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Chester to River Dee link


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It has been rumoured that on a cost saving excercise the lock and the Dee will be closed, and the money will go towards the dredging between Chester and Ellesmere Port.

 

AFAIK it has already been closed 'UFN' since the money to replace the tidal lock gates was diverted to repair the breach on the Monmouth and Brecon canal

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I think JP Marine are the new owners.

 

Clicky

 

 

There is a JP Marine sign on top of one of the boats moored there. Will post some pictures when back home. Currently sat in the cratch moored next to Taylors, opposite Telford Warehouse. Just one other boat plus a hire boat in the whole basin. Also two night fishermen with a fire going - not for much longer though as it is raining quite hard now. Had a look at the Dee link earier - a lot of silt in the entrance and the first set of lock gates are off their hinges. One of the Taylors is giving a talk quite soon locally - according to a notice at the information point.

Edited by Josher
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Had a look at the Dee link earier - a lot of silt in the entrance and the first set of lock gates are off their hinges. One of the Taylors is giving a talk quite soon locally - according to a notice at the information point.

 

Work commenced on fitting new gates about 3 years ago. The the new gates were made but the work was never completed, the funds to do it being diverted to repair of the Mon & Brec. breach. The arm is now silting and weeding up badly through lack of any use. The top pound moorings used to be full of boats both sides. Only three boats now remain as BW aren't reletting them as they are vacated.

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Work commenced on fitting new gates about 3 years ago. The the new gates were made but the work was never completed, the funds to do it being diverted to repair of the Mon & Brec. breach. The arm is now silting and weeding up badly through lack of any use. The top pound moorings used to be full of boats both sides. Only three boats now remain as BW aren't reletting them as they are vacated.

 

Hi

i can confirm that the top pound mooring of the Dee branch is actively abandoned and no further moorings will be let there the only moorings are those already using the site and will not be replaced if they vacate. Rob Prigg the mooring manager told this to several of us Calveley moorers at a meeting last year.

With regard to the sea lock gates, prior to the remainder of the funds being diverted the joiners and others working on the lock found the gates could not be fitted successfully as the cill for the bottom gate had been undermined and thus needed such things as a coffer dam to hold back the tide and the cill excavating and that end of the lock rebuilding, for which no funding had been allocated.

My guess would be that if nothing changes in the finanace's the Dee branch route, which is un-nagavitable in reality now due to silting and immovable lock gates even before reaching the sea lock is lost proberly for ever.

I did hear the dry dock had been used by Chas Harden, but supplying his own public liabilty insurance or some such reason to satisfy the H&S which is the main cause of it's closure I believe

david

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Hi

i can confirm that the top pound mooring of the Dee branch is actively abandoned and no further moorings will be let there the only moorings are those already using the site and will not be replaced if they vacate. Rob Prigg the mooring manager told this to several of us Calveley moorers at a meeting last year.

With regard to the sea lock gates, prior to the remainder of the funds being diverted the joiners and others working on the lock found the gates could not be fitted successfully as the cill for the bottom gate had been undermined and thus needed such things as a coffer dam to hold back the tide and the cill excavating and that end of the lock rebuilding, for which no funding had been allocated.

My guess would be that if nothing changes in the finanace's the Dee branch route, which is un-nagavitable in reality now due to silting and immovable lock gates even before reaching the sea lock is lost proberly for ever.

I did hear the dry dock had been used by Chas Harden, but supplying his own public liabilty insurance or some such reason to satisfy the H&S which is the main cause of it's closure I believe

david

 

 

Its a shame about the Dee branch moorings...it used to be quite a lively place years ago. The water there looked quite stagnant the last time I went past.

 

 

I saw a couple of boats in the dry dock last summer. They had to hire extra fencing because of H & S which I believe doubled the cost of the hire.

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Its a shame about the Dee branch moorings...it used to be quite a lively place years ago. The water there looked quite stagnant the last time I went past.

 

 

I saw a couple of boats in the dry dock last summer. They had to hire extra fencing because of H & S which I believe doubled the cost of the hire.

 

On our past passages down the branch the siltation was terrible. The sad thing is, that if you use the right state of the tide (certainly with a narrowboat), you do no need to use the bottom gates.

