13 October 2019

Ellie-McBoat-Face loved having extra crew on board and coped magnificently. Her table easily converted into a bed, giving everyone somewhere to sleep. With two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen table, we really are living it up in our mobile home.

We also had a couple of extra passengers, hitching a ride when we first set off this morning. They didn’t contribute much.

The weather wasn’t fantastic but it wasn’t miserable either, so we’re still not complaining.

Cabin Boy Chris took us down the locks under Maddog Marjoribanks and Long John’s tutelage. He has achieved in two days something I still haven’t achieved in three Canal trips.

The rest of us kept busy opening and closing the remaining locks (and feeding the ducks) into Chester.

The waterway into Chester was interesting and despite a lot of new building/ renovations occurring, there was still plenty to see.

But it was the town centre that blew us away !! Stunning.

We couldn’t resist a group pic on top of the old wall under the clock shown above.

The High Street has be seen to be believed.

Chester is a walled city with a history dating back to Pre- Roman times. It has evidence of an amphitheatre, baths and gardens which can still be visited.

We walked the entire wall in about an hour stopping to take photos and read the information boards. Our walk took us past the river, the racecourse, several watch towers (including one where King Charles stood to watch his army defeated, before doing a runner, in 1645), a pidgeon feeding station, the Chester Cathedral Falconry Park and the Cathedral itself , before returning us to that amazing clock gate.

All this walking had made us thirsty. We wandered further down the Eastgate Street, ogling at the Tudor facades, until we found a suitable watering hole.

Grahame and I found an Outdoor Shop selling wet weather gear. We thought we had pushed our luck far too many times this week. I also had an idea that purchasing such apparel would invoke Murphy’s Law. The skies would clear for the remainder of our cruise! That was certainly worth the price of our investment!

Yes, Chester has a cathedral and yes, I didn’t step inside earlier. But the stain glass drawcard was too much for me to ignore any longer.

This cathedral even had its own LEGO version and for a £1 you could contribute to its construction. I chose to give my £1 to the homeless person outside instead.

We managed to jag another organ rehearsal while we explored the rest of the place.

Certainly a contender for top 5!

Sadly it was time to say goodbye to Katie and Chris. They had served their apprenticeship well but London and work were calling.

A final group photo was taken to record the end of a great weekend.

The evening was “balmy” enough for a quiet tipple on the front deck. But we didn’t stay there long as we had a tricksy geocache to hunt and we thought we’d search under the cover of darkness.

Chester, you are indeed a Champion!!!

Sequence score: boys v girls. Boys win

• John 4
• Grahame 4
• Judy 3
• Jenny 3