nb Bridge Street

Monday 30 th March 2020 The stove had become lazier over the last few days so this morning, the flue was swept after which Brenda cleaned the boat through. After sorting through some more photographs, we set off for our daily walk. Today we went all the way to the Shady Oak, 2 miles away, for a reality pint. It didn’t quite taste the same or last as long. We were away from the boat for 3 hours and saw just one other person. The thought of the country possibly being locked down for 6 months makes for depressing news. However, we could be passing the time in worse places. The last of our water containers was emptied into the tank this morning so, another few days and we will have to move to water-up. We will miss this mooring. It is lovely, rural and isolated. Very quiet and peaceful.       Isolated Mooring at River Gowy Aqueduct We had picked more wild garlic which Brenda used in a white sauce with

Sunday 29 th March 2020 Sandra went past in the morning, along with Jimmy, both headed to Christleton for water. They were the only boats we saw moving all day. We went for a walk along the towpath towards the Shady Oak pub, a distance of 3 miles and didn’t see a soul. It has been noticeable, less people passing the boat. The afternoon was spent with Brenda cleaning in the front cratch and reading, and myself sorting through all the photographs we had brought onto the boat with us, putting them into ring binders.   Weather: much colder and windier.

Saturday 28 th March 2020 We both stayed up far too late last night, and had far too much to drink. We didn’t get out of bed until ….o’clock and I, for one have a hangover. Haven’t had a hangover for years. We went for a short walk in the afternoon. Much colder today with a cold wind. Noticeably less people walking the towpath from Tattenhall Marina. A nearby farmer has spread slurry on his fields and, with the wind in exactly the right direction, it is stinking but, thankfully, not entering the boat. Later, Brenda baked some scones, while I tried to rally but just gave up. The CRT advice now is for boats only to move for essential reasons, services, shopping or to seek medical aid. Rumours abound of marinas requesting boats to leave, canals being closed in towns and cities and locks being closed. Our location is extremely remote apart from people from the marina walking past. Being on a boat, in the countryside is probably the safest place to be right now. We inten

Friday 27 th March 2020 The mooring here is fine and quiet with lovely views across the Cheshire countryside but, during yesterday’s walk, we thought the moorings over the aqueduct just before bridge 111 were even better. So after breakfast we moved. Just rounding the corner, we came across Sandra mooring up. We have known Sandra for many years through Middlewich Narrowboats, and it was Sandra who had rewired the boat shortly after her launching. Nearing 70, Sandra has still not retired. She had been stopping and working from Wincham Wharf but decided to move because of the Corona Virus threat. After speaking to Sandra we continued on, only to find we could not get within 3 feet of the bank because of the notorious Shroppie shelf. Along most of the length of the Shroppie, a shelf sticks out just below the surface meaning boats either bang against it when moored, or tyre fenders have to be used, keeping the boat off the bank. Either way, it’s not ideal. There are various e

Thursday 26 th March 2020 With the mornings getting lighter, Harvey is getting us up much earlier. 6:20 this morning. It was a beautiful day, chilly in the morning, but lovely warm sunshine and wall to wall blue skies. After breakfast we walked along the canal to where the River Gowy passes beneath, a few hundred yards from the mooring. A number of times now, we have passed this way and always wondered at what was below us.   We walked down the steps and found several culverts draining into the Gowy and then the aqueduct that takes the river beneath the canal. There was also a high tunnel beside the aqueduct, the purpose of which, we could not work out. It could only be a farm track but normally a bridge would have been built, they were cheaper and easier to build.       River Gowy and the Aqueduct beneath the Canal A hundred yards or so beyond the aqueduct is a long sluice drain and, while we were

Wednesday 25 th March 2020 We did a quick shop for bread, and more wine, then headed off. Above Hoole Lane Lock we attempted to water up, only to find there was no threaded tap connector. Knowing there is another water point at Christleton, we moved on. Chemistry Lock gives the best view over Chester and we wondered how long it would be before we return. We had enjoyed our time in Chester but, despite not having visited the Cathedral, we feel we have explored all we wanted. Chester from Chemistry Lock We had numerous sightings of the ‘Beluga’ over the last few weeks, the Airbus A300-600ST Super Transporter airplane, converted to carry wings for the Airbus, manufactured at the BAE factory in Hawarden and flown to the assembly plant in Toulon, France. The Beluga flew over once again as we were leaving. It is some sight. We watered at Christleton and, while waiting for another boat to water, we were t

Tuesday 24 th March 2020 After a few chores around the boat we visited the tourist sites in Chester. Walking the walls, the sites are never far away. The walls are said to be the most complete city walls in Britain, encompassing the Medieval city, the full circuit measuring nearly 2 miles. Although Roman in origin, most of what we see today is the result of Victorian restorations.                                                                                                    Chester City Walls beside the Cathedral                                                                                   Collapsed Section of the Wall near Eastgate The walls were last used as a fortification during the English Civil Wars when Chester was a Royalist stronghold. The Parliamentarians held Chester under siege for most of the wars and they apparently, used to catapult diseased carcasses over the walls and into

Monday 23 rd March 2020 The loo was emptied and the water tanks filled, before we moved off. Normally, at the basin service point, it would just be a short walk across the Dee Branch top lock to the Elsan point. But with the lock shut, and fencing around it, it is a 200 yard walk along the towpath and a residential road, to reach it. People do give funny looks at you, trundling along with a wheeled toilet cassette. The CRT contractors were about to start work on the lock and so we had to take water before they started, as they would have to block access to the water point in order to move their equipment on a barge, across the canal. It was then a case of crossing the basin and start the ascent of the Northgate Staircase Locks. Unfortunately, while we were watering up, a boat had passed and started up the locks. We called across to them to share the locks, but they were already gone. Passing from the basin, to the wide area of canal below the locks, we had, strictly

Sunday 22 nd March 2020 After a very broken night’s sleep, we were both up and breakfasted by 7am and on the move before 8am. The day was cold but otherwise a lovely spring day. Nice to see people walking the towpaths, smiling. Beyond the M53 and M56 motorways came the ½ mile of privately moored boats and beyond this Chester Zoo. Beneath the A41 and the Birkenhead to Chester railway bridge, the canal then starts the run into Chester. From the railway bridge to Mollington Bridge, there is a 1-mile stretch of tree filled water meadows below the level of the canal, that signage indicates is used as a flood control measure, the fields being used to store flood waters when the need arises.       Water Meadows used for Flood Control. How long before they are built on? Presently, we arrived back in Telford’s Basin where we moored, but firstly, we manoeuvred as close to the Dee Branch Top Lock as possible for t