Cruising on a (Damp and Cool) Summer Afternoon

The Heart of Old Town Chester
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Figures that it would be the wettest summer on record in England.  Floods, rail disruptions, and torrential downpours were in the news most days during the last week of our journey.  But, hey, we were on a canalboat (more popularly called a narrowboat in these parts) and given that it floats (hopefully), the weather shouldn't be much of a deterrent.   But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

After dropping our rental car off in the Roman-era town of Chester, we hopped a cab for the 15-or-so mile journey to the canalside town of Bunbury.  After a wonderful lunch at the local pub (yes, a reoccuring theme) and a visit to the town's Anglican church, we "took command" of our narrowboat and headed back toward Chester.

The kindness of strangers!

Parish Church, Bunbury, Shropshire, England
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Now, for those of you not familiar with narrowboats, these are largely a English phenomenon - though we've rental similar watercraft in Ireland and France as well.  6'10" wide, 45+' long, and with a ceiling height of just a tad more than 6'- it serves as hotel, restaurant (do-it-yourself) and transport.  Cozy is a generous word to describe the experience - but this was our 4th time at it so we obviously manage!!! (...or we have bad recall!)

So after getting all of our luggage stowed away (I love those nautical expressions), we heave-hoed and set sail against the westerlies!  Perhaps, though, I exaggerate.  So, after untie-ing the mooring ropes, we set off toward Chester.

Passing by the old walled City of Chester on the Shropshire-Union canal
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Over the course of the next week, we cruised anywhere from 1-6 hours a day, managed a pub meal once a day on average and went through some 28 locks between Barbury Junction and just shy of Ellesmere Port, all on the Shropshire-Union canal.  We had planned on traveling further, but the weather was not overly conducive to long days "at sea."  The one other pertinent fact about English narrowboats is that, like a sailboat, they are operated from the outside - fully exposed to the elements.  So when it rains, the "captain" gets wet!  I had two sets of rain gear - one that I brought from home and the other provided by the boat rental company - and used both sets on some days.

The Chester Zoo and its Monorail
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Luckily, most of the rain fell as showers - intense but not long in duration.  Thus, we were able to do several off-boat walking journeys, often under bright skies and billowing clouds.  And the English are nothing if not kind.  One reason we choose the Shropshire-Union canal in the area around Chester was so that one of our destinations could be the Chester Zoo, one of the largest in all Europe.  We moored where the guidebook said we should (Bridge 34).  A kindly, older couple were sitting on a bench near the bridge and we struck up a conversation, finding out that the zoo entrance nearest the canal was apparently closed last year - the new main entrance was now several miles from the canal (its a BIG zoo!).  Disappointment filled our faces - and the couple quickly offered to drive us to the new zoo entrance.  Figuring we could catch a cab back to the boat, we eagerly accepted their offer and away we went.

One Happy, or at least Quizzical, Giraffe at the Chester Zoo
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The zoo, by the way, was fabulous, with lots of criters in natural settings.  In the 5 hours or so that we were there, we saw most, but certainly not all, of the exhibits.  And we've never been so close to girraffes in our lives - very cool.  When it was nearing time to leave, we asked an attendent if there was another way out of the zoo, closer to the canal.  Eventually finding our way to what was basically the employee entrance, we asked the guard how to get back to the canal.  Another employee overheard the conversation, said that he drives right past the canal on his way home and, before we knew it, we were back on board our boat.  The kindness of strangers!

The Rain in England Falls Mainly In The ...
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The next day was spent walking around Chester, is between or during cloud bursts.  The highlight was attending a sung Evensong service at the "Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary."  The three of us sat just a few feet from the visiting American boys choir and more-or-less beneath the organ pipes of this magnificant cathedral.  An ethereal experience.  Followed, of course, by a pub dinner!

Several days later, we took a wonderful walk in the countryside, and then up a steep hill, to visit another castle - this one a ruin called Beeston Castle.  The sun was out, the temperature in the low 70's, and it was a grand experience.  The view from the castle ramparts overlooked the entire route of our narrowboat journey; and the ticket shop also sold locally-made ice cream - the perfect combo!

Our Home Away from Home on the Shrophire-Union Canal
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Only the last day of our narrowboat journey did the weather turn really bad - downpours most of the day.  So we motored back to within 30 minutes of our base, moored for the remainder of the day - packed, ate, read, played games and, of course, walked to a very nearby pub for dinner.

The next morning, we returned the boat to the Bunbury base, caught a cab to the train and a train to Manchester.  We visited the local Science Museum, then I crashed,Gillian and Emma went to see Harry Potter V at the local cinema, we re-joined for a stroll around downtown Manchester, ate Indian food, and got ready for the next day's flight home.  A perfect ending!