ESHT 2014 - Several signs in Llangollen that caught my eye, plus some family news

I missed posting yesterday, Saturday, December 6. You see, I most often work on my daily post the night before, setting it up to post the next morning at 3:30 a.m. I failed to do that Friday night, mainly due to several swigs of Jamesons and two vodka-infused Jell-o shots which I thoroughly enjoyed with my two sons, Lamont and Leland, and Leland's girlfriend Rachel. We met at the Blue Diamond after I got off work Friday to celebrate my younger son Leland's new job which he starts on Monday, December 8. Finally, after years of trying, he has the chance to put to use his civil engineering technology associate's degree with Ascentec Engineering, a company that--I read on the Internet--engages in the design, development, and manufacture of fixtures and tools for the electronics assembly industry. He'll be driving to Tualatin, a nearby suburb. Leland begins as a design intern. We all believe that the sky's the limit!

Back to the lack of a Saturday post, on Saturday I spent three hours getting to and back from a fine lecture at the Architectural Heritage Center: Portland 101: Crooked Grids, Tiny Blocks, and the Building of the City . . . How did Portland get this way, with its little square blocks and weird intersections, the funny pronunciations and the bridge ramps to nowhere? Why is it even located where it is? There’s a reason for everything (we didn’t say a good reason…)!
Stone carver’s mistakes, upside-down pineapples, and mythical tunnels are just part of the things true Portland residents should know about – we’ll look at the grid, the naming and re-naming of our streets, and the eras of commercial architecture that have marked our compact and vibrant downtown, as well as the near blitzkrieg effect of the Great Demolition which left us with parking lots where the temples of finance and industry once stood. Long time AHC Education Committee member Robert Jordan will guide us through 150 years of Portland’s development – a great overview for those just getting interested in Portland’s architectural heritage as well as for anyone who ever wondered, “Why did they do THAT?” 

Afterward, Leland and his sweetheart Rachel picked me up and we went to nearby Lloyd Center, a shopping mall with a food court, for lunch and a successful adventure in shopping for business casual pants. Yes, successful in that we found three pair which are now in Leland's possession as early Christmas presents from me--sweet! Successful in that we survived the uncomfortable heat inside the stores at the mall.

By the time I got home, I had just enough energy left to gather my canned good contributions for the Oregon Food Bank barrel at the Blue Diamond and to walk over there. After placing them in the barrel, I sat down at the bar and drank several glasses of water and enjoyed talking with Janessa, bartender, and Trace, cook--two of my favorite young people to whom I did not give birth! Then, I ate half an order of chicken black bean nachos, drank a hot toddy with half a shot of Fireball in it, thanks to a kind young man who overheard me talking about only needing a half shot--he's new to the Blue Diamond and had no idea just how big the shot glasses are there! After deciding to buy a shot, he shared half with his lady friend and half with me for my hot toddy! So, when I got home, I got on my comfy clothes and headed for the recliner and the heating pads. No contest, I fell asleep with the best intentions of getting up in a few minutes and blogging! Now, it's Sunday morning and I'm blogging for today, hopefully for tomorrow and maybe even a few days in the future!




Hughes! I like that and the fact that the word's on a nice-looking corner store selling quality fruit and vegetables right next door to another store selling meats and cheeses, also a deli. Serendipity! I put this photo on Facebook yesterday because my son Leland's first name is Hughes, plus he and his brother have had careers involving food since 1994--Lamont started at a busboy at Bravo! in Jackson, Mississippi, our former hometown, while Leland began there as a dishwasher; over time they both ended up at 3 Doors Down Cafe in Portland, Lamont as sous chef, Leland as line and prep cook, all skills learned on the job with the added touch of inherited talent from their dearly departed Daddy whose skills exceeded mine, masterfully.

And, since Leland's changing careers tomorrow, this photo should be shared today on the blog. Lamont will continue his work at Provvista Specialty Foods where he runs the company's lunch program (cooking lunch daily from fresh ingredients, scratch recipes, for 50 employees) and afternoons he maneuvers all sorts of cheese, including 80-pound wheels imported from Italy, into the sizes sold to restaurants and grocery stores around the Pacific Northwest. With his new job, Leland no longer has to get up at 3:15 a.m. Monday through Thursday to drive a truck full of ordered/sold goods to another driver in the Seattle area, then drive the empty truck back to Portland. Yea for Leland! Plus, Lamont's satisfied to have a job which makes good use of his skills and talents plus allows him to have weekends off. No more restaurant kitchens for either son.



Around the corner, I came across this sign--I immediately noticed bulldog since I'm a loyal Dawgs myself, a Mississippi State University Bulldog, to be precise. Talk about serendipity! Plus, I enjoyed the humor in the sign--dogs welcome, owners allowed.



Then I turned to my left to check out the other sign at The Bull. Hmmm. I'll bet we'd have walked in to check it out if we weren't already completely satisfied with our lunch at the Buttered Crust. I particularly like that item, Roast Served Daily. However, in checking some online reviews, disappointment most likely would have ensued.

ESHT 2014 - Sights around Llangollen, No. 1 - plus a perfect lunch

The railroad station made me want to find some lunch quickly and walk back to the bridge, at least, so that I could take some photos.



The Buttered Crust, right across the street from where Tommy parked the coach, proved to be the perfect spot of a delicious, quick, and fortifying lunch.



The clean, bright, spacious downstairs dining area. We almost had to go upstairs to find a table, but just as we were discussing it, a couple got up from their table by the window. Yea for us!



How about that statement hanging across the fireplace? I liked it just as much as I did the message on the chalkboard: Please take a seat ... a member of the staff will be with you shortly. That's exactly what happened. That's a bookstore attached to the Buttered Crust.



A roll to butter, the butter pat wrapped in foil and waiting right there. Hot, tasty, satisfying leek soup. Yummy. Both of us got the same thing and ate all of it.



For the rest of lunch, both of us ordered jacket potatoes and salad. Once again, hot and tasty--the potato, crispy and tasty--the salad.



Next up, walking the streets to see as much as possible in the limited time we had. I couldn't pass up taking this photo of these sunflowers--I love sunflowers!



Wide shot to put the location of the sunflowers in perspective. Creative problem solving in the parking on the narrow street.

ESHT 2014 - On the way to Llangollen, photos taken through the coach window

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Just so you know, I took so many photos in Llangollen that I'm having a time deciding what to share with y'all. So, as I'm doing this post on Wednesday night at 9:01 p.m., in Portland, Oregon, I'm worn out and see the recliner and my heating pads over there across the room--they're calling to me, y'all. Therefore, only a few photos for the post scheduled to appear at 3:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, Portland time.



Boulder alert, Lamont and Leland! Check out these I somehow noticed as we drove along. I've straightened, cropped, and work on the exposure.



Can you believe this gorgeous scenery? Massive rolling hills and valleys, well-maintained fields for livestock, trees everywhere. I wonder what this view looked like when the autumn leaves made their appearance?

Come back tomorrow for photos taken in Llangollen itself.

ESHT 2014 - What I saw on my walk across the aqueduct and back to the coach

To my right: These trees seem to be right at the beginning of changing their colors. Would love to be there when they're at their fall foliage peak.



To my right: A closeup of the bridge over the River Dee. On Google Maps, I think I've found the correct bridge--it's on the Gate Road. I'm going Google Map walking!



To my right: An even closer look at the bridge. I wonder how old it is? And why do the supports make that diamond-shaped space available? In one of my Google Walk shots, I noticed a pedestrian/walker standing in this very space, looking at the river. Perhaps whenever this bridge was built, the designer wanted to provide a spot for people to stop and take in the beauty of the River Dee and its surroundings. At each end of the bridge there's a round white sign with a red border that reads >6'6"< which I take to mean the width of the bridge. Right below it on the same pole is another sign that says "Except buses and coaches," in English and Welsh. Does that mean no bus, no coach? I'll bet the coach we were on was wider than that!



To my left: With all of those clouds, the random appearance of the sun proved fleeting. The haze impacted the view, too.



To my left: See what I mean?



To my left: I like this one best--sweet shadow beneath the tree in the corner of that field.



To my left: A close up a few seconds later and you can see how the shadow beneath the tree has already changed.



To my left: Here's the River Dee, and in the distance, the Cefn Mawr Viaduct. To find it, look above the last of the visible water, then above all of those trees. See the row of arches?



To my left: Here's a close up for you, taken through the haze, shown straight out of the camera. I read this on the Internet: The Cefn Mawr sandstone Viaduct, built by Thomas Brassey, railway contractor, in 1848 to carry the Shrewsbury and Chester railway across the valley of the River Dee.

I also read this on the Internet: The Chester and Shrewsbury railway runs at the eastern end of the Vale of Llangollen, beyond the parish boundary, passing through Cefn Mawr on route from Chester to Shrewsbury. It is carried over the River Dee by a stupendous viaduct, half a mile down stream from the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. It measures one thousand five hundred and eight feet in length, and stands one hundred and forty-seven feet above the level of the river. The structure is supported by nineteen arches with sixty foot spans. Construction on the viaduct began started in 1846 and was completed in 1848. Civil engineer and railroad pioneer Henry Robertson completed plans for crossing the River Dee at Cefn Mawr.

What was instrumental to the ability to complete the construction of both the Cefn Viaduct and the Chirk Viaduct in only two years was the Shropshire Union Canal or what is now called the Llangollen Canal for the shipment of sandstone form the quarries of Cefn Mawr on the north side of the River Dee valley across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct to the south side and onwards to the Ceiriog Valley.

So cool! We really touched history on our aqueduct adventure!



Here's a view of the Poncysyllte Aqueduct that shows you the landscape on both sides at once. The overcast increased, and I soon turned around and started walking back to the coach.



As I neared the entrance to the aqueduct, I stopped for a moment and then looked down. Imagine my surprise when I saw this path made of steps. I like the curves of it in juxtaposition with the rectangles made by the steps.



Close up--really cool.



