Our Day Out to Chester

Working in a university library is hardly stressful but it is always nice to have a day off work and go somewhere different. I feel nothing but contempt for most of my colleagues but there are some who I will willingly spend time with outside of work. So last week, my Louise-Brooks-bobbed colleague Clare and I went for a day trip to Chester.

The original plan was to do a 6 miles walk in West Lancashire calling in at a few pubs. On reflection however I recalled that a couple of the pubs are closed which could leave us with a fair distance to walk without beer or the sort of facilities one needs after beer. In a flash of brilliance I decided to go to Chester, just 40 minutes away on the train and with some of my favourite canal in England.

So on a Wednesday, one that the Met Office said would be the only cloudy day of the week, we arrived in Chester. It's a short walk from Chester station down City Road to the canal. On the bridge I pointed out a few of the local points of interest to my companion: the lead shot tower, the water tower, the canal itself and the mills and warehouses. And of course the first pub: Old Harkers Arms. I have been here once before with towpathtreks' Irish pub reviewer, on race day as I recall and the place was packed with be-suited Scousers getting ready for a day of drinking and obnoxiousness. On this latest occasion though we almost had the place to ourselves. It was half twelve and I wasnt sure what I fancied to drink. We were going to have food so we thought it best to have a bottle of dry white wine, South African I think it was. I am the sort of person who judges wine on its alcohol content and price. Preferably the former is high and the later is low. But the Old Hawkers Arms is a nice place for nice people so I had to act civilized. We were drawn to the end of the pub with the bookshelves. Surprisingly enough although I work in a library I dont see that much of the bookshelves, but we felt at home here. The Hawkers Arms really is nice. Its a big room without feeling like a barn. Its nice and light, you can see boats going past on the canal. There is plenty of decoration but nothing too distracting. And the staff were very nice too. We had lunch, fish finger sandwich and prawn sandwiches, with chips. All very nice. Even the toilets are nice. I could have stayed there drinking all day but I would have probably let myself and my colleague down and done or said something that would preclude me coming back, and I would like to go back.

Outside the weather was improving. The white cloud had patches of blue and it was warm. We walked towards the city centre along the towpath. I past by the Canalside Bar which last time I had walked straight out of. Maybe next time. We past the Frog and Nightingale too. I dont think I will go back there again. Not unless I want to get shitfaced on Fosters with like-minded people.

Under the city walls, in the deep rock cutting, below the Northgate and Bridge of Sighs is a very good place to be. It has the history, the canal, that feeling of peace and seclusion you get on canals even when they are a stones throw from busy roads and towns. We wandered along looking at the sandstone and the ducklings. The ducks were swimming against the current, there were boats locking down the Northgate staircase. Past the locks we walked around the basin stopping to look at the big iron hook for horse drawn boats and the graving lock and dry dock. There are some gorgeous new flats being built. You can tell they are gorgeous because of the big signs saying so on the side.

We arrived at our destination, Telford's Warehouse. This, as the name suggests, is a former warehouse which was built by Thomas Telford in the 1790s. For whatever reason I have never been inside this pub. I know it as a music venue and assumed that during the day it would be empty or shut. But there were people sat outside on the picnic tables and the sun was shining brightly on them. Inside the decor was not what I had imagined, although I dont know what I had imagined it would be like. I liked it, it is sort of modern trendy old fashioned. There is a pretty impressive range of beers on tap, but as it was so sunny I went for a nice cold lager. Ice Cold in Alex. It almost seemed a shame to leave the nice pub but we went and sat outside and enjoyed the sun. A couple of boats went past and some locals were fishing and enjoying some Stella. Much better than being in work.

After our drinks we walked up to the city walls and around to the River Dee. On the way we were engulfed in a tour group from Italy or Germany or some such continental place. Chester is very popular with tourists. Interestingly my colleague was more excited by an old 1980s TSB logo than the mock Tudor or Roman remains. There are also some hideous concrete buildings from the 1970s in Chester. The council must have been desperate for any investment then to allow them to built that stuff.

