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Tattenhall Marina.

canalboater2012

By canalboater2012
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canalboater2012 Contributor

canalboater2012

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Does anyone on here moor at the stated marina? As today I drove over to have a look round & see if they had any aviable moorings. They had quite a few think its only half full to be honest. Anyway wot do you think of the place how come its not full? When there is a waiting list at the likes of Aquaduct marina & Swanley. & overwater??

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BlueStringPudding Veteran II

BlueStringPudding

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I used to chat to the staff and some of the boaters when I cruised around that area. It's a nice marina, with friendly staff. It's also one of the most windblown I've ever visited! :D

 

A locations go, there are relatively few choices of cruising routes from Tattenhall, and some boaters I spoke to found the nearby iron lock limiting (not much fun without a crew). So marinas near canal junctions might be getting more trade than Tattenhall.

 

Personally I liked the marina, the sunsets over Beeston Castle and the ice cream farm made it a joy to moor there! However it is in the middle of nowhere, the only bus route is slow and rattley and only alternate buses pass by the marina, otherwise it's a fair walk to the nearest bus stop, and they were once an hour except on Sundays which I recall being even farther apart or non existent. Also it's a long walk into the village for the nearest pub. But the village is great and has some fab eateries. People who depend on their cars would find that less problematic though.

 

I was less than overjoyed with the very basic BSS compliance jobs done on my boat by the boatyard there (they even managed not to reconnect my batteries properly among some other amateur oversights). That for me was a reason not to use them other than for diesel after that experience, as it was the only diesel supplier around i could get to (tried at Beeston Boats three times but they were always too busy to serve at the weekends which was the only time I could cruise) so Tattenhall for me and other boaters I knew, was the main place to fuel up. And when I was there (which was over two years ago now) the chandlery was only just opening so the marina had been around quite a while before getting all its services up and running. Tattenhall also has the drawback of a number of online moorings in the area, such as Golden Nook Farm, which perhaps provides competition with cheaper moorings when they become available?

 

I remember enquiring about a temporary mooring at Tattenhall marina once and it seemed very expensive, certainly too expensive for me. But I don't know other marina prices so couldn't compare it really.

Edited by BlueStringPudding
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freddy Engager

freddy

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we moored at tattenhall marina in 2010 and found all the staff were very willing to help you,as far as the workshop is concerned,mark and lorraine who manage it,nothing is too much trouble,mark's standing as a mechanic/engineer,is second to none,hope this helps,john&sylvia

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comfortably numb Proficient

comfortably numb

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We moored there for a couple of years in our shared ownership boat. Nice setting, friendly helpful staff, and great facilities, lovely village albeit needing a car to go there. But it was the location of the marina that was the downer for us. Handy for a quick cruise to into the beautiful Chester, but being out on a limb it's 4 hours to join the rest of the system at Barbridge junction and being as we only had limited time on the boat it restricted us a bit.

 

Perhaps for a live aboard or somebody who'd use their boat more it wouldn't be such a problem, but with us only having 4 weeks a year it was too restrictive.

 

We weren't impressed with the workshop either but I think it's changed hands now so might be better.

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by'eck Veteran

by'eck

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Does anyone on here moor at the stated marina? As today I drove over to have a look round & see if they had any aviable moorings. They had quite a few think its only half full to be honest. Anyway wot do you think of the place how come its not full? When there is a waiting list at the likes of Aquaduct marina & Swanley. & overwater??

 

Cost

Local pub closed

Long walk to village

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Thorfast Community Regular

Thorfast

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We have been moored here for the last year.

Friendly, helpful staff. Mark in the workshop has done some great work on our boat for us - very pleased.

We have a car, so have not used the local buses. The village has some good eating places.

The 4 hours cruise south is through some lovely countryside so that makes up for the fact that we have to travel that way before we come to a choice of cruising routes - though, yes, Beeston Iron Lock is a pain on your own. (I've always been lucky and people have helped me through on the few occasions I single-handed)

I thought the prices here compare well, if not better, than the other marinas in the area.

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andrew Gongoozler

andrew

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We moved to Tattenhall in April from the Bridgewater. We don't live aboard and our home is in north Cheshire. We looked at all the marinas in the locality and thought Tattenhall best. The marina itself is very nice if a little breezy(!)and the facilities are super. The staff are very professional and pleasant and have always gone out of their way to help us.

 

As far as location goes, it is probably less restrictive than Overwater; you have to go up the whole Audlem flight if you want to head south! Swanley is restricted by being on the Llangollen. We havn't found the double width locks a problem as we are not single handed. We have a car so access is not a problem and the local scenery is beautiful. We have not tried the bus services but are assured they are good, and the park and ride into Chester is minutes from the canal at Christelton and works very well. Tattenhall village is a bit of a hike but we did it in about 20 mins on foot and has a good variety of shops and eating and drinking places.

 

The fact that you are not cheek by jowl with other boats was a great attraction and you can select a mooring you like. Another plus, which clinched it for us, is that you get a free lift out if you pay a years mooring! We had our boat blacked at the workshop,they did the job inside because the weather was poor and made a good job of it. They welded on a new fender eye without asking or charging and told us where to get the matt black paint for the gunwhales at a sensible price! They are boaters, after all.

