Llangollen Canal - Not a straight forward Launch

Well it's half 2 in the afternoon and we've been on the water about an hour, despite arriving at the original destination at 9am. Turns out waterscape which quotes the most up to date information is slightly mis-informed. So the first launch is a launch which is indeed free but it doesn't link to the actual good bit of Llangollen (the highest aquaduct and some pretty long tunnels) it's just a short little bit and the rest has been filled in. 

Having driven through the night to make an early start this was disappointing to say the least. Nevertheless I went tourist information to find out where we should be. They were very helpful and sold me a map (£6) showing the road to where the actual launch was and the route to the aquaduct by canal. 

30min drive later we arrive at a lifting bridge which is up. The funny bit is the anti vandal key which I moaned about having very little use on the chesterfield canal (which in the end he wanted back and wouldn't sell me) was sure enough the key needed to drop this bridge. To top this we were down a tight country road with the boat on tow and waiting the other side of the road was a tractor and trailer. Little gives way to big and he was certainly bigger and once a boat came with a key to drop the bridge we had to get the car and boat out of the way of the tractor. 

Having got around this problem we then faced a ford, the boat looked in place as that was 2ft deep. But just past the ford was "Canal Central" - sounded just the job. However, as things seem to be in Wales "Canal Central" was far from it. No such launch and no access to the aquaduct. He however pointed me in the direction of the "launch" as by this point I was thinking it would've maybe been quicker to Launch at Chapel Hill, Lincolnshire and boat it to Wales. 

Rather than just keep driving to the next place to be told no there isn't a slipway here I asked for a phone number. In keeping with the rest of the trip so far the number didn't ring, just straight to user busy. So now it's 11am we have been up all night and still no slipway. I decided to call the "emergency line" for canals and rivers trust. Bit extreme but I felt it was an emergency. 

Sure enough they got me sorted quickly and the nearest slipway called me to offer their services. Off on our way to Maestermyn (which I still can't say) postcode SY114NU tel:01691662424 they charged £10 to launch and £4 for 4 days securish parking. They also have a chandlery (mind you they don't know where anything is or how much that item is when you find it - but there is a Chandlery). They are also Honda Marine Dealership which I found very cool (seeing as Honda the best engine). 

Everything sorted we set off on the Llangollen Canal. Easy as that.