Away from the City......

....to a rural mooring.

Yesterday Rod moved up to the water point first as we both needed to fill and empty, I moved up when he was finished and we set off in bright sunshine on a beautiful clear day, but it was very cold especially when passing shady areas or open fields with the wind blowing, so that pretty much meant the whole cruise was bitterly cold, luckily I wrap up warmly.

On the water point with the covered dry dock ahead.

Lock 1 on the Dee branch had plenty of water over spilling the gates.

Moving off under the bridge and away from Chester.

Taylor's Boatyard. 

Having done the necessary we headed off, I lead in case I needed to stop for Jack but he soon assumed the position and was well behaved for the trip.

I promise not too many more of these!

We passed over Deva aqueduct soon after leaving Chester.

There is little to say about the cruise, open countryside, fairly wide straight lengths of canal and no other moving boats, peaceful I guess, oh and did I say cold?

We did have to slow to tick over for some long term moored boats and one was moored about 3 feet further out from the bank than the rest which had me wondering why, I guess it was deep drafted, on reaching it I saw from the writing on the side that it was a steam narrow boat, I have already forgotten the name, old age does that!, and I was too busy looking at it before getting a not great picture looking back.

This one must be owned by a romantic.

Arriving at the village of Stoak, our intended stop, I couldn’t see any rings to moor to, it is shown in my guide as a mooring spot so I had hoped for rings but in the event I settled on an open area with a nice piled edge with a view of Helsby Hill, it looks better than the picture which is often the case.

Current mooring:

Totals this post: 4 miles : 0 locks

Today I took a wander into the village with Jack , not much there but a Church and a pub,the Bunbury Arms, which evidently has a mention in the good beer guide, it looked very pretty from outside.

A hop down the staircase.

Yesterday was bright and dry as we headed through Chester following the city wall to reach the treble Northgate staircase locks.

Heading away from my mooring.

 It was Jacks first cruise so obviously I was a little apprehensive, I decided to put his bed on the stern deck shielded from the wind and with the engine warmth rising through the deck board he should be ok, for safety I attached his lead to my bike padlock chain. After about 5 minutes he settled down to sleep through the rest of the cruise!

What's happening Captain?

We followed the city wall up to the locks.

I was a bit too busy to take pictures of the staircase until we had eventually descended to the bottom chamber, I say eventually because we had a bit of a problem getting to bottom gates of the top chamber open to allow our descent, whether it was because only one paddle was working or because of an error I might of made in adding water because the lower lock level looked to low I am not sure, but we got through safely after the issue was resolved.

Bottom chamber top gates shared as bottom gates for the middle chamber.

Preparing to exit.

they look big when you are down inside.

 I did not want to go any further on Jacks first day and we moored again as soon as we had rounded the sharp right turn leading into Tower Wharf. It’s still handy for the shops and also now the retail parks are much closer, with some grassy areas as well it suits our needs nicely,

Current Mooring:

 

Totals this post: ½ mile : 1 treble staircase lock

Tower Wharf is a lovely open area with the Dee branch cutting back parallel to the main line through two locks before a sharp right turn, a lift bridge and another lock eventually allow you onto the tidal river Dee, Pearson’s guide book states “a waterway not accessible other than by pre-arrangement and certainly not one for relatively inexperienced boaters, let alone novices or the faint hearted”, that’s me out then J

Here’s some pictures:

Telford's warehouse on the right.

This is now all flats but would have been warehouses.

The Dee branch below the mainline where I am moored.

Lock 2 on the branch leading to the river Dee, sorry about the sun!

Looking down on the Dee branch.

Ahead of us are the services, a covered dry dock and boat yard.

We intend to move on again tomorrow.

A brief update.

On Sunday I awoke to find we had some snow/hailstones overnight leaving quite a covering.

It rained on and off and most of it had cleared away by the time my new crew mate arrived around 6pm.

Jack, an English Bull Terrier.

I have intended to get a dog since I began boating but have either found excuses or not seen a rescue dog I liked at a convenient time, Jack (I have renamed him, he was formerly Maverick) was bought by my son along with his brother (two puppies), in theory it sounded great, two brothers to grow up together but that proved to be impractical, they fought trying to claim dominance and with my Granddaughter being small and curious the risk of her getting caught between them became too great, so I was asked if I wanted to take one of them, and Jack is the result.

We intended to move on today but the weather forecast wasn’t great and I still had a few bits to sort out for the new arrival so we have stayed put and will head off tomorrow.

Jack and I are getting used to each other meanwhile, he’s still at the chewing stage (4 months) so I have been discovering what is at risk (most things) and what is ok (not much), and I now need a new pair of headphones! 

Other than that he seems to be settling in well.

Finally in Chester.

With just 5 locks to pass through but both wanting to top up our water tanks I cast off first around 9:30 and moved up to the water tap.

Water tank filling.

Rod moved up and once I was full he moved on to the tap while I went ahead and set Christleton lock (9).

A large almost tunnel like road bridge awaits the other side of Greenfield lock (8).

This section is quite suburban with houses and industrial units covering its length.

At Tarvin lock (7) there is a view across the sports ground and a round building that would have once housed maintenance equipment.

Approaching Chemistry lock (6) the circular Victorian Waterworks building dominates.

Looking down from Chemistry Lock

At Hoole lane lock we had a bit of a delay, with only one paddle working I was left to hover mid canal while it took its time filling, but I got a picture of this quaint cottage which must have formerly had some other use but now appeared to be a private residence.

After passing through that lock you are in the much more built up area, converted warehouses now used for Pubs Clubs and blocks of flats, we were looking for a mooring spot so brested temporarily before walking along further and finding a 48hr section with rings that suited us and moving up to there.

Current mooring:

Totals this post: 2 miles : 5 locks

We are here until Monday earliest, everything needed is available in the numerous shops within reasonable walking distances. Yesterday I took a trip to the launderette, and topped up with some provisions. This morning we took a wander around, cities and large towns are not my thing, but if they are yours, Chester looks to be a fine place for a stay and explore its many historical features in and around the centre.

A chilly cruise.....

..... and more moored boats than you want to see on a cold day!

We cast off yesterday at about 9:30, the water level at our mooring had dropped slightly and it required a little bit of pushing and shoving to free ourselves from the silt before we could move away and head past the entrance to Tattenhall Marina.

As we came up to bridge 114 the longest line of moored boats I have ever encountered came in to view, not that I knew that to begin with, but they went on and on, they must have been continuous for over a mile, and passing them all at tick over seemed to take an age not helped by the fact that it was definitely chillier than I had dressed for, but it was lovely and bright.

Moored boats as far as the eye could see.

Once finally clear of them it was open country for a couple of miles.

This conversion job was obviously still a work in progress.

We had a choice of two mooring stops in mind; around Egg Bridge was the first, that’s the Village name as well as the name of bridge 119, there was a small group of anglers taking up the available moorings before the bridge and the spots after the bridge did not look too inviting so we carried on, it did look like a ice little area though with some attractive canal-side property.

Our second choice for a strop was at the village of Christleton, two visitor mooring choices were shown in my guide and I had relayed that information to Rod who was leading.

The first option was passed as it was a bit shady

First option area.

We took the second option, although it wasn’t on the visitor ‘moorings’, there was a line of mooring rings, just enough for one boat, right outside a pub and with the car park alongside exposing a gap through to a very noisy main road, so we stopped before it.

This property had a big red 'No Mooring' sign, probably not official,
 but I wouldn't have wanted to moor in the shade of the building anyway

Current Mooring:

Totals this post: 6 miles : 0 locks

I was glad to get below and get warmed up!