Ellesmere Port

This morning we set off to Ellesmere Port.  The sun shone all day and even though the wind was a bit bitter at times it was perfect cruising weather; the sort of day that makes me glad we're not holed up in a marina yet.

The canal follows the city walls for a while and this section of the towpath is well used by walkers, but is a bit of a rat- race for cyclists.

There's a staircase of three locks which take you down onto the Ellesmere Port section of the canal and the views of the Welsh Hills from the top lock are quite spectacular.

I didn't enjoy taking the boat down the locks as they're VERY deep. When we come back next week, Roger can steer and I'll do the work; much more fun!

We passed this field full of rare breed Jacob's sheep. Unfortunately my freezer is full, otherwise I might have been tempted to stop and buy some.

The ram in the field had been having fun. Several of the ewes had his red mark on their backs and there were plenty left for him to service.

We arrived at Ellesmere Port around 3pm. We hadn't seen any other moving boats all day and there was only one other moored boat in the basin.

This boat had a winter mooring permit in it's window so must be here for the duration, which only leaves one space on the visitor moorings, now occupied by us. It's quite an unusual layout for a boat as it only has windows on one side. In all our years building boats we were never asked for anything like that. I'm intrigued as to the internal lay-out so might have to get chatting to them tomorrow.