I would not be surprised if Gerald lent on someone at BW, I don't think he and his Men in Black ever recovered from when Ed Mortimer dropped in on him at Eaton Hall, when Ed had Ibex (or was it Auriga).

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With regard to the sea lock gates, prior to the remainder of the funds being diverted the joiners and others working on the lock found the gates could not be fitted successfully as the cill for the bottom gate had been undermined and thus needed such things as a coffer dam to hold back the tide and the cill excavating and that end of the lock rebuilding, for which no funding had been allocated.

My guess would be that if nothing changes in the finanace's the Dee branch route, which is un-nagavitable in reality now due to silting and immovable lock gates even before reaching the sea lock is lost proberly for ever.

 

Snapshot2011-02-2822-30-44.jpg

 

Use it or loose it I guess - not sure what the demand is for the Dee.

 

Shame that the whole link/moorings would be lost though.

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Shame that the whole link/moorings would be lost though.

 

The top lock is in fine condition, the bottom gates being renewed only 3 years ago, so there's no need to loose the moorings. I understand the three remaining moorers are determined to stick it out.

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While it would be easy to write the Dee Arm off as little used, we need to be careful here that this isn't the tin end of a very hefty wedge. Robin Evans, when asked by Adrian Stott whether BW would close canals to save money, said that if BW did that then canal restoration societies might as well pack up and go home, so no they wouldn't. If the Dee branch falls, what goes next time the money gets tight? The Wyrley and Essington? Harecastle Tunnel?

 

The use of waterways is also changing, one obvious sign is the increase in liveaboards, which while welcome isn't always helpful unless they also cruise. There were liveaboards on the Basingstoke when it was totally derelict for example. However, I suspect smaller boats and cross-over boating (estuarine and inland) will become more common. To me at least, the Dee Branch is a way onto the Dee Estuary and the North Wales Coast that doesn't involve using the ship canal, and as such it should be preserved.

 

I can't help feeling the IWA should be making a bigger noise about this, first by telling BW that the current state of the Dee Branch is not on, and second by campaigning and fund raising to sort it out.

 

Is the Dee Branch Cruiseway or Remainder?

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To me at least, the Dee Branch is a way onto the Dee Estuary and the North Wales Coast that doesn't involve using the ship canal, and as such it should be preserved.

 

I can't help feeling the IWA should be making a bigger noise about this, first by telling BW that the current state of the Dee Branch is not on, and second by campaigning and fund raising to sort it out.

 

Is the Dee Branch Cruiseway or Remainder?

 

Errr...to me it is also away of getting to the River Dee....which I would think is equally important. Knowing the Dee Estuary (and the lack of Channel, from Mostyn to Flint) and the Dee above Chester Weir, they are are both equally awkward to navigate.

I think one of the problems with BW is that they are still smarting from when David Fletcher made all the prevoiusly chargeable bits of BW free to licence holders (like the Dee Branch and Anderton) this is what we should be worried about loosing, as with a charge, they are even less likely to be used.

Unfortunatley the last attempt by the IWA to get over Chester Weir / use tbe Watergate was during the NB Jubilee trip round the system, which I helped organise. Unfortunatrely the Spring tides necessary to navigate over Chester Weir did not fit in with the time Chester Branch had NB Jubilee....time and tide waits for no man....

As I haver already mentioned, for going up the Dee, certainly with narrowboats and the fact you will have to use the link on or near a high Springs, it means that the bottom gates are not needed.

Dsc02880.jpg

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As I'm still passing this twice a day I should really get some photos of the current state to share on here.

One thing that hasn't been posted here (for those that don't know) is the Chester Canal Heritage Trust's website link - http://www.chestercanalheritagetrust.co.uk/ - they obviously pay quite a lot of attention to the Dee Branch and Taylor's Boatyard. Interesting talks they arrange too.

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  • 10 months later...

Maybe it's bad form to reply to your own post from 10 months ago, but...

The land adjacent to the lock, which might or might not belong to BW is now for sale.

http://www.reedsrains.co.uk/properties-for-sale/land-for-sale-tilston-quay-sealand-road-chester-ch1-sale-id-200337934

Never heard of it referred to as Tilston Quay before.

It would be nice to think that a condition of repairing the lock could be made upon any developer, but I think that's wishful thinking!

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