A MARRIED couple who recently enjoyed travelling through Whitchurch have thanked the people of the town for their help during a recent health scare.

Philip and Alison Cope, from Staffordshire, hired a barge from Chirk to travel on the Llangollen Canal, but Alison required hospital treatment after she damaged her calf muscle and was unable to walk.

Unable to find a taxi and starting to worry how they would get to Whitchurch Community Hospital, in Claypit Street, Philip said the people they encountered could not do enough to get them there.

“We moored at the marina but we set off hoping to find a taxi rank,” said Phillip. “We had not gone more than 20 yards when we asked a guy walking his dog for directions.

“He noted our problem, with which he had some sympathy as he had suffered a similar injury and without a thought offered to take us there.

“We stumbled to his car which involved a slight uphill section and another chap linked arms to help Alison get up the path. Simon loaded his dog and us into his car and took us to the hospital.

“We offered to pay for his help which was firmly refused; he was just happy to help so Simon, thanks a lot – you are a gentleman.

“We entered the minor injuries unit and were quickly treated, examined and left with guidance and a pair of crutches and hope all goes well for the most pleasant nurse and her forthcoming new arrival.”

However, the couple needed to return to their boat, which presented them with more problems after the taxi numbers they called rang out.

Phillip added: “The only answer would seem to be a further help from the good people of Whitchurch.

“We asked a very pleasant lady in a red car who indicated she was waiting for her husband to complete his hospital appointment, so we just sat on the wall wondering what to do.

“However on her husband’s return he came over and offered to take us back to the boat.

“The only problem being we didn’t know the location of the car park above the marina. Nevertheless we were loaded up and taken on a brief tour of Whitchurch and after asking another local the car park location was established and we were dropped off.

“Again an offer to pay was made but was rejected they apparently had had travel issues in the past and were happy to help.

“We would like to offer our sincere thanks to the people of Whitchurch in particular our stand in ‘taxi’ people.”