Date walked: 17th August 2015
Distance: about 12 miles
Maps used: OS Explorer 265 – Clwydian Range (for 10 minutes), then OS Explorer 266- Wirral and Chester
***************
After three and a bit years my last day of walking the coast path had arrived. As I am writing this up three months later I am feeling a little nostalgic about it (question: is nostalgia a feeling?). On the day I seem to remember mostly looking forward to a luxurious pampering at the Chester Grosvenor Hotel and to seeing Anne.
I celebrated by having breakfast in bed, thus avoiding my undoubted annoyance at taking breakfast downstairs in the bar where I was quite certain some horrid musak would have annoyed me.
From The Ship Hotel I crossed the footbridge over the railway line and had a brief walk through Flint’s suburbs. The Flintshire Countryside Service leaflet about the path describes Flint as having a “refreshing seaside feel”; in my view it was about as refreshing as the Blackwall Tunnel.
I picked up the path again at Flint Castle, the last of 10 (I think) which I had passed in this 870 (ish) mile hike.
Part of King Edward I’s “Iron Ring”
Those good-humoured Countryside people have installed a cheery greeting to the path users, here.
Roughly translated: “Beware of dive-bombing terns near the castle”
Over on the marshes, a flock of Canadian Geese seemed to find my presence, disconcerting, moving away as I paused for a pic.
This might be your last sheep-shot of the walk, too.
This marsh-side section was very brief, the path route then crossing back over the railway line…
Clever of me to get a train in the pic, don’t you think?
…. to provide a mile and a half’s trek alongside the A 548 and a chance to admire the SCA Okenholt paper mill.
“Care of Life” it says- they make toilet tissue
Up ahead, my last power station of the walk (OK, can we have a bit less of this last xxxxx stuff, it could get very tedious – Ed) – the 4-chimneyed Connah’s Quay gas fired station.
Now children, how many power stations have I walked by?
Fabulous! I can’t decide which is my best pic of it.
This one?
Or this?
There was a little park beside the road, so I popped in for a last, lingering pic of the power station…
This puts it in its context
…before turning my attention ahead to to the very grand Flintshire Bridge.
Inspired by pylons?
It is the largest asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the whole of Britain – fancy that!
Worth another pic, then.
Next up, was The Rock, although I did not see it.
Maybe I was standing on it?
The path passes through the back streets of an industrial estate where the gate-posts of a burnt -out house little house sported the ubiquitous Welsh dragon.
That satellite dish hardly seemed touched by the blaze!
The Old Quay house, may have had an interesting interior but when was the last time I stopped for a lunchtime drink?
I wonder if it’s changed hands since the landlord attacked someone outside a nearby kebab joint?
Another little gem in this back street stage was a wonderful garage door mural.
Perhaps pre-dating the existing power station?
Then I was back overlooking the mud of the Dee, and on the other side of the river the Shotton Steel Works brought back memories of my geography A level (but not very clear ones).
Must have been the biggest or summut.
I have passed a lot of fascinating rocks in the last three years, but I can’t remember seeing one so stuffed with fossils as a lump by the path that seemed unceremoniously discarded there.
I picked at it a bit but it was too hard to dig anything out
This predominately industrial scenery was endlessly interesting; a small plantation of what I took to be venting pipes, presenting me with another novel view.
Perhaps built on top of some noxious waste?
Ahead, the 126 year old Hawarden Bridge carries the railway over the Dee…..
They don’t make them like that anymore.
…. and me, too.
Strictly speaking I believe I was supposed to cross at the next bridge
Pause for a pic of the river.
I think I can safely say that I will not get lost today
Feeling ever so slightly deviant at my premature crossing of the river I was faced with the path being fenced off. A couple of cyclists turned up and were most disgruntled at their path being blocked. Never one to go back unless forced to do so, I climbed down the bank and back onto the path with minimal effort.
I’ve always had a bit of a problem with authority
The trouble is, when I do what I am not supposed to do, I generally feel doubly rewarded. Firstly with that warm glow of simply doing wrong. Secondly, by seeing or experiencing something that I shouldn’t have. Here, my reward was a very good view of the 100 plus year old General Office of the Shotton Steel Works.
Isn’t it great!
I do hope that this wonderful building gets a new life.
Commissioned by John Summers and Sons as the company was known before nationalisation
Throughout this walk I have usually shown you what lies ahead, but often the views looking back can be very rewarding and there was another fine view of the Hawarden Bridge to be had by doing so.
Throughout the Path there has been evidence that the coast has always been vulnerable to invasion, and on the far side of the river a concrete Pillbox was a final reminder of this.
Ahead, the turquoise Jubilee Bridge, (also known as the blue bridge) was the one I was supposed to have crossed.
It is is a double leaf rolling bascule bridge
Tower Bridge is another example of a bascule Bridge but this one doesn’t swing any more.
I thought you might like to see it’s bottom
I had about three miles to go; and as with the vast majority of the time on the Coast Path, I mostly had the place to myself.
On my side of the river the landscape was arable fields but on the other bank were occasional industrial units.
I rather liked my fantasy that the white one had fallen over
But the most significant by far was the Airbus site. It is located in the grounds of Hawarden Airport and produces the wings for the largest passenger jet in the world, the A380.
Ian (see Llanfairfechan to Conwy) had told me to expect to see it.
The plane itself is built in France. The wings are too big to be flown there so they are moved by road to their own ferry on the river ….
If you squint at the screen you might make out a wing sitting in a field.
….and taken by barge up to Mostyn Dock before being shipped by sea to Toulouse. As I was contemplating this large scale international Meccano, I saw a very large plane fly over the airport. I assumed it must be an Airbus. A few minutes later a roar over to my left commanded me to look skywards. The same massive plane passed low overhead…
Very exciting!
… and then landed; I had time and composure to manage just two pictures.
Ian later identified this for me as a Beluga, or modified Airbus A300 and used to transport plane parts. Wikipedia says that there are 0nly 5 of these.
A further on was Higher Ferry House – the last (or first if you go the wrong way) on the path; it had pretty windows and beautiful bricks.
Next to it, was the footbridge that made the ferry redundant.
Not so beautiful
Over this last few miles I had been tweeting my progress, my faithful follower, John, tweeting me back that he was ready with his congratulations. I did not expect to be met by anyone; Anne was driving up later and no one else had dropped any hints that there might be a welcome party. Nevertheless I did feel a smidgen of disappointment that when I could see the rather insignificant lump of stone that marks the end of the path, there was no one else there. Hiding perhaps? No.
But, greeted or not, pictures had to be taken, so here are a couple of selfies.
This was the best of a bad job; will someone give me cosmetic surgery for my double chin for Christmas?
This one is for John
I did feel a little odd, hanging around there, half expecting still that something might happen.
Walking the Path had been quite a big part of my life in the last three years. 870 (give or take) miles is a long way to have walked by anyone’s standards and I could probably double the time that I had spent in the actual walking in the travelling to and fro and in the organising of the trip. And for every one of the day’s walks, so about a day and half has been spent processing the pictures and writing a post here. So, I feel slightly odd knowing that this is also my last post from the walk.
To say that I have enjoyed it would be inadequate. I don’t feel able to make some concise or neat summary about what it has been like; I hope that I have provided at least a faithful account of my journey here. I hope,too, that I have provided pleasure and entertainment to those of you who have regularly read the posts and I thank you all for your comments and contributions.
Thanks, too, to Neil, Paul, Philip and Ian who walked with me at various times and who all tolerated with good humour my inevitable waywardness. And to Anne, who encouraged me always and who came with me on several holidays to places that she probably wouldn’t have chosen to go to.
A few days after I finished, I got this very touching card from John. Nice.
Congratulations (again) Charles 🙂 a very fine achievement !!!
Lots of pleasure had here in South Wales reading your (mostly) weekly accounