Ellesmere Port to Chester Zoo (Bridge 134) (Shropshire Union Canal)

Leaving Ellesmere Port

Weed in the Canal

It was hot and sunny again today, so we set off down the canal to Bridge 141 to where the Cheshire Oaks Outlet Village is, the canal is very weedy this end so we had to weave our way through it, I was lookout at the front, but not very good with my right and left, so a few times I said one way and I really meant the other, never mind just got a lot of muttering from the back of the boat, wonder who that was!!  Moored up and walked over the bridge to the roundabout, across there and into Sainsburys car park, across there and into the outlet village, its about a 10 minute walk, so really close to the canal.  We spent a couple of hours mooching around there, its really good and lots and lots of shops and lots of people.  We got a few supplies in Sainsburys, then headed back to the canal.  Had lunch, then headed off a bit further down the canal dodging the weed as we went to Bridge 134 (Chester Zoo).   We are staying here tonight as it’s a lovely spot in the middle of nowhere and then heading back to Chester tomorrow.

Cheshire Oaks Outlet Village

Moored at Bridge 134

Chester Basin to Chester Zoo, then onto Ellesmere Port

Thursday 17^th July

Albert Dock

Albert Dock

Ferry Across the Mersey

The Liver Building

We are off to Liverpool today, so walked to the train station and bought our tickets.   We got a day rider for £4.60 each, bargain!  It was a 40 minute journey to Liverpool.   Walked to the shops and had a look around, then walked down to the docks which has been renovated in recent years and it is now a really nice area with shops, bars and restaurants.  Had a walk around.  There was two really lovely buildings, so we walked down to have a look, one was the Liver Building and the other was the Port of Liverpool Building.  We also saw where the narrow boats come in from the Leeds and Liverpool canal along past these buildings and into Albert dock, they used to have to go out on the Mersey, then back in, but this link has been built to avoid that, thank goodness as we will be doing this in 2 years time!  The tunnels you have to go in looked a bit low though, that should be fun! It was very hot and sunny so found a nice roof top bar overlooking the River Mersey and opposite those two buildings, so sat up there and watched the tankers go in and out of the docks and also saw the ferry across the Mersey.  We then walked back into the city and went to the Cavern Club where the Beatles started, there is a wall of fame outside and a beatle statue.  You can go in the Cavern Club so we went in and had a drink and listened to the live music for a while, it’s a great place and a visit is a must if you are ever in Liverpool.   Walked back to the station and got the train back.  Just chilled out for the rest of the evening, but we had a really good day in Liverpool.  

 

 

Friday 18th July

 

The sky was very black when we woke up and it wasn’t long before the rain started and a few claps of thunder.  It only lasted for about half an hour or so, then the sun came out, so we moved up to the water point and filled up with water, then started off up the canal, this is now new territory for us so quite exciting.  There was quite a lot of clumps of weeds in the canal so we had to weave around abit to avoid them.  This end of the canal is more rural than then rest of it, it is really lovely.  We moored up just before Bridge 134 as we wanted to go to Chester Zoo.   We walked up to the bridge and there was a sign post saying Zoo ½ a mile up the road, so off we went.  We got to the end of the road and the Zoo was there, but it wasn’t the main entrance, only for deliveries, so we had to walk down the road, turn right down another road and then along a bridle path which took us to the main entrance, it was probably about another mile or so!  The bridle path actually went all the way to Ellesmere Port, 5 miles away and when Kev saw that, he said we have just walked around in a huge circle, I bet if we walk on down the bridle path on the way back, it should lead us to the road which goes to the canal.  In the Zoo we went and walked around for the next four hours, it is very big and lots to see, it is a conservation Zoo, so the animals are in huge areas and have lots of room and with a lot of them there is glass fronts, so you can see the animals really clearly and close up.  It was a really good afternoon and we enjoyed it, but it was very hot and humid, wish it had been cooler.  We left the Zoo when it closed at 5pm and walked down the bridle path as Kev was sure it was going the right way and sure enough within 10 minutes or so, we could see the canal and our boat over the hedge and the bridle path came out just before the bridge, that was great as I had had enough of walking by then ! So, if we ever moor here to go to the Zoo again, we will go up the bridle path to it and not the road.

We had been crossing paths with a boat called Diligent 2 and they were coming back down the canal. They moored up behind us and we all had a cup of tea together and a good old chat, that was nice as we hadn’t had a chance to really meet before then.  It’s Pat and Patrick and Poochie the dog.

It is a lovely rural spot where we are moored, but we are chugging off tomorrow, may come back here for Sunday night.

