Author: Pete Schloss

April 23, 2019. The Lonely Lock Keeper

Posted on by Pete Schloss

We navigated 9 locks on our way from Wrenbury on the Llangollen Canal to to Nantwich on the Shropshire Union Canal. The entire passage took just under 6 hours and covered less than 10 miles.

Canal travel expands time and invites a microscopic examination of the flora, fauna, and folk that pass in slow motion before us.

It also creates a meditative climate for the examination of ones thoughts. Insignificant things trigger an expanded awareness like winter frost crystals blooming across an automobile windshield.

So it was as we approached a solitary lock in the countryside. No other vessel was in sight, yet standing sentinel at the lock was a lone gentleman who appeared well into his eighth decade. As is practice, I slowed before the lock to drop Christine off for her short trek to open the water gates and enable our passage. It is a job best accomplished by two, but she has become adept at fulfilling the duty single-handed. Unbidden, the elderly gentleman produced his own windlass handle and began operating the port side mechanisms as if he were one of the crew. With her own windlass handle Christine mirrored his action on starboard. I slowly piloted Salten-Fjord center between them into the lock.

The gentleman engaged me in conversation as I and our vessel slowly sank with the water level that was being released from the lock downstream. He provided me with some helpful insights into canal and lock conditions. He looked longingly at our vessel and commented approvingly at her condition and canal-worthiness. He then added that he loved life on the canals. It had been central to the years and memories that he and his wife shared. Unfortunately, she was no longer physically able to help aboard a narrowboat. A few years ago they sold their boat. Throughout our pleasant talk he smiled but his eyes were tinged with sadness. I imagined him returning to his wife at the end of the day with a cheerful greeting that fails to conceal the sadness from her. I further imagined that she assumes his burden through her faultless inability to return to their days together on the water. Love long held pierces the artifice that otherwise conceals deep feelings from the rest of the world.

The lonely lock keeper now tastes his moments on the canal with each passing narrowboat. How many of those who pass through pause to consider, “What I am, he once was. What his is I will become.”

Peace Everyone. Pete

April 21, 2019. Happy Easter!

Posted on by Pete Schloss

It was not our intention to attend Easter services today. I rationalized that our cruising day was under the canopy of the Creator’s original church and that the music of the songbirds along the canal was a chorus unlike and beyond any composed by mankind.

The days leading up to Easter were peppered with not so cryptic messages from my Mother, “So Peter, do you have any plans for Easter?”, or “Will you be able to get off the boat on Easter?”…

I was raised in a very traditional Catholic family. Missing church on Easter would have been unthinkable. Even though I have become even less than a self identified “cafeteria Catholic”, and I find that my beliefs have wandered away from religion based theologies, I don’t think that I have ever missed attending church on an Easter Sunday. Today was to be the first exception, or so I thought.

5 hours on the canal brought us to a mooring near the town of Whitchurch in Shropshire. We intended to spend the afternoon and evening ashore and not stray out from the mooring. Easter assured that there would be no active commerce in town. However, restlessness after a day at the tiller compelled me to venture out on foot. Nearby I encountered an information board that touted the virtues of Whitchurch as the oldest continually settled community in the region, dating back to the establishment of a Roman garrison at 79AD. In Saxon times it was called Dodington, and it was mentioned prominently in William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book after the Norman conquest of 1066. Pictures on the signboard showed a liberal sprinkling of old waddle and daub buildings, one being a pub that dated to the 1,400’s.

I returned to Salten-Fjord and encouraged Christine to join me for a walk into town. A well kept footpath followed the course of a long abandoned canal into the town center. More signboards announced town history and prospects for a restoration of the canal into town including the creation of a marina. The canal system has become a powerful draw for tourist dollars/pounds, and Whitchurch is seeking it’s share.

The walk was about a mile, and wandering along the winding streets was rewarding to the eye. As I suspected, everything was closed with the exception of two pubs which were located across the street from one another, “Old Eagles”, and “The Bull’s Head”.

Raucous cheers emanated from Eagles as a crowd was watching the televised football match between Liverpool and Cardiff (Liverpool won, 2-0). The Bull’s Head, a quieter option, presented an opportunity for pleasant reflection over a pint. That concluded, we continued our winding walk through town back toward the canal.

Near the edge of the town center we came upon the edifice of Anglican St. Alkmund’s Church.

The doors were open and the interior invited me in for a look. A small group of seniors appeared to be gathering, but a very pleasant usher gave us some history of the church (see below) and encouraged me to take pictures.

The priest, Rev. Judy Hunt, bedecked in her traditional robes, was assembling the choir at the back of the church for their opening procession and song. As if reading my Mother’s mind, the usher handed Christine and me the Common Book of Prayers, Hymnal, and Service Program for the Evensong service. It seemed that my Mom’s prayers for the continued salvation of my soul had been answered. Beyond any intention on my part I found myself attending Easter services commemorating the most important event in Christendom.

Last year in Puerto Rico as we prepared to cross the Atlantic on a journey that would include walking the pilgrimage of the Portuguese Camino, our B&B host Eddie repeatedly admonished me, “Peter, in life there are no coincidences”. Perhaps our visit to St. Alkmund’s Church is another confirmation of those words.

