Ellesmere is a market town in North Shropshire famous for the Mere – a beautiful lake with wildlife to watch. The most popular restaurant is the Boathouse, which overlooks the Mere. However, because of its unique location it can become too popular!
The last time we visited Ellesmere was on the Sunday of the Summer Festival, which celebrates the works of local crafters. After parking the car in the centre of town it became obvious that this was something special. Throughout Britain there is the quirky custom of knitting woollen scarves around the trees, but in Ellesmere there were ultra elaborate and the theme seemed to be birds.
At the canal wharf every boat was gaily decorated with a diverse collection of crafty items from knitwear,painted goods to mad hats and many more. There was also locally produced food like chutneys and cheese. There was a real ale beer festival in town, and normally we would be partaking, but there was still the drive home. In the Town Hall, there was a model railway exhibition, which I had to steer himself away from, in case he was tempted to add to his already large collection of model locomotives!
The Canal and River Trust were operating a free narrow boat shuttle service from the wharf to the workshops where the Llangollen canal meets the Ellesmere canal. Originally the waterway was proposed to carry boat traffic between the rivers Mersey and Severn, having been designed by the engineer Thomas Telford.It was here that he had his office, ad you can see the forge and pattern shop in action.
There was a charity market, street entertainers, musicians and a classic car show. We had a good look around all the attractions before sitting down at the canal side to buy and enjoy home-made cakes and a cuppa. Ellesmere has various events throughout the year, such as Food and Drink Festivals, the Rotary Regatta on the Mere and the Carnival. So, it is always worth a visit being friendly and unpretensious place.