Moored at Bridge 134 (Chester Zoo)

 Saturday 19th July

The Boat Museum

Historic Boats

It was pouring with rain when we got up this morning and very black, but by 10am it had cleared away and had stopped, so we chugged off up the canal.  The canal is wide, we were abit surprised as we had the impression from other people it was narrow and shallow in places.  The only thing was, there were great big clumps of weeds all up the canal, so we had to weave our way up to Ellesmere Port.  At Bridge 141 you can moor to go to Cheshire Oaks Outlet Village, we are going to stop there on the way back tomorrow.  We went past lots of moored boats and then we were at the end of the canal at Ellesmere Port, we had made it at last and guess what, it started raining!  We turned around and then moored up.  We chilled out for a bit, then went over to the The National Boat Museum.  It is really good and we spent a couple of hours or so looking around.  The museum is established in the old Ellesmere Port basins along side the Manchester Ship Canal and there are historic boats and exhibitions about how people built the canals and also the people that worked on them carrying goods from one place to the other, it is very interesting and well worth a visit.

We walked back to the boat, then decided to go and find the Aldi that we think is close by and it was less than a mile, so that was good, we got a few things and headed back.  The sun came out for a while, but then it went overcast, but no more rain at the moment, thank goodness.  We are staying here tonight, then heading back down the canal tomorrow.

Moored at Ellesmere Port

Christleton to Chester Basin (Shropshire Union Canal)

 Tuesday 15^th July

Kings Charles Tower

Chester Race Course

Chester Castle

The Albion Pub

Chester City Walls

Hickory's Smokehouse

Chester Cathedral

We are moored in Christleton, but are going into Chester today, so instead of catching the bus we caught yesterday afternoon, we walked a further 400 yards up the road to the park and ride, the buses go every 15 minutes, 10 minutes in peak times.  The fare is £2.00 return, which is cheaper than the normal bus fare of £3.20.  You buy your ticket before you get on the bus at the ticket machine and there is also a change machine there.  It drops you off in the centre of Chester.  We decided to walk around the city walls, so went up on the walls and had a lovely walk past King Charles Tower, Chester Castle, the Race Course and a really old pub called The Albion.  We got off the walls there and went in and had a drink, then back on and got off again at the River Dee.  It’s lovely by the river, so we sat there for a bit then went and had lunch in Hickory’s Smokehouse, its an American smokehouse where they do the most delicious ribs, pulled pork and burgers.  Had a really lovely meal, and the portions are substantial, we  then waddled outside and sat on a bench by the river and had Cheshire Farm Ice-cream just to ensure we were really stuffed!!.  We then waddled on back up on the walls, past the Cathedral, the Roman Gardens and the Ampitheatre and back to where we started.  It is a great thing to do and if you are ever in Chester, you should definitely walk the city walls.  We caught the park and ride bus back to Christleton and walked back to the boat.  Just chilled out in the evening after all that food.

Wednesday 16 July 2014

We are heading into Chester today, so chugged off nice and early, stopped for water just after Bridge 122.  As we were pulling out, a boat came through the bridge which was good as the locks are double locks, so that means we can share and I get help with the lock.  We both chugged to the lock and Kev went in, me and the lady from the other boat did the lock, out they went and onto the next one.  There was three people on the other boat, so someone had gone ahead to set the next lock so by the time we got there, it was ready.  There are five locks down into Chester and we went through them pretty quickly and smoothly with the help.  There is an Aldi at the third lock (Tarvin Lock), we didn’t stop, but may well do on the way back, but good for future reference.

 

Sharing the locks down into Chester

Cruising into Chester

Lock 5 into Chester

 

Cruising under the City Walls

In the top of the staircase

In the middle of the staircase

In the bottom of the staircase

Moored in Chester Basin

The boat we were sharing with were turning round in the winding hole and mooring up, so we said goodbye and headed to the staircase lock which takes you down into the basin.  It is three locks and they are 11ft deep each and double locks, so weren’t really looking forward to doing them.  We got to the top of the staircase and there was a boat in the middle lock.  The top lock was full, so Kev went in and then the top lock was emptied into the middle lock.  I went down and emptied the bottom lock, then came back up as Kev was coming into the middle lock.  I then emptied the middle lock into the bottom lock.  There is only one ground paddle on the middle lock so it empties very slowly and it is really stiff, I couldn’t get it going, but a nice young chap was walking past and asked if I needed a hand, even he found it tough at first, he asked me if we were doing it right way, I assured him we were and to keep going and he got it going and opened it fully, that was kind of him, I think he took pity on an old woman!!  Then two other chaps came by and one asked me if I needed help opening the gate, so I said yes please and he helped me open the gate, then I said you couldn’t help close it as well, could you, so he did, that was lucky as they are really heavy gates.  There was two boats coming up, so I had help doing the last lock as well, don’t know what all the fuss about this staircase is all about, it was a piece of cake for me!!!  We went into the basin and moored up.  The sky went black and it rained for a bit.  We needed to do some shopping, so Kev found an Aldi on Google Maps which was less than a mile away, so we set off to find it and sure enough, it was not far away.  We did our shopping, then headed back to the boat.  It rained for abit, then cleared up.  We walked up the canal to the bridge and across to find a shop to buy a mobile top up.  There was a street with several shops, we then walked back via the canal  It was a lovely sunny evening and we just chilled out.