One more close up. I couldn't stop looking, and considering my fear of heights, I feel blessed to have been able to see this path.



I glanced up the slope and saw this man with his bicycle. So neat!



Pretty roses in bloom in early October.



To me, this house looks much larger than others nearby.



One last look at the autumn roses. Next post--I start my photos of Llangollen!

ESHT 2014 - The narrow boat and the canal on the aqueduct

Sweet map. See the aqueduct over the River Dee in the center of the map? Look above it in the light gray area and find the words Anglo Welsh Boat Hire. Where the arrow points to the right from those words is where we began our aqueduct adventure, crossing that narrow little footbridge and turning right to walk along the towpath. Look to the left of the footbridge at the three white buildings with their black roofs in the parking lot. Right up against the back of those buildings, you'll see the narrow bridge on the New Road--the one Tommy tried to drive the coach over and couldn't because of its width and angles. Look down the canal from the footbridge towards the aqueduct itself. See the canal that dead ends into the waterway that crosses the aqueduct? It goes to Llangollen, which is where I think the couple on the Prince had been and now they're on their way back to Chirk--see the arrow at the bottom right of the map--and the end of their adventure so that they can return the Prince to Crest Narrowboats.



The couple on the Prince.



They certainly look relaxed.



Now that they're nearing the aqueduct which is 126 feet above the River Dee, the man appears more engaged as he guides the boat. I would be, too, if I were in charge. Not that I'd be brave enough to give it a go. Remember reading this a couple of days ago on the blog? The trough sides rise only about 6 inches (15 cm) above the water level, less than the depth of freeboard of an empty narrow boat, so the helmsman of the boat has no visual protection from the impression of being at the edge of an abyss. Scary sounding to me. And here's some advice about being on the narrowboat from the Canal & River Trust Web site: It is recommended that elderly passengers, children and pets should remain inside the craft during the crossing.

From the Canal & River Trust Web side: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Everyone should experience a trip over Thomas Telford and William Jessop's awe-inspiring Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, by boat or on foot. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument; a Grade I Listed structure – and in June 2009 became a World Heritage site, putting it on an equal footing with the Great Barrier Reef and Statue of Liberty. The aqueduct, taking the Llangollen Canal over the beautiful River Dee valley, is 1000 feet long and 125 feet high. Such distances had never before been conquered, until Telford's audacious decision to build it by laying an iron water-carrying trough on stone piers. To this day, the joints are effectively sealed using a mixture of flannel and lead dipped in liquid sugar. For those crossing in a narrowboat, the effect is that of being suspended in mid-air. The iron trough sits about a foot above the water level and is unprotected on one side - so on one side of the boat there is nothing but 128 feet of air to the valley floor below.

And for the non-Welsh speaker, Pontcysyllte is pronounced 'pont-ker-suth-tee' - - you may need to practise the famous Welsh 'll' sound.



The cast iron trough which holds the canal water is 11ft wide, 5 ft 3 ins deep and 1,007 ft long at its highest point. The Prince enters the aqueduct itself. Right past that tree--that's where the looking into thin air begins!



There are 19 arches, each with a 45 ft span and piers 116 ft high. To keep the aqueduct as light as possible, the slender masonry piers are partly hollow and taper at their summit. The mortar was made of oxen blood, lime and water. The use of both cast and wrought iron in the aqueduct enabled the construction of arches that were light and strong, producing an overall effect that is both monumental and elegant. Before I got too far along the towpath, I held the camera over the side and took this photo to show you part of the construction. Amazing!



What a sight to see, this section of the 1007 foot long aqueduct with a narrow boat making its way across. Wow!



The beauty all around, the fact that we're on an engineering marvel that has been in place since 1805, so awe-inspiring. Thank goodness we had sunshine so that we could enjoy the walk along the aqueduct's towpath. The towpath is mounted above the water, with the inner edge carried on cast-iron pllars in the trough. This arrangement allows the water displaced by the passage of a narrow boat to flow easily under the towpath and around the boat, enabling relatively free passage. Pedestrians, and the horses once used for towing, are protected from falling from the aqueduct by railings on the outside edge of the towpath, but the holes in the top flange of the other side of the trough, capable of mounting railings, were never used.



Can you believe I'm on this aqueduct, taking photos? My fear of heights did not come into play as long as I stayed near the railing on my left. I wonder why the railing on my right was never installed when the aqueduct was built? Every five years the ends of the aqueduct are closed and a plug in one of the highest spans is opened to drain the canal water into the River Dee below, for inspection and maintenance of the trough. The aqueduct holds 1.5 million litres of water and takes two hours to drain.



Always curious, I'm wondering what made the man on the Prince look away from what he was doing as he operated the narrow boat. Especially when you take a closer look and notice that there is a man seemingly right in front of the boat, not along its left side as we've been seeing. I walked the aqueduct on Google Maps and saw that the path is on both sides of the canal once it joins land again. I saw the top of a stairway on each side of the canal--I had read that you could go down to see the River Dee, so these steps on the far side of the aqueduct are one way to do that, and they explain how the man ahead of the boat appears to be on the other side of the canal.