Peace Everyone. Pete

April 20, 2019. Les, Sue, The Namaste, and a Dog Named Lucky

Posted on by Pete Schloss

We have returned to spend the night moored at Ellesmere… and so it seems has everyone else! This is Easter weekend and a prime time for narrowboaters. We secured the last available spot along the town wharf and took the opportunity to visit Tesco and re-provision.

Walking down the line of moored vessels we beheld an array of boats that shared only two characteristics, they are long and they are narrow. Beyond that there are some painted battleship grey, others in Scandinavian multi-color. Brass is polished on some, others not so much. At the extremes were vessels that could be classics in a museum and at the other end of the spectrum those that can only be described as “feral”.

We passed a real standout of the former category, the vessel Namaste. She was pristine, and supported a huge brass searchlight at the bow that was polished to a jewelry shine. It was the open hatches amidships that drew my attention.

For those who have ever visited a classic car show, you know how 60 year old Corvettes and 60’s era muscle cars are staged with hoods open to display spotless chrome garnished engines. Well, peering into Namaste’s open hatches I beheld the narrowboat equivalent. As I pointed out some of the finer details of this wonder to Christine, a very nice lady of our generation cautioned me, “If Les hears you he will talk your ear off and never let you go!” Of course, I thought she was merely being pleasant and not being literal. I was wrong on the second count. Les heard me, and like their little dog “Lucky” was on me like a Rat Terrier is on a rodent. We had just met two of the most likable folks (and their dog) plying these waters.

The couple have been together 6 years. Namaste is Les Walling’s third canal boat and clearly his passion. I wish that I had the time to more fully explore his life story, but I know that he has extensively traveled the United States, and he was once a well know off-shore powerboat racer (“Peter, In my past If it went fast I drove it… Look at me now throttled down to 4 miles per hour!”). Les told of his last vessel, nearly lost in a flood enhanced tidal current on the Thames near London. He and Sue were ashore when the unexpected surge tore his narrowboat from its bow and stern lines. Held only amidships, but cantered 90 degrees to the current she was beginning to roll and capsize. Lucky and all their belongings were aboard (Les and Sue are full-timers). In order to have any hope of saving the moment Les was forced to cut the boat loose and hope for the best. The best came in the form of crew aboard another vessel who leapt aboard, engaged the engine, and succeeded in bringing the boat back with nary a scratch! Another example of a boating “angel”.

Les is proud of his thick Lancashire accent. He makes no bones about retaining it untamed to his grave. I confess that there were times in the conversation that I thought I was listening to another language. Nevertheless I was able, at times with Sue’s help, to decipher most of the conversation.

For the mechanically inclined here are some of the details that Les shared about Namaste: She is a 60 foot long Tug-Narrowboat with thrusters fore and aft. The hull is new and he is in the process of designing the paint job that he will execute as a part of her fitting out. The engine, restored by Les, is a 70 year old Gardner 2LW that makes only 28 horsepower from her 2.8 liter displacement. What she lacks in horsepower she more than compensates for in massive torque. She turns a flywheel that is over 100 pounds, and in turn powers a huge prop through a modern hydraulic drivetrain. The engine idles at less than 400 rpms and makes 1,300 rpms at maximum throttle. She turns only 650 rpms to cruise 4 mph. Modern diesels will be decades in the junkyard when the Gardner is still powering boats on the canal.

Les has installed 8 solar panels, a 3kw inverter and has a massive bank of batteries with a capacity of over 1200 watts. Now back to the rest of you readers.

Les has Parkinson Disease. It is profound and he carries aboard a power chair as a mobility assist. Sue told me that when he announced his intention to take on the Namaste project and Gardner power plant restoration, she discouraged him because of his condition. He scoffed and said that he wasn’t done with life yet… and indeed the proof of those words is to be beheld in his craftsmanship and energy.

In this wonderful encounter I am again reminded that the rewards of travel are found in the people that we meet as much as in the sights that we see.

Peace Everyone, and Happy Easter. Pete

PS. This morning we bid farewell to our dear friend and travel companion Kris Ashton. We give thanks to her friendship which was a gift of our 2013 meeting while walking the 520 mile Camino in Spain. We look forward to future adventures with her. Christine and I are also looking forward to welcoming aboard our Canadian friends Tom and Nanci for our final week on England’s canals. That friendship was a gift of our 2018 meeting while walking the route of the Portuguese Camino. Buen Camino to All!

April 19, 2019. Chirk Castle

Posted on by Pete Schloss

We returned to Chirk and a mooring beside the delightful “Poachers Restaurant” on our down-water journey. As promised, my errant hat was waiting for me at the hostess station. Taking nothing for granted while we were in Llangollen, I came upon a shop that had real Scottish Deerstalker hats for sale. I bought one “just in case” my original rattlesnake hat might have been lost forever.

