Narrowboating in England and Wales, Part II

Our third day was very nice. I think we actually all wore shorts! We awoke refreshed and promptly had a mild ruh-roh! when the boat wouldn't start the morning after having a battery replaced. Craig had just pumped out a ton of water from the bilge - so much so that Val and I watched him and the boat rise up like a foot - and we were nervous about that. But Val and Craig checked the manual and it then started right up - operator error. With all of the hullaballoo, Craig left one of the mooring spikes in the bank of the canal and we didn't notice until hours later. Whoops! We decided to search for it upon our return. Luckily, there are extra ones that we call "paper clips" because that's exactly what they look like. They hook onto the steel walls which run along some of the canal and one just ties the rope to it. Ingenious, but you needed the right kind of steel wall. Lucky for us, that type of wall was prevalent where we moored.

We made it to Whitchurch in the early afternoon just in time for rain.
We shopped at the Tesco with everyone and then had a pub lunch with Cathy who was awaiting her brother's arrival. He was joining them for the rest of the week. Hugh showed up and they went to find their boat. Meanwhile, Hamish had left the mooring spot with Val & Company's boat (Cathy knew that) but didn't have his phone so I wound up relaying info to Val who then texted me back so I could text Cathy since Val didn't have Cathy's number and they finally reconnoitered. Crazy Brits!!! Well, crazy Hamish. Craig says he is "classic" and that describes him exactly. He is a great guy.
So we returned to the boat via a quick bus ride (best three pounds ever spent). We slept well and started out at 0800 after the kids invited a cat onto the boat for a milky snack and a short visit.

The fourth day had been one of lift bridges. Owen gets out prior to the bridge, jogs up to it and lifts it using a windlass (supplied with the boat). Here is a video of the entire production:


We stopped at a canalside shop owned by a resident. It was in part of their barn. We got a bit of stuff for lunch: cheese, pork pies, ice cream. All were yummy and homemade.



We cruised to Ellesmere to moor for the night after finding our mooring spike still stuck in the bank exactly where we had left it! Woohoo!
We ate in a so-so pub in Ellesmere
where one can apparently eat "carves" liver
and again slept like the dead.
Evan and Finn so need a haircut and we were so tempted to go here, but who knows how mod Mr. Mod really is?

On the fifth day, we all had a huge lie-in (even Owen) and then walked to the posher side of Ellesmere which included the Mere, a giant lake and one of nine glacial meres in the area.
The kids played at a playground near the Mere while I visited a cemetery.
We returned to the boat for microwaved jacket potatoes and shoved off for Hindford.
Erin B. - look at this sign. If you had a brother named Gob (and thankfully, you don't), he'd have a town named after him!
This little village was perfect. The pub, The Jack Mytton Inn, was SPECTACULAR!
I had one of the best meals ever during our time in this country in this like totally in the middle of nowhere town.
It is very worthwhile to read the following link about John "Mad Jack" Mytton.

I also spotted a 'GR' wall box from the reign of King George V that has probably been standing at this spot since around 1925. There is a chance that is was a King George VI box as they installed all of the surplus 'GR' models before making ones with George VI's cypher.