Sunday 19th May

A sad day as Penny and Jim were leaving us – though equally as sad is that it was a really lovely day after all the rotten weather we have had during the last week.  It has been pretty chaotic having four adults and two dogs on board – especially as one is a real nutcase!  But, as last year, by this morning we had got bed making down to a fine art!  I will miss them all and Muffin will certainly miss Niamh – I’m not sure that Niamh will miss Muffin though!

End of the navigable section

After Penny and Jim left we moved up the canal to Maesbury Marsh to fill up with water and empty the toilet cassettes then went through the bridge to the 48 hour moorings there.  I did two loads of washing and hung it all out in the gorgeous sunshine.

Morton Farm Lift Bridge

I spent the rest of the day catching up on the blog and other bits and pieces while Richard changed the engine oil and painted half of the rear deck.

When it cooled down (yes it did get hot today) we took Muffin for a walk to see how the restoration of the canal is going, so today’s photos are an assortment of the ones I took on our walk.



End of the "in water" section

As there is very little to write about today I thought I would give you some history on the Montgomery Canal.

Work in progress

The Montgomery Canal was originally the Llanymynech Branch of the Ellesmere Canal and the Montgomeryshire Canal.  The proposal of a canal from Llanymynech to Welshpool was made in 1792, to extend the Llanymynech Branch of the Ellesmere Canal, which was itself still then only a proposal. By 1793 it had been decided that the canal should continue through to Newtown.  The canal was completed in 1821.

Almost finished

The Monty fell into disuse following a breach in 1936, and was officially abandoned in 1944. With the revival of canal use in the late 20th century, the canal became known as the Montgomery Canal. 



The next section to be worked on

At present only 7 miles of the northern section, from Frankton Junction to Gronwyn Wharf, a short stretch at Llanymynech, and a central section of the canal around Welshpool are navigable, though restoration work continues to expand this. The canal does not, and never did, go to the town of Montgomery.