Frankton to the River Perry (section 1).

Revised .

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The information precedes the photo to which it refers.

Frankton Top Lock looking towards the old toll office and the junction with the Llangollen Canal. Waiting boats can just be seen past the top gate. The whole area is well maintained.

Frankton Staircase Locks viewed from the middle lock, past the lock keepers cottage. The lock keeper responsible for looking after the area is a holder of the Lock Keeper of the Year award.

Below Frankton Middle Lock is the site of the dry dock where "Cressy", the narrow boat featured in "NARROW BOAT" by the late L.T.C. ROLT , the publication of which fired the enthusiasm which was later to produce the birth of the INLAND WATERWAYS ASSOCIATION. The stone slabs on which the boats used to rest whilst in the dock can clearly be seen in the photo. The old dock now forms part of a well kept Private Garden but is easily viewed from the canal towpath and lock area.

Frankton Dry Dock. Another view of the old dry dock, this time showing the site of its entrance (which is marked by a post). The stone slabs on which the boats used to rest ar e a prominent faeture of this very attractive garden.

Leaving Frankton Bottom Lock as seen from the stern of a narrow heading towards Lock Gate Bridge.

The Weston Arm as seen from under Lock Gate Bridge. The old stable block, noww utilised as a sanitary station, is seen to the right of the canal. Short term moorings for the use of visitors are available at this point. There is also a convenient car park adjacent to the moorings also for the use of visitors .

The overflow on the approach to the new Graham Palmer Lock is easily seen on the off side between the , now well established, herbage lining the banks on both sides of the canal.

The Graham Palmer Lock, named after the late Graham Palmer, a founder of the Waterways Recovery Group and an inexhaustible enthusiast of the Montgomery Canal restoration work. A commemoration stone in his memory is sited adjacent to the lock. The lock itself is very shallow and was constructed to during the restoration to compensate for changes to the ground levels that had occurred in the peaty ground since the canals original construction some 200 years before.

Approaching the site of the 1936 breach. The sum of £400 could not be found by the canals owners (the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company) to repair what at the time was a small breach on the off side, near to the Perry Aqueduct. This omission resulted in 1944 of the legal abandonment of the canal. (But of course now reopened). The modern construction of the canal channel with sloping sides to both banks is not user friendly for boaters as it is not possible to moor along this section.

The new Perry Aqueduct is of steel trough construction and spans the River Perry at the site of the old stone constructed aqueduct which had been demolished, most of the stone having being removed from the site. The trough is supported at both ends on deep piled concrete supports. The towpath seen here has visitor moorings on the approach to enable visitors to disembark and examine the aqueducts construction.

A side on view of the Perry Aqueduct showing the river passing below between the large boulders that line the banks to give some stability to the unstable ground. The substantial construction of the trough is easily viewed at this point.

Leaving the Perry Aqueduct seen in the distance we pass through tree lined banks. The banks are of gabion basket construction. Sections of hollow concrete blocks filled with compost protect the, now well established, reeds and water plants lining the banks and once more giving the area a 'natural' look.

If you wish to see the approach to the Aqueduct prior to restoration CLICK HERE.

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