At the river we got ice creams and went on a boat trip up the Dee. Sadly we were on the Mark Twain not the Lady Diana but it was very nice and I got to see bits of Chester I hadn't seen before. The taped commentary was good, and the boat houses by the river are very swanky.

After the boat ride we went for food and drink (O'Kells) in the Bear and Billet, a favourite of mine. It seems to be popular with the tourists too, some Japanese or Chinese tourists were stood across the road taking photos of the pub. After eating we had one last drink (Spitting Feathers) in the Brewery Tap. The pub is in an old hall parts of which date back to the early 1500s. The main room has some impressive features as did the rather nice barmaid. If you like your real ale and appreciate an old building then this is the place for you.

We walked back to the canal, passing the Frog and Nightingale which was now very loud and busy outside. Soon we were back in Liverpool tired from the fresh air and sunshine. And the booze.

It was a really nice day, the weather was unexpectedly lovely and my colleague was the perfect person to skive off work with in Chester.

Museum Mile Markers

Mile Posts

The Ellesmere Port Boat Museum has some interesting displays. One is a collection of wooden patterns for metal items like lock gate hinges, and mile posts. The milepost pattern is adaptable, the places and numbers could be changed for each mile. 

The patterns were made out of different woods, yellow pine, box wood, lime wood or jelutong. These woods were easy to carve and could be given a sharp edge and a smooth finish. 

The patterns would be usually in two parts and slightly bigger than the size of the finished casting. They would be put into a mould box full of sand and the sand mould created with their impression. 

Mile post pattern with changeable numbers and place plaques

As well as the patterns there are examples of different metal boundary markers and mileposts. 

Mile posts were important for calculating tolls. 

Boundary markers marked out the extent of canal company property. There were often disputes with local landowners or locals using canal property as tracks or for grazing. 

An old original mile marker showing 28 miles to Lancaster, 15 to Garstang and 2 to Preston. 

Canal Walk: Chester

Today we took the train from Liverpool to Chester. 100 years (and two days) ago LTC Rolt was born in Chester so a trip to Chester seemed fitting. Added to that was the chance to have a nice lunch and see a few of the city's public houses. 

From the station its a short walk to the canal, straight ahead up City Road. We crossed the bridge over the canal and then went down to the towpath and underneath the bridge. We walked towards the city centre. Under Frodsham Street (where the Chinese dragons were getting ready for their firecrackers) and up to the usual moorings of Albatross when she is in town. 

Here I identified the remains of the bridge which once took the towpath over the arm belonging to Shropshire Union Railway and Canal Company. 

Something else we noted was the large sign telling us the towpath was closed! We carried on hoping that whatever work was being down on the towpath was on hold for the weekend. Round the corner, under the city walls, it became clear what the work was. All the trees and saplings along the rock cutting up to the city walls had been cut down. Rather than spoiling this picturesque section of canal it has opened it up, exposing the rock cutting and city walls above. 

Under the Bridge of Sighs and on to the staircase locks. There was a boat in the locks, crewed by three lads. They were in the 2nd chamber from the top, locking up. Or rather they were wondering why they were not locking up. The top chamber was empty and they were going nowhere. I suggested they open the top paddles if they wanted to get anywhere soon but I think they were about to figure it out for themselves. 

Past the locks and under the railway and road to the basin by the Dee Branch. We walked up to the iron bridge which has the plaque to LTC Rolt on it. Its an interesting spot with its dry dock, metal bridge and boatyard with all the boats that go with it. There are a couple of Normans in amongst the sorry looking boats there. 

We followed the Dee Branch as far as we could. There was a family of swans in by the lock and a cat on the lift bridge. 

We went up to the city walls and walked back the way we came but along the top of the city walls looking down. As we came to the Bridge of Sighs the boat from the lock was passing below. Following the walls round to the river we went to the Bear and Billet pub for a massive lunch which kept us full for the rest of the day. 

