.horsedrawnboats.co.uk/
Highly recommended if you are passing that way. Next time we intend to go over the aqueduct.
Came home (only about an hour from Llangollen) to find one indifferent cat (his cat sitters clearly do a better job than me) and several CSI type crime scenes, complete with chalk outlines of his victims (courtesy of Serena, what she doesn't know is that the previous feline overlord, Spookie, would have done just that) the one inside the microwave being the most funny. Also came back with a cold, thank you James and Max keeps sighing dramatically every time I blow my nose (he's forgiven me enough to go to sleep cuddled up to me on the sofa).
Photos under the cut
View from Castell Dianas Bran is dramatic.
Busy up top.
The Cheshire Plain. You can see my 'ouse from 'ere.
Look how thick the walls are.
The nearer viaduct is the famous canal aqueduct, the clearer, bigger one is the railway viaduct.
One horse power canal barge.
Bargee's view of an 'orse.
He was called Stan and is 24, so nearing retirement and astonishingly placid and easy going.
Of course, what Stan really wants to do is eat grass.
Uh oh, horse traffic jam.
Which called for some careful negotiation of lines. And allowed Stan to eat more grass.
He really was a beautiful boy.
FF
We parked at J&D's hotel and drove into town then walked up Castell Dinas Bran, which was in theory, a mile, but mostly up and lots of switchbacks. http://www.castlewales.com/dinas.html
We had lunch at the Llangollen canal wharf, I had a savoury cream tea - a pot of tea, a cheese scone, a pot of cream cheese and a pot of tomato relish, and very good it was too. Oh, and a slice of homemade chocolate cake. Nom.
Jaine and I went on the canal for the 45 minute horse drawn trip, which was livened up by us running aground and me finding a new use for the thumb stick, used it as a short but sturdy barge pole.
http://www.horsedrawnboats.co.uk/
Highly recommended if you are passing that way. Next time we intend to go over the aqueduct.
Came home (only about an hour from Llangollen) to find one indifferent cat (his cat sitters clearly do a better job than me) and several CSI type crime scenes, complete with chalk outlines of his victims (courtesy of Serena, what she doesn't know is that the previous feline overlord, Spookie, would have done just that) the one inside the microwave being the most funny. Also came back with a cold, thank you James and Max keeps sighing dramatically every time I blow my nose (he's forgiven me enough to go to sleep cuddled up to me on the sofa).
Photos under the cut
View from Castell Dianas Bran is dramatic.
Busy up top.
The Cheshire Plain. You can see my 'ouse from 'ere.
Look how thick the walls are.
The nearer viaduct is the famous canal aqueduct, the clearer, bigger one is the railway viaduct.
One horse power canal barge.
Bargee's view of an 'orse.
He was called Stan and is 24, so nearing retirement and astonishingly placid and easy going.
Of course, what Stan really wants to do is eat grass.
Uh oh, horse traffic jam.
Which called for some careful negotiation of lines. And allowed Stan to eat more grass.
He really was a beautiful boy.
FF
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no subject
Date: 2013-05-05 09:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-06 06:17 am (UTC)I wonder what the standard procedure for passing other boats would have been. There must have been standard rules of the road.
I'm guessing that the boats would pass left and that the boat furthest from the towpath would unhitch - either that, or they'd pass the towrope over the other boat+Horse. Passing the rope over would avoid the problem of hitching the rope again, but I can't see how either would work with less than three people and I'm not sure that boats normally had more than two (pre-family days). One for the horse, one for the tiller and one to do whatever needed doing with the rope. (Unless the steerer lashed the tiller and did some fast running?)