Chester again: Day 6

Another pretty windy day, even though the forecast said it should have died down.  It was the Chester Marathon this morning, so after breakfast we walked up to the city and stood near the 1 mile marker.  Soon the timing car came past, followed by the elite runners.

Following were hundreds of other runners, and in amongst them were pace runners holding paddles showing how long it would take you to go at their pace.

We walked round the corner to see the stragglers coming past the town hall and towards the Cathedral.

It was still quite early so we went back to the boat to put the kettle on.  Later we walked back into town and then up to a pub for lunch — where we joined Catherine, Nigel, Grace and Matthew, and my sister and nieces.  The pub, The Piper, had been chosen purely for its location, as my sister was on call and needed to be no more than half an hour from her hospital.  But it provided very good and reasonably priced Sunday lunches.  Grace starts her uni course tomorrow, and the rest of the family were heading home, so it’s been quite a big day.

0 miles, 0 locks.  (22 miles, 11 locks)

Chester again: Day 5

Today was the day Storm Amy was coming through, and it was pretty windy and rainy this morning.  We walked up to see my dad, and managed to get there and back without getting too wet.  After lunch the sun came out, although it’s remained very blustery.

We made a visit to Tesco to stock up for a few days, and bumped into my cousin Catherine and family.  They’re in Chester because Grace is starting uni here today.  She’s doing her own thing this evening, while Catherine, Nigel, and Matthew come here for pizza.

0 miles, 0 locks.  (22 miles, 11 locks)

Chester again: Day 4

There was wind and rain yesterday evening and overnight, but there appeared to be a window of better weather first thing this morning — so we were up and off just after 8.  The first of the five locks down into Chester was about half an hour away.  All of them needed filling.  They have chunky iron ladders on the bottom side, which almost look as though they’re made from railway tracks.

It’s not long since we came this way, so it’s a job to take different photos.

Above Chemistry Lock, the canal is clogged with floating pennywort, with just a boat width left.  Later the little boat with the prongs on the front came down to where we moored, and was scooping huge clumps of it out and dumping it on the offside.

There’s a funny little building above Hoole Lane Lock, and we were trying to work out how many houses it’s been converted into.

With the five locks completed, we carried on to the winding hole by Cow Lane Bridge, and turned around — then moored up in a space nearby.  We’re a boat length or two along from where we were last time.  No sooner had we moored up than the rain began, and it’s also become increasingly blustery.  We walked into town and had lunch at a cafe, then went to the Picture House cinema, as it’s ages since we’ve been.  We saw The Roses, which was moderately entertaining.  Nice comfy seats, upholstered in some sort of towelling!

Tomorrow is meant to be very windy and stormy, but we weren’t planning to go anywhere anyway.

2 miles, 5 locks.  (22 miles, 11 locks)

Chester draws us: Day 8

Another very windy day, but we’d already decided we were staying out and having a day out instead.  We booked our tickets online and then walked along to Chester Station, bound for Rhyl — as we fancied a look at the sea.  For the way there we caught a delayed Avanti train, and it was one of the new Evero trains that can switch between diesel and electric.  The journey takes about half an hour, and most of it is along the coast.  Rhyl itself turned out to be less than inspiring as a town, but we saw the Marine Lake and the UK’s oldest miniature railway before heading to the sea front.  The wind was creating white-topped waves.

A lot of work is going on so parts of the sea front were closed.  We eventually found a cafe and went in for tea, glad to be out of the strong wind for a while.  From there, we could see kite surfers enjoying the conditions, some of them better than others, and a few who could get well airborne.  From there we walked along the coast path towards Prestatyn.  Fortunately the wind was at our backs, but even so the backs of our legs were being grit blasted by the sand being blown about.

We saw a sign for a cafe so went for lunch at what turned out to be an indoor bowls centre.  Then we resumed our walk along the beach, although for this section there was no sea wall to offer any protection, so the blowing sand was even worse.  It filled our pockets, and we even found our boots were full of sand.

The

sea gulls were able to use the wind to hover quite low to the ground.

When we got to the car parks and beach cafes we turned inland to Prestatyn station and caught a train back to Chester, this time a Transport for Wales that was heading for Manchester Airport.  We have walked a long way today, and all of it in very strong winds; bracing doesn’t really do it justice.

0 miles, 0 locks.  (16 miles, 11 locks)

Chester draws us: Day 7

There was rain in the night, but by the time we headed out at about 10 it was dry, if dull.  We walked up to see my dad, who lives about 50 minutes walk from where we’re moored.   On the way back we decided to walk a different route, and it decided that was the time to absolutely chuck it down with rain.  We were pretty soaked in just a few minutes.  Of course only a little while later the sky had cleared and it was sunny.  We walked back through the city centre, covering some streets we didn’t do yesterday.  The town hall is a very impressive building.

