Friday 29^th November 2019

The roof was encrusted in ice this morning and Harvey was on the bed early with the cold. We left the mooring at 9am, winding beside Cow Lane Bridge and heading out of Chester. Although very cold to begin, the sun was shining brightly.

We passed through the now familiar locks gradually climbing out of the city. Then followed the 8-mile lock-free cruise to the Shady Oak pub where we moored just below Wharton’s Lock.

We called into the pub, recently refurbished to a high standard and looking much better for it. The barmaid lives on a boat in Tattenhall Marina, beside the boat that was fitted out after Bridge Street. It seems they too, have had a lot of issues and are still requiring visits from the builder for remedial work. All too familiar.

Weather: very cold and frosty with bright sunshine. 

Day Total: 5 locks; 10 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 6.1                  (including running for hot water etc)

Overall Total: 844 locks; 1453 miles; 53 tunnels; 61 Swing Bridges; 17 Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 920.9