Christine is a fan of the Deerstalker. I own a Meerschaum Calabash, though I have not smoked it in over 30 year. I look forward to modeling the ensemble of hat and pipe for the benefit of the grandchildren and as a tribute to my love of Doyle’s eponymous detective, Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps I can inspire one or more of them to read his adventures.

While Christine enjoyed some private time, Kris and I set out on an 8 mile round trip hike cross country to visit Chirk Castle.

Chirk Castle was built between 1295 and 1310 by Sir Roger Mortimer of Chirk. In 1322 he was locked up in the Tower of London for treason and died there 4 years later. Over the next 270 years the castle passed through the hands of 22 different nobles.

In 1595 it was purchased for £5,000 by Sir Thomas Myddelton and was held by the family until 1981 when it and 480 surrounding acres were acquired by Great Britain’s National Trust. The majority of the art and furnishings contained within the castle are original, and priceless.

We have visited a number of castles over the years, not the least of which was the Tower of London. Chirk Castle stands remarkable for the authentic pre-modern feel of its environs. There was even a dungeon located 42 steps below ground level. It was cold, dank, and foreboding. An iron link hangs from the wall where poor souls met their own personal hell. Paraphrasing from Dante’s Inferno, “Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here!” seems appropriate. Interestingly enough, at only 20 steps below ground was an upper dungeon that featured a fireplace, table, and some vestiges of ventilation. It was where prisoners were held who might command a ransom for the keepers.

This being Easter weekend and a Bank Holiday there were many visitors, but never so many as to depreciate the enjoyment of our visit.

One “Easter hunt” was the challenge to find small semi-hidden stuffed wolfs within the castle. It was an activity for the children, but adults could participate.

Announce the correct number of hidden wolves at the end of the visit and you get a gold “well-done” sticker. Kris and I are happy to announce that we were among those who were successfully observant! The theme of wolves, as opposed to Easter Bunnies, is due to the history of the castle. Wolves were once kept on the grounds and chained as guards at the portcullis entry.

Another quirk of history attached to the castle has to do with the 1801 creation of the Chirk Tunnel on the canal. The Myddeltons of Chirk Castle took umbrage with the notion that a canal might despoil their view of the valley below. Thus they insisted that the canal be rerouted through the mountain rather than around it. Certainly this was not only proof of their influence, but also that the concept of “nymby” (not-in-my-back-yard) was alive and well 225 years ago.

Tomorrow we bid farewell to our dear friend and travel companion Kris Ashton. Christine and I look forward to further honing our narrowboat skills during a week of solo cruising before welcoming our Canadian friends Tom and Nanci aboard for our final week on England’s canals.

Peace Everyone. Pete

PS. More images of Chirk Castle follow below. Enjoy!

April 18, 2019. A Day at Rest in Port.

Posted on by Pete Schloss

After successfully negotiating the length of the Llangollen Canal over the last 6 days we rewarded ourselves with a stay over in the “port” of Llangollen in north Wales.

There could not have been a more perfect spot to have taken a breather. Indeed, the town of Llangollen has been a favorite tourist destination since the 1700’s, with such notables as Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott, and the Duke of Wellington being regular visitors.

The town has fought the good fight against modernization and has retained most of its old world charm. Today it hosts the annual International Eisteddfod, a world renowned festival featuring singers and dancers in competition attired in native dress. It is considered a high honor just to qualify for the competition.

Llangollen was founded as a religious settlement in the 6th Century by the monk, Saint Collen. The local church which bears his name traces its roots to that origin and although “modern” by Medieval standards, it has posted a list of its Vickers within its doors dating to 1348. Outside the entrance is a more contemporary posting that announces that the parish welcomes all, without regard to race, creed, national origin, economic circumstances, gender, or sexuality. How refreshing!

Llangollen has a population of nearly 4,000, and is situated in the River Dee Valley, at the edge of the Berwyn Mountains. The river has long been the heart of the town, its central bridge being a “new” structure that was built in the 1500’s, replacing the “old” bridge that was built around 1345.

The 600 year old water mill is now a restaurant that served us an excellent dinner.

The Llangollen canal is what brought us to the town and is a call to tens of thousands of tourists annually. It was completed in 1805, the labor of over 50,000 workers. It was said that where the soil was favorable 25 men could dig a mile of canal in the span of a year. The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct remains an engineering marvel to this day, spanning over 1,000 feet across the River Dee which cascades 127 feet below.

Above the town is a weir, the “Horseshoe Falls”, where waters are diverted to feed the canal.

The canal is justifiably designated as a World Heritage Site.

Our day was not just relaxation as we took the much needed opportunity to do laundry. Actually, for 7 Pounds 50, someone else washed, dried, and folded it for us. Tomorrow we begin the down water return. Since the canal flows at approximately 2 miles per hour it should be a faster passage, boosting our speed made good to an outrageous 4 mph.

Peace Everyone! Pete

PS. Kris departs from us at Chirk on the morning of the 20th. We will miss our wonderful traveling companion as she heads off to the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey. Christine and I will be solo until around the 26th, but the skills we have acquired will serve us well as we will then be joined by our Canadian friends, Tom and Nanci for the remainder of our “voyage”.