This afternoon has been sunny, but very windy.  The boat has been buffeted about on the moorings.  I wouldn’t want to be out in it, but a few hardy boaters have been past, usually then turning at the winding hole and returning.  Again the wind is in the right direction for turning here.

From where we’re moored, we can hear the Cathedral clock striking each hour.  Yesterday evening we walked down to the CRT rubbish compound by the locks (the bins were full and overflowing unfortunately) and walked back along the walls past the Cathedral.  It has an unusual separate bell tower, built in the 1970s.

0 miles, 0 locks.  (16 miles, 11 locks)

Chester draws us: Day 6

After a lovely few days in Christleton it was time to move on, but the forecast for today had consistently suggested we’d get very wet.  It had rained in the night, but was dry when we set off at about 9; we initially didn’t go far, just through a couple of bridges to the water point, where we filled the tank and started some washing.  Adrian then walked on to Christleton lock, while I brought the boat.  Over the course of the next few locks there was the odd shower, but the rain was seldom very hard.  By the time we were at Chemistry Lock, some of the Chester landmarks, like the water tower come into view.  Below the lock there’s a nice row of cottages on the offside.

Hoole Lane Lock was the last one we were doing, and after that there’s the lead works tower, now surrounded by flats built to look like warehouses.  The tower was used to make lead shot: molten lead was poured through a sieve at the top, and by the time it reached the bottom it had formed little balls.

A bit further along, one of the bridges has s spitfire sculpture.  We’re not sure why it’s there, and it has only one wing and no propeller, but I suppose it’s a talking point.

By now the wind was really strong.  We’d decided we’d moor along here rather than going down the staircase locks, so we turned immediately before Cow Lane Bridge.  Fortunately, for once the wind was in the right direction and whipped the bow round in no time.  There were a couple of spaces on the moorings, but neither was long enough, so we pulled into one and asked the boat in front if they could move along a little.  They were happy to do so, and we were soon tied up.

After lunch, we went to the big Tesco that’s right here, stocking up with some store cupboard items as it’s not far to carry everything.  Then as the sun was now out we went for a walk through town.  We’ve been to Chester a few times as my dad lives here, so we kind of know where we’re going.  It’s a very attractive city centre, with lots of black and white buildings, the two-level shops, and the clock.  The cathedral bells were also ringing.

On the far side of town, it was clear something was going on at the racecourse.  It turned out to be a family fun day meeting, so we walked along the road where you can see across the course, although we couldn’t be bothered to wait to see a race.

We walked along the walls until we got to the corner nearest the basin, where we went down some steps onto the towpath.  It’s just as well we didn’t come down, as all the moorings were full.

Then we walked back round the corner past the Northgate Staircase Locks, three really big locks all together, and then along the towpath where it goes through a cutting below the city walls.

The wind has dropped a bit now, but tomorrow is meant to be both wet and windy.

2 miles, 5 locks.  (16 miles, 11 locks)

Big Trip - Day 19

A few people have asked about the planning and permissions needed for yesterday's trip on the Manchester Ship Canal, so I'll do a special blog post in the next couple of days with all the details.

We had a visit last night from my sister.  She's doing her on-call weekend, but is allowed out of the hospital at quiet times, as long as she's less than half an hour away.  She seemed to think it was quite funny being let in the museum gate and walking down through the basins to Briar Rose.

This morning we had a cooked breakfast (our first of the holiday), then went for a walk around the museum site well before it was open.

At about 9am we set off.  I walked round to set the locks, while Adrian brought the boat round -- with someone leaving their breakfast table at the Holiday Inn to take a photo.

The eight miles to Chester start rather unpromisingly, with lots of industry, long brutal motorway bridges, and numerous pipe bridges.  But once the motorway is left behind the canal feels quite rural, with a variety of bridges.

There was no space in the basin at Tower Wharf, so we reversed back through the bridge and tied up on rings outside a new housing development.

We went for lunch at Telford's Warehouse by the basin, then this afternoon had a visit from my brother-in-law and neices, Rachel and Emily.  They enjoyed feeding the ducks and swans out the side hatch.

It's been really sunny and warm this afternoon, and it's a pleasant spot to watch the world go by on the towpath.  This evening, we're expecting more visitors, Steve and Chris, whose boat Amy Jo is in build at the moment.

8 miles, 2 locks.  (231 miles, 123 locks)