Chester again: Day 7

Finally a still day, with no wind at all to speak of.  We got away pretty promptly, at 8.15, and were soon passing the lead shot tower.

The first lock, Hoole Lane, has one ground paddle and one gate paddle for some reason, and the gate paddle makes a big jet of water.

The rest of the locks were randomly mostly empty or completely full, with little rhyme or reason as to why.  When we had done all five out of the city we stopped at the Christleton water point, and did the usual filling and washing routine.  Steve from AmyJo came by while we were there, so it was nice to see him and Smudge the dog.  The next section had a lot of floating islands of pennywort.  We again saw the anti-weed boat, but it’s clearly a losing battle.  One bridge hole was completely filled with it, and a bit clump ended up on the bow.  Rather than push it along, I stopped, reversed a bit, and managed to leave it behind.

A kingfisher whizzed along the side of the boat and settled in a bush — and then stayed there as we went past.  He’s there if you look for him.

The long line of moored boats at Golden Nook took 45 minutes to pass.  There are a dozens more, in various states of repair, on the land.

A diesel pump on the back of a tractor was also in action along the moorings, with boats being filled.  It all takes so long, you rather lose the will to live. Y the end of the line — so the name of the final boat seems strangely appropriate.

We’d got another clump of pennywort on the bow, so once the moorings were passed I again manoeuvred to get it off.  The good thing was the sun was now out, and the views of Beeston Castle and Peckforton Castle were great.

The sun still has some warmth in it, too.

We moored just past The Shady.  Later in the afternoon, a familiar but now very shiny boat came past.  What A Lark has been repainted and looks very smart.  We had a quick chat with Lisa and David, and then I grabbed a windlass and walked up to Wharton’s Lock to lend a hand, and have a few more minutes of conversation.

9 miles, 5 locks.  (31 miles, 16 locks)

Chester draws us: Day 2

Last night’s mooring had zero signal, although every now and again a few emails would come through.  We had a very modest target for today, as long as there was some connectivity.  Beeston Stone Lock was only a few yards ahead of us, and because this lock can take two boats while the next lock can only take one, the pound between the two gets very short of water.  We were about to walk down to see what the water level was like, when we spotted a boat was coming up in the lock — so a quick change of plan and Adrian grabbed a windlass while I got the boat untied.

The pound between the two Beeston Locks was much higher than it had been yesterday afternoon, so it must recover a bit overnight.  Beeston Iron Lock was empty so needed filling.  It’s made of iron sheets, because the land around it is sand, and stone locks kept shifting.  But it’s a bit distorted, and it’s strongly advised that boats go down one by one.

The next stretch is quite pretty through a wooded area.  Then comes Wharton’s Lock, which was more than half full.  As Adrian filled it, a chap arrived from a boat below, so we had help with gates.  The by-wash is extremely strong, so having picked up Adrian under the bridge, I then had to go backwards and do a more powerful exit, to avoid clonking the waiting boat.  It had begun to rain, and was now quite heavy.  We were only going a short distance further, but got soaked.  We moored up just short of The Shady pub.

After lunch, when the weather was completely transformed, my sister and nieces who live nearby came to visit.  We walked back to Wharton’s Lock and followed part of the Sandstone Trail across the fields and under the railway line to Beeston Castle.

We didn’t go in, but we did have an ice cream at the cafe, and then took a path down through some woods.

We followed the road round the far side of the castle, where there was a view of Peckforton Castle on the next hill over, and a lovely farmhouse.  Then you could look up at Beeston Castle on the rocks above.

It meant we’d walked all round the hill, and then retraced our steps back across the fields to the boat.

2 miles, 3 locks.  (7 miles, 6 locks)