Chester

Well we arrived bang on schedule, 5 hrs after setting off. With the ruins of Beeston Castle dominating the skyline even after we had gone quite some way, Peckforton Castle (not really a castle in my opinion) was next to spring into view behind us as the weather threatened to unleash its worst upon us. However, our luck with the weather held as we passed Tattenhall Marina. This was initially our chosen marina for LottieD, back in the days when berths were mighty hard to come by. It's hard to imagine this was the case just a few short years ago, given the proliferation of new marinas since.

Also, the leaden skies did little to enhance the mile long crawl by at Hargrave, where a motley collection of vessels stretch on, seemingly unending as far as the eye can see.

Boring!

Once beyond this, and the mowers and strimmers labouring away to clear the towpath, the weather broke for a time and normal service resumed

In fact, as we started to pass the lovely bankside houses before Egg Bridge it was easy to forget the gloomy morning

Shortly beyond here there is a flight of five locks down into Chester and we were fortunate to catch another boat up, whereupon we paired our way down the wide locks in quick time.
So, it's city centre hustle and bustle, excellent internet access and I've even managed to shoot the Sky dish over some houses. Get the evening meal out of the way then watch the Giants hopefully beat Saints! More tomorrow as we explore the city.