Chester Thursday 4 July 2019

Day : Thursday
Date : 4 July 2019
Start : 1040hrs
Finish : 1620hrs https://what3words.com/loaf.lobby.cycles

We had just set off this morning when the first group of DoE. kids came back from yesterday, and then another, we counted 50 and after about a mile we passed this DoE checkpoint so I enquired, they had camped overnight and were now on their way back and there were over 70 of them.

Today it 's so warm I am wearing shorts but its been bit of a slow journey, Just past Tattenhall marina is Golden Nook far moorings with about a mile of moored boats, so this took around half an hour and we met 3 boats coming the other way.

As we made our way along the canal I heard a plane and looking round saw an Airbus Beluga going over behind us, these take Airbus parts from the UK to France.

We stopped for lunch a short way before the Cheshire Cat and then pushed on filling with water just before Christleton Lock. While we were having lunch a boat went by so we expected all locks to be against us, but as we approached Christleton Lock a boat approached from below and as they came up filled the lock ready for us. We had similar luck at the rest, we turned Greenfield Lock but as we were leaving 2 people with windlasses arrived so we could leave the gates open, they even phoned the 2 boats leaving the next lock that we were coming so they left 2 crew to close the top gates for us.

In one of the offside gardens I spotted this SUC marker post.

Passing the Bridge Inn on the outskirts of Chester there was a wake going on and they were certainly giving him a good send off with some very merry friends and relations on the towpath.

I have seen quite a few young birds about today, I suspect these are second broods, both duck and moorhen.

As we dropped into Chester we could see that work is progressing well at the old shot tower with the new housing development.

When we arrived in the town centre where we wanted to moor we were pleased to see only 3 boats there so plenty of room for us for the night.

Today's Journey

8¾ Miles 5 Locks in 4¾ hours