Chester again: Day 2

There was rain overnight and it’s been pretty dull all day.  We’ve done a long day — for us!  We set off at about 9, retracing our steps to Barbridge Junction and turning right towards Chester.  There’s a road immediately alongside the canal, which is why we don’t moor here.

A bit further on there’s a big industrial estate on the other side of the canal, with a very narrow bridge.  There’s a constant stream of lorries over it, some taking it quite gingerly.

We stopped at the Calverley services to fill the water tank and put the washing machine on.  It all took quite a long time, so can’t have been the fastest of taps.  While we were there we chatted to some people from a hire boat, who were on their way back from Chester.

When we got to Banbury Staircase Locks, we were on our own — unlike the other three times we’ve been through, when we did the Banbury Shuffle, with three boats in the locks.  The top one was empty and took an age to fill.  We’re back to wide locks here, of course.

Tillstone Lock still has only one top paddle working, so we were braced for it to take a long time.  But two boats were just coming out as we arrived.  The two Beeston Locks both needed filling, and the iron lock in particular seemed not to want to make a level.  It took both of us pushing the gate to get it open.

At Wharton Lock our luck was in again though, as a boat was coming up.  We’ve carried on to moor outside Tattenhall Marina — and it was nearly 2pm by the time we finished.  The major feature of the landscape in these parts is Beeston Castle.

This afternoon, I’ve finished an article and sorted out the photos, and Adrian has a call to do.  We’ve also had more photos from Braidbar, so there’s an update on the Kingley Vale blog.

9 miles, 6 locks.  (15 miles, 6 locks)