Five Go Mad in Cheshire - Day Four

Tuesday 1st June 2010

Slept like a log, woke at 9.30am, no further disturbances, we opened the curtains to be greeted by a very persistent light rain, the sort that given a chance would penetrate any clothing. We quickly decided that our provisional plans made the day before, and before ‘the disturbance’, would now be abandoned, so a day spent doing tourist stuff and another night’s stay in Chester would not be happening. I still think Chester is a very interesting place, and would certainly consider returning, but overnight mooring, particularly at that spot – no!

We had breakfast, the rain showed no sign of abating, so Matt decided to go and do some shopping and see about a haircut. Being a university student, haircuts don’t seem to be a high priority, so this was his opportunity. He returned a couple of hours later, very smart haircut and a few pounds lighter in the wallet department, we had lunch and the rain then stopped. We had discussed what to do instead of Chester, and had decided to continue to head north and go to the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port on Wednesday.

We set off around 2.00pm, and were soon at the Northgate Staircase lock. On our own, with nothing coming up, we solved the high-IQ puzzle that is navigating these locks, watched by an increasing number of gongoozlers now that the rain had stopped, and without any problems were through. By now we had started to understand how much water the boat needed and what the intervals between topups needed to be. So after the sharp turn at Tower Wharf, we arrived at the service point there just as another boat was leaving – perfect timing. Whilst waiting the thirty minutes or so for the tank to fill, we checked out this other recommended overnight mooring site. To us it didn’t really seem any safer or better, and in fact wouldn’t relish mooring there on our own.

Once watered, we set off again, gradually leaving the urban sprawl of Chester, on the lock free section, as gradually the countryside took over again. The occasional boat was seen, but the canal here was quieter than south of Chester, which itself was not exactly heaving!! I had earmarked using the marked public moorings at Stoak, according to the Pearsons guide, so that was our target. The plan was to then leave early the next morning to get to the museum soon after opening, leave mid-afternoon and travel back through and past Chester.

An incident free cruise in brightening weather, and the moorings at Stoak looked great. It seemed like the middle of nowhere, just the distant noise of a motorway, and with the village only about 15 minutes away. We moored up, it was now about 5.00pm, and whilst Denise started to prepare dinner, Matt and I walked Pip to see what the Bunbury Arms in the village was like. A country/farm track from the bridge just ahead of our mooring point went straight into the heart of the village. The pub looked nice, and we tentatively pencilled in a trip to it after dinner. There is nothing else much in the village, other than the church, which had a marked signpost for a footpath that seemed to lead to the canal bridge behind where we had moored. We started to take this path, through the churchyard and past centuries of gravestones, but the path then went straight through the middle of a field with horses in. Pip is not a great fan of horses, so we backtracked. As we passed the gravestones we noticed some military style stones, and the poor unfortunate souls had obviously died in Iraq or Afghanistan in 2007. Back to the boat, dinner, scrabble, cards and time for Pip’s walk before bed, we had decided against going to the pub. On opening the hatch and stepping out – a magical, mythical site met my eyes. There in the distance, where previously had been the industrial pipes, chimneys and flames of Stanlow Oil Refinery, now stood a veritable christmas tree like show of lights and ‘dry ice’. I called Matt and Denise to come and look at this man-made scene of beauty, it had to be seen to be believed. We also noticed that at least one other boat had now also chosen to moor here, leaving a nice, courteous gap.

And to sleep……..

4 miles, 3 locks, 3 ½ hours (including 30 minutes at services)