Ellesmere
After a day of isolation on the Montgomery, you may welcome the hustle and bustle of the market town of Ellesmere. There are some who may have decried the development at the Ellesmere Wharf, including a giant Tesco supermarket, but if you need groceries or toilet paper, you’ll really appreciate the convenience. And despite the canal-side development, the town still has a lot of charm, especially if you arrive during the somewhat annual boat rally in September. (Do a Google search to find out if there is a festival/boat rally and don’t confuse the Ellesmere on the Llangollen Canal with Ellesmere Port on the River Mersey.)
If there is a boat rally, you might be able to visit the historic Ellesmere repair yard, which dates back to the creation of the canal. The repair yard still makes and repairs the gates and paddles for the locks on the canal.
There are a number of restaurants and pubs in Ellesmere, the remains of a motte-and-bailey castle and the first of many meres that you’ll enjoy along the canal as you travel northeast. It’s pretty satisfying to pick up a pastie at Vermeulen & Son on Cross Street and take it to the mere to eat while being mobbed by ducks.
Ellesmere, as mentioned earlier, is where you could have started your canal trip at the ABC boat hire in the nearby Blackwater Marina. Or you may have decided to turn around at Ellesmere, but if you continue just a little further eastward, you can see one of the most beautiful stretches of the canal next to Blake Mere. The trees obscure the sky in spots and the reflections of those trees on the water turns the whole scene into an impressionist painting. Even better, there are several picnic tables along the mere and mooring is very easy.
These meres are glacial kettle lakes, created when melting chunks of glaciers caused depressions in the landscape.
After the excitement of Ellesmere the canal predictably returns to the placidity of the countryside. (By the way, I’m not being sarcastic here. After a tranquil day or two on the water, even a town of 4,000 seems hectic.) You still have another 13 miles to go before your next lock so there’s little to slow you down. Of course you might have picked up your boat at Bettisfield or at Whixall Marina at the end of the short Prees branch (either at Pea Green Boats or Hire A Canal Boat), although both these locations are in the middle of nowhere.
Along this stretch of the canal, the only items of interest I can offer you are the Fenn’s, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses and the Wem Moss national nature reserves. These reserves are peat bogs that are home to a lot of wildlife. Until the 1990s, the peat was cut up and used for fuel or compost. Visually the nature reserve is flat, brown and squelchy, but it’s worth a visit. All you have to do is moor near bridge 46, right at the junction with the Prees Branch, and walk a 1,000 feet to get there. So why not get out of the boat and enjoy the view.