Friday 10 October 2008

Beeston Castle

2 Locks, 8½ Miles. Now moored at Christleton

As it was another beautiful day we went for a walk into the village to see if there was a track up onto the mound were we spotted the deer yesterday. Unfortunately this proved to be a lost cause even though we did get closer to the deer. Apparently they are not truly wild as they are owned by somebody. In NZ farmed deer are used for many things and one of them is the deer velvet from the stag's. The antlers or velvet is removed before the antlers calcify and is sold to the Chinese for herbal remedies.

The unusual sides to Beeston Iron lock. Designed by Telford due to the unstable ground conditions.

After our morning constitutional walk we set off with the intention of stopping at Wharton's lock so that we could walk a track up to Beeston castle. Well we moored up at the lock and set off across the fields. The track was a bit wet and boggy in places but the closer we got to the castle the higher the hill, on which the castle was built, seemed to be getting. After about 1/2 an hours walk we decided that the track was too wet and muddy so we aborted the attempt. Shame really because the view from the top must be awesome on a sunny day like today.

Other than the trains on the Crewe to Chester line there was only a rural outlook for most of our journey. One interesting train was an overnight sleeper carriage hauled between 2 Wrexham and Shropshire loco's.

Moored behind us is another part owned Kiwi narrowboat called Kiwi Dragon. Maggie is the kiwi and her husband Kenny the Welshman.

1485 locks, 3133½ miles, 51 Tunnels, 42 swing bridges and 39 lift bridges since Nov 2006

2 comments:

Jim said...

Its a shame you didn't get to the castle. the view from the top really is spectactular - in all directions.
We walked there from Calveley - longer but not so steep!
You really should go if you get another chance.
Jim

Derek and Dot said...

Thanks Jim
We will try on the way back up the road from Beeston Iron Lock if we have the chance.
Dot