Shropshire Union - Waverton to Beeston
So, after a mighty fine week, weather wise, on Friday night I go to bed with the weather woman's words ringing in my ears...."Very Wet", "Windy" and "Cold, Very Cold". Great, another weekend up the swannie...!
By 14:00 Saturday, I'd had enough of watching the sunny spells be replaced by rain, replaced by wind etc. etc. around and around.
Inspired by Canal Voyager's excellent Bloggs, I'd spent Friday night sussing out the Shropshire Union Canal in our area and had found that there wasn't a single lock between Christleton and Beeston Castle
.
The Boss came back with the car so "I threw caution to the wind" so to speak, loaded the boat up and she dropped me and "the big boy" in Waverton, Nr Chester at the canal bridge, there's a good sized carpark there with extreemly easy access to the canal.
Once loaded up I jumped in and, suprisingly, so did 'Cracker', with very little encouragement, not to bad for a dog that'll walk around a puddle rather than get his feet wet. After our first little 'test' outing, last weekend with Roy, I'd glued in a 12mm sleeping mat to give him some purchase and he seemed much happier....
!
This is us leaving the outskirts of Waverton, he never did suss that there was food in front of him..! I'm sure as he grows in confidence that'll have to be hidden away....
Crack's out on the towpath having a run, It's sooo cool to see the foliage growing in Spring, and to see the rain clouds giving way to the sun.....
I'm probably wrong, but I recon these grooves must have been made by the tow lines between the horses and the barges (how old would they be...!).
First view of Beeston/Peckforton....
After a seemingly never ending stretch of canal boats we finally burst free and it was time for a quick brew, as can be seen, 'the big boy' likes a brew too....
It'd be interesting to see this again once it's all greened up...
Cracker doing the majestic look....
Our first view of Beeston Castle, the target....
Perversly, this view reminded me of a Microsoft Windows background image.....
There's a herron in this one, I promise, as soon as I went into stalk mode he took flight. He's in the middle somewhere....!
We're getting closer, you can at least make out the battlements on this one...
And across the finish line, the Shady Oak, Beeston - A fantastic little place with a huge carpark if you're shuttling, a good pint and really good food.
A better picture of the get out for the Shady....
While waiting for my lift this cheeky chappy turned up, and wouldn't go away, even when I started to unload. He wasn't stroppy, and he certainly wasn't phased with me unloading....!
All in all a fantastic four hours spent on the water, met one walker, three dogs, one canal boat...and Ohhh the silence.....
Many thanks to Canal Voyager for inspiring this trip....I can feel longer ones tugging at my paddle...!
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Nice blog that. Good to Beeston Castle from below, I visited it last Sat., quite windy and not a little cold but clear views for 20mls+.
May the gentleness of morning, greet your silent passage through endless waters...