 

Altogether very satisfied.

 

Andrew and Anne

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Fudge Explorer

Fudge

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My brother now moors his David Piper here, after moving down from Whixall earlier this year. He likes it and as it's on the system, finds getting out and about without the regular trawl down the Llangollen a real bonus.

The mooring fees are'nt bad for a newer marina. Cheaper than Aqueduct certainly and probably Overwater. Not sure about Swanley.

It does suffer from "wind" but the views make up for that, and many of the newer marina's have wind issues anyway.

You can take the number 41 bus from the village into Chester I believe, and the village does have some eating places.

If we lived nearer, it's where we would moor. Great local cruising.

Oh, and as it's part of Lakeland Leisure, you can moor at Great Haywood or Saul on a flexi scheme, providing they have room. Handy if you want to explore another part of the network without paying extra fees.

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Tiggers Community Regular

Tiggers

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Also, if you make use of being able to stay at Great Haywood, you'll have me looking after you :)

 

I am a little bias, of course, but they are putting a hell of a lot of effort into Tattenhall, it is beautiful, and the guys who work there are lovely

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snigsnig Collaborator

snigsnig

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I have moored at Tattenhall since February. The marina itself has fantastic facilities, and is in a fantastic location, for me it has the right balance between rural and urban, Chester is 15 mins away by car, but you don't have to travel too far by boat to feel properly remote, and the whole area around Beeston/Peckforton/Bickerton/Burwardsley is stunning - worth mooring up and stretching the legs for.

 

They've taken on around 70 new boats this year I think, so that emptiness that it gets labelled with is changing - it's certainly the spot its in that has been the problem rather than the marina itself - the quiet no real through-route of the top of the Shroppie, although in reality you have Barbridge and Hurleston not that far away, I think of it more as being 'just off' the Four Counties Ring. They dropped their prices this year (and so are now cheaper than Overwater, Swanley Bridge etc), ditched extended stay tariffs I think, and seem to be encouraging 'liveaboards' much more. My one criticism of the marina (beside the wind, don't bother moving when the wind sock is up as you won't make it out of the marina!) is that when I was first there I found the place incredibly unfriendly, which I know seems to contradict others' experiences. I'm relatively young compared to a lot of other moorers, and seemed to be treated with real suspicion for a while (and I'm a nice, friendly guy!!) - I just put it down to poor social skills from certain members of staff, lol! Now I've been there a while that seems to have changed thankfully, and everyone seems nice.

 

The village is nice, a bit too far away though, and overpopulated for the area so you get a lot of traffic along the country lanes which can be very dangerous on foot, there are no direct footpaths either so you have to dice with death to walk to the pub! There has been planning permission requested for building some houses and a couple of shops right beside the marina though (currently a derelict restaurant), which could be a good thing as it would mean they will build a proper pavement right down into the village. And the ice cream farm, though they have some fantastic ice cream, quickly becomes a real pain in the a*se as the entrance to the marina (by car) comes through the farm's car park and its ALWAYS busy. You invariably get dozy looking people getting right in your way while you're just trying to go about your business.

 

:)

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little duck! Collaborator

little duck!

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We considered it but decided location for us wasnt great. Whenever we have been by car or boat to Chandelry it is blowing a gale and cold. There were many mpty spaces which made it look a bit like a ghost town which again put us off. We visited several marinas before deciding as it depends a lot upon personal choice and circumstances.

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Darren72 Rising Star

Darren72

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Does anyone on here moor at the stated marina? As today I drove over to have a look round & see if they had any aviable moorings. They had quite a few think its only half full to be honest. Anyway wot do you think of the place how come its not full? When there is a waiting list at the likes of Aquaduct marina & Swanley. & overwater??

 

Waiting list at Swanley? How longs your boat??

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notebook Explorer

notebook

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Venetian marina is well sitiated for many cruising opportuities and is in the process of being updated/ modernised.

 

edited for spelling!

can

 

Does anyone on here moor at the stated marina? As today I drove over to have a look round & see if they had any aviable moorings. They had quite a few think its only half full to be honest. Anyway wot do you think of the place how come its not full? When there is a waiting list at the likes of Aquaduct marina & Swanley. & overwater??

can only agree with other comments, we stayed there for few days on our way to/from chester found everyone very friendly and helpful and actually liked location, but we do live aboard so look for different things. We got taxi to village.

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canalboater2012 Contributor

canalboater2012

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Lonewolf I don't no why your hmmmm on your post but i rang up Aquaduct, Swanley & overwater & all three told me there was a waiting list for most sizes.

 

Comfortable numb thanks for your comments regarding the pubs in Villages. Is that u Steve From Runcorn boat club?

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LoneWolf Rising Star

LoneWolf

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Lonewolf I don't no why your hmmmm on your post but i rang up Aquaduct, Swanley & overwater & all three told me there was a waiting list for most sizes.

 

 

I know overwater quite well so I was surprised to read your opening post saying they had a waiting list for 50' so I asked them in person on Wednesday when i was there and was told they do have some spaces left

 

It looks like Darren72 is familiar with Swanley and he is surprised to hear there is a waiting list there

 

Lakeland Leisure have form for posting on this forum pretending to be a happy moorer at Tattenhall see here

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