Canal Walk: Audlem Shropshire Union Canal

The Shroppie Fly, we had lunch here and it was very nice.


One of the original mileposts on the Shropshire Union Canal.



Lock number 10 of the 15 locks at Audlem.



St.James Church, late 13th century with additions in the 19th century. In front of the church is the Butter Market and the Bear Stone. The stone once had bears chained to it for baiting.

Lunch at the Shroppie Fly

Just had a very nice and filling chicken ham and leek pie and chips. We are sat next to the open fire and in no hurry to leave.

Canal Cruise: Wrenbury to Nantwich

This Sunday I met the Albatross at Wrenbury on the Llangollen Canal. I parked opposite the Cotton Arms. The sun was threatening to shine so we hoped for a sunny afternoon cruising back to the marina at Nantwich. But the hope didnt last too long and the black clouds started to gather. There was a queue for the locks, mostly due to one of the locks having only one ground paddle.

Canal Cruise: Nantwich to Bunbury

It was Good Friday, the sun was shining and it was the perfect day for a sail on the Shropshire Union Canal. There was a lot of traffic on the road and for once the canal was a faster way of travelling. It’s a short sail from the basin a Nantwich to the staircase locks at Bunbury.
I was a good thing that I was sailing rather than trekking because the towpath was closed for maintenance. Hopefully they will continue this work along the canal as there are some very poor bits of towpath around there.
We stopped for lunch near Hurleston Junction and could hear the clatter of the lock paddles being wound up as boaters came back from their holidays on the Llangollen Canal. A little further on is another junction at Barbridge, the Middlewich Branch of the canal.
As well as he usual ducks, moorhens, geese and swans there was a cormorant on the canal. A bird I am more used to seeing in the docks in Liverpool
This is a rural landscape but there is some sign of industry. An old brick kiln can be seen by the canal, now covered in trees. It is hard to see how this could be restored in any useful way other than as a holiday home for TeleTubbies.
At Bunbury there is a two rise staircase lock which is popular with onlookers. By the side of the lock is a stable block which once housed the horses used to pull the narrowboats along the canal. There is a shop by the lock which was very handy for me to buy the latest Canal Boat and Inland Waterways magazine.
We didn’t go down the locks, instead we filled up with water and turned around and headed back for fish and chips at the new Olde Barbridge Inn.
A round trip of 12 miles and for once my feet weren’t hurting! Canal cruising does have some obvious advantages over towpath trekking. The Shropshire Union is one of my favourite canals and it is interesting to compare it to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. There is much more traffic on the Shroppie and it is much more closely connected to the rest of the canal network. It was nice to see some classic cabin cruisers amid the modern narrowboats. There were a few wrecks which is always a shame given how expensive it is becoming for new boaters to start a life afloat.
Tomorrow it is back to the Leeds Liverpool and back to the towpath for me.

A Shropshire Sail

The sky looked unconvinced as is often in England in September, it could have been a hot sunny day or a chilly rainy one. We climbed aboard at Nantwich Basin and set off towards the Barbridge Inn at Barbridge Junction.
At Nantwich basin there is the interesting Nantwich Junction Bridge which is a changeline bridgetaking the towpath from the canal to the basin. The canal passes through Englands green and pleasant land of rolling green fields with dairy cows and oak trees. We soon reached Hurleston Junction and looking right we could see the Hurleston locks and the start of the LLangollen Canal. Not much further on but before the next junction is the Barbridge Inn formerlly the Kings Arms Inn. As luck would have it a boat was leaving as we arrived and we managed to moor up right outside the pub.
After the meal we turned around at the junctiona nd headed back to Nantwich. On the way we spotted a kingfisher on a branch before it became a blue streak, flying up the canal.
There had been no sign of mileposts all day until leaving the basin in the car I noticed on by the bridge in the basin.