The canal is a very old one, originally connecting the agricultural heartlands of Montgomeryshire with the Llangollen Canal at Frankton. Like many canals, it went into decline very early in the railway era, and was finally closed to traffic in the 1930's. Since then, it has suffered from some over-building, but long stretches of it have remained "in water" and it has become a tranquil linear water park with a rich flora and fauna. It is now undergoing a revival as long stretches of it are being restored to navigation with the long term goal of reconnecting almost the entire original length to the remainder of the canal system. Welshpool is in the middle of quite a long navigable, but isolated, stretch. There are a few private boats on this stretch, and a couple of trip boats, but traffic is very light. This is the kind of waterway that Winsome was designed to cruise, provided we can launch the boat.
Tonia Parry, our contact at the Tourism Services Unit, told us about the slipway and mini-marina in the main public carpark in Welshpool. This is a modern (re)construction, but it is presumably the site of the original commercial canal "port" at Welshpool. The slipway may be a little narrow for a regular narrow boat, but is absolutely perfect for Winsome. When empty, Winsome's bow is almost clear of the water at the bow, and the Welshpool slipway is very shallow at the landward end, shelving steeply from about two feet into the water. This meant we could launch Winsome easily without getting our feet wet. There is a road down from the carpark and a turning spot that we used to unload Winsome from the roof rack (see below).
AFter a couple of short runs around the pound for photographs and demonstration, we said goodbye to our friends from the Tourism Services Unit, and set off North for Pool Quay. There used to be a pub at Pool Quay, but this has now closed so we had to stock up with sandwiches and drink in Welshpool.
The canal going North from Welshpool is initially very narrow, and perhaps because there is not a lot of boating traffic at the moment, and very little natural flow to the canal, a lot of floating vegetation has accumulated in the narrow spots. Our progress was somewhat hampered by the need to keep the bow clear of dead, but floating, reeds, which occasionally snagged the rudder and propeller as well. For this reason, our average speed on the Monty was not much more than 3mph, although in the clearer and wider stretches Winsome managed her normal cruising speed. Cruising the Monty is a little like cruising the Mon&Brec at the very start of the season, when all the winter debris and early season bank maintenance has clogged the canal. We assume that on the Mon&Brec this is cleared by the boat traffic when the cruising season gets underway, but BW also do weed clearance runs with an amazing paddle-boat that has a front end like a water-borne combine harvester. Perhaps they don't do this on the Monty.
The canal moves through some lovely countryside, and doesn't twist and turn as much as the Mon&Brec. Outside the town of Welshpool, it broadens out a bit in places, but we were quite glad we didn't encounter any other boats we would have had to pass. This might not be too much of a problem at busier times - if there ARE any of these on the Monty! - because the canal is relatively straight and you can always wait in a wide bit for oncoming traffic.
There are a couple of lift bridges between Welshpool and Pool Quay, and these are much simpler to operate than the hydraulic type we have encountered before. They are finely counter-balanced - see below - and you just pull on a chain to raise them to the vertical position. However, from the Winsomer's point of view, it's important to remember that these balance bridges are only stable when fully open or fully closed. Our normal practice of partially opening those bridges we have to open at all is not to be recommended on the Monty. Having said that, they are much quicker and more satisfying to operate, and you don't need a winch handle.
We arrived at what we thought was the deserted lock at Pool Quay in time for lunch. As it turned out, however, there was a huge boat already in the lock coming southwards. This was the trip boat Heulwen II, (see below) which together with her sister boat Heulwen I operate round the year excursions for the disabled or in this case parties of the elderly. The boats have been specially adapted for wheelchair access, and the trips are free. They don't run at weekends or bank holidays because they are crewed by employees of the charitable trust that own them.
After lunch we explored Pool Quay a little, but could find little trace of the original river port which marked the highest point of Severn navigation. When we returned to Winsome, the trip boat had gone South towards Welshpool, so although this would make our return run somewhat slower, we hoped that Heulwen would at least clear some of the vegetation from the canal surface for us. Alas, this didn't happen, so our return trip was again punctuated by frequent stoppages for reed clearance.
But all in all, a good day. On the drive home, we checked out a more southerly stretch of the Monty above Berriew. We had been warned that this might be even weedier, but it didn't seem to be. We could get there from Welshpool, although we would need to pass through a few locks to do so. We're going to come back some time to try this stretch.
The Monty is a great cruising ground for an experienced Winsomer, though a bit challenging for the beginner. If the Monty were more popular with boats, no doubt its water would be clearer for navigation in a low power propeller driven craft like Winsome. But then it would probably lose some of its charm, and it would not be the haven for wildlife and vegetation it is today.
