The weather managed to stay dry for day 2 of the Maesbury Festival even though there were plenty of rain clouds hanging around. Just after 10am the fisherman arrived for their competition which was organised by Morgan's the local Angling and Gun store. At the same time a member of the Canal society invited us to join them in dedicating the new milepost recently mounted on the other side of Gronwen bridge where we are currently moored. The unveiling was done by the wife of the owner of Peate's Mill whose dedication plaque is alongside of the milepost.
As the weather appeared to be staying reasonably fine we set off for a walk around the surrounding lane's and finished up at Redwith bridge No 83 where the Shropshire Union Canal Society volunteer's were putting in a hard days graft on canal restoration. This bridge had been replaced a couple of years ago and the volunteers were building new channel walls. The towpath up to bridge 84 has been completed and the latter bridge is still standing, from here the canal has been cleared and is the next section for restoration to Crickheath wharf where there is a winding hole. Once this has been completed navigation will be extended from Gronwen bridge to Crickheath wharf.
Our return to the boat was via the towpath where we passed an expensive waterside property where an expensive retaining wall with an inset mooring has been built. We could only assume that the property owner had paid for this himself as we couldn't imagine the Canal society paying for it. A little way further along the canal a new lift bridge has been built just to enable the farmer to access his land on both sides of the canal.
After lunch we walked back to the main festival site where things were starting to wind down and stall holders were in the process of packing up. The only attraction that caught our eye was a steam powered automobile. The owner of this beautifully rebuilt vehicle was not really the chatty kind and was predisposed to keeping people away from the vehicle so I couldn't find out anything about it. When they drove away from the site they sounded their horn (steam whistle) as they approached the bridge. It sounded more like a steam engine (train) than a car so any one hearing it would wonder what the heck was coming towards them.
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