We woke up yesterday morning to find rain and really dark clouds all around. So we waited and waited.

At 1.00pm the skies cleared and we set off.

We had 3 locks to go through before the Grindley 3 rise.

The first lock was easy, however, the Llangollen is fed by a river, which means a constant current flowing all the time. As we waited to approach the second lock, the overflow channel had such a force of water flowing through it, it pinned us to the side. So much so, we had to wave the next boat through to the open lock, so we could free our boat up and proceed. The force of the water was so great, it was the first time we had to use full power to push the boat through it. We did hit the brickwork on entering the lock at full speed, but the Llangollen is very narrow in places.

We completed the Grindley rise in rain, but proceeded on. Finally mooring in the middle of nowhere.

It was very cold last night so for the first time since May we lit the fire.

Today we did 8 miles through very agricultural scenery, and arrived at Ellesmere. On approaching the town we passed the lake Mere which the town is named after

We will be staying overnight in the arm leading into the town, then tomorrow, we wll turn the boat around and moor it in the local marina for a week. This is because we are travelling to Ireland for 5 nights with friends in North Wales. We have wanted to see the "Titanic" exhibition in Belfast, since it opened lat year, and our friends have arranged it all for us.

Unfortunately this means the blog will not be updated next until Friday 7th September. But thank you all for following our little adventure. (So far 2800 views)