Lleaving the Llangollen

We're going down and they're going up as we cross in the middle of Bunbury staircase


We finally left the Llangollen today after a thoroughly enjoyable trip. It might be busy with hire boats but it is a lovely canal, packed with things to see and do and the scenery is marvellous, especially the closer you get to Wales.
But today we dropped down the four Hurleston locks, swung left and headed up the Shroppie en route to Chester. And were immediately in for a shock. The locks on this northern end of the Shroppie are wide and super-heavy. Not nice at all - especially once it started to rain.
The first ones were a brain teaser too; a two lock staircase so in the middle you can find yourself with one boat going up and another going down in the same lock! Weird.
But after struggling through four of these hefty locks we finally moored up by The Shady Oak pub at Tiverton, overlooking the monumental remains of Beeston Castle up on a rocky hill. The pub meal was spot on: straightforward stuff (cottage pie and fish & chips) but beautifully cooked and very tasty. Plus a couple of yummy home-made puds as well. All at a decent price. It's not rocket science but why can so few pubs manage it?