Carrying on along the Grand Canal from Lowtown, we pass the entrance to the Edenderry Branch. All the bridges along this canal are in splendid condition.
Progress is being made with the back hatch. Having masked the black club and red edges, there is now only one coat of paint to do.
Wild moorings are just that on this canal!
There is a lot of peat cut, which is drying on the bog. Once cut it is called turf though, not peat! The construction of the Grand Canal was a long and expensive process, because of the instability of the bog, and the subsidence which this caused.
We have friends on the barge Float#1, which was moored above lock 21, the first of the locks leading down to Tullamore.
It is still a luxury to have lockkeepers to work us through the locks.
In Tullamore we visited the harbour for the first time. We were impressed with Tullamore, which has plenty of good shops, and the people there were extremely friendly and helpful.
Since we were here a month ago, three new footbridges over the canal have been completed, although they are not in use yet.
On leaving Tullamore we were delayed briefly at lock 28, by an obstruction on the lower cill. Several Waterways Ireland staff arrived though and it was soon sorted.
This is a ford for the cattle to cross the canal, but these ones are just cooling down.
This Church of Ireland at Rahan has been here for centuries, and is still in regular use.
When we were here last year this public house, The Thatch, was closed, but looks to be in full working order now!
No comments:
Post a Comment