This was our first trip on Tanglewood with the whole family. My parents and sisters live in the North-West of England so the intention was to use the boat as a floating hotel. In previous years, we have stayed with my parents in Stockton Heath near Warrington, but they were finding it more difficult to cope with. The Anglo Welsh base at Trevor is only a 45 minute drive away so it seemed an ideal opportunity to visit them and for some boating.
The original plan was to travel from Southampton to Trevor on Friday the 16th of December and return the following Friday. However, we were invited to a Dinner Dance on the first Friday organised by our local amateur dramatics group, so we delayed the start of our trip until Saturday, and then we had to return early because Lucy, our eldest, had to go into work at Waitrose on the two days before Christmas. Our early return also meant that Jen and I could attend the Tecton Christmas lunch. Tecton are the main client of my electronic design consultancy and their CCTV recording systems captured many of the images of the suspected London bombers, a rather unfortunate claim to fame.
Saturday 17th Dec 2005
We left home after Lucy had returned from her 7am to 10am shift at Waitrose. The Anglo Welsh boatyard would not normally have been open, but the manager, Mike Williams, had kindly agreed to meet us there at between 3:30 and 4pm.
The roads were remarkably clear and we made better time than expected, arriving nearly an hour earlier than expected. Tanglewood was there waiting for us, but locked up, so we put our belongings in a heap on the stern lockers. When Mike arrived, it turned out that he had left the keys hidden for us, but we weren't clever enough to find them.
We loaded everything onto the nice warm boat, apart from the Christmas presents, and then set off slowly towards the aqueduct. The canal basin was full of leaves, which soon enveloped the propeller, so progress was punctuated by many bursts of reverse gear to try to clear it.
We decided to travel over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct at turn at the winding hole at Froncysyllte, then moor facing back towards Trevor. I was relieved to find that the tiller was now moving freely, compared to the maiden voyage back in May.
Sunday 18th Dec 2005
After breakfast, we walked back across the aqueduct to the boatyard to collect the car, taking a torch with us since we would be walking back across in the dark when we returned in the evening.
We had a pleasant day in Stockton Heath with my elder sister Liz, brother-in-law Jim, younger sister Jan and my parents. Unfortunately, my nieces could not be there due to work commitments.
We arranged to meet up the following day at Llangollen without my parents, who didn't want to brave the cold and my mother would have found it difficult to get onto the boat and down the steps. It was raining when we left in the evening, but the sky cleared and the moon was bright as we walked back across the aqueduct. The only use for the torch was to demonstrate that its 1 million candle-power was bright enough to illuminate the surrounding hillsides.
Monday 19th Dec 2005
By our normal standards, we had a lie-in today followed by a leisurely breakfast and a scramble down into the valley to photograph the aqueduct as the sun rose.
Then we set off, back across the aqueduct again, but aboard Tanglewood this time, with the sun casting a spectacular shadow across the Dee valley.
At the boatyard, we turned left towards Llangollen, planning to meet Liz, Jim and Jan in the late morning. After about half a mile, Jen and Lucy got off the boat to walk along the towpath. In the end, they walked all the way to Llangollen, ringing on their mobile phones to say if it was clear to enter the narrows. I assumed that we would be the only boat on the move that day, but there was one boat leaving Llangollen and two more that arrived later that day. We have used PMR radios in the past, but our phone contract allows free calls between family members. In any case, the range of PMR radios may be 3km in ideal open air conditions, but they are hopeless in the wooded mountains of Wales.
Liz phoned when they arrived in Llangollen and they walked along the canal to meet us in the final stretch of narrows, coming aboard for the final hundred yards. There had been half-a-dozen boats on the towpath moorings, but the new marina was empty as I winded the boat and reversed alongside a pontoon. At this point, Liz was feeling quite seasick and was glad to reach dry land, commenting that the ground felt like it was moving. Reaching this state after just ten minutes on a boat must be some kind of record.
We had lunch at The Corn Mill by the river. The food was excellent and we would highly recommend it. Then we went for a short walk towards the Horseshoe Falls, before returning to the boat. Our visitors left before it got dark, and we spent the evening playing silly card games.
Tuesday 20th Dec 2005
The original plan was to cruise to Chirk today, but we changed our minds and had a lazy day of shopping and sightseeing in Llangollen. After lunch, we dragged Lucy, Robert and Rosemary out on a walk to Horseshoe Falls and then back via Dinas Bran Castle, on a hill about 1000 feet up from the village. You can see back towards the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct from here, although it is not obvious in this photograph.
Returning to Tanglewood, we read the small-print on the notices in the marina, telling us that although the mooring and electric hook-up was free during the winter, mooring was not permitted in the marina. We knew that we were only allowed to stay for 48 hours, but had no idea that only the towpath moorings were in use. Having broken the rules for one night, and as it was now dark, there seemed little point in moving.
Wednesday 21st Dec 2005
Jen and I were in the town watching the steam trains and Lucy, Robert and Rosemary were filling the water tank when the man from British Waterways arrived. Knowing we were in the wrong, Robert assumed he was about to be reprimanded, but all he said was that we could only stay 48 hours, so it appeared that he didn't know about the mooring restriction either.
We left after lunch, having stayed for 49½ hours and feeling like criminals on the run. All the boats that we had passed on the way in on Monday were all still there on the towpath moorings and still hooked-up to the free electricity, so obviously the 48 hour rule didn't apply to them....
I insisted that there would be no boats in the narrows, but Jen insisted on walking ahead. Inevitably, a boat was just entering as Jen got to the far end so she was right and I was wrong - yet again.
We moored past the lift-bridge about a mile before the Sun Trevor pub. Obviously it was dark as we walked to the pub for our evening meal, but we had the 1 million candle-power rechargeable torch to light our way. The food was good, apart from the vegetables which had been cooked beyond recognition.
We almost got back to the boat before the torch faded. These torches are far too bright and would be much more useful if they lasted longer after recharging.
Thursday 22nd Dec 2005
We arrived back at the boatyard at 10:30am, and thanked Mike and his staff. Tanglewood was due out the following day on a two week booking over Christmas and the New Year and Mike was worried because he couldn't plan when to get the boat into the shed for painting and winter maintenance. It's a two edged sword. We want the boat to stay looking good, but we also like the idea that it is bringing in rental income for as much of the year as possible. We don't know when we will be back on Tanglewood. She is a completely different boat from Hawksmoor , in which we have a share, but wonderful for Lucy, Robert and Rosemary who can each have a separate bedroom. It would be good to return sometime slightly less out-of-season when we would have more than eight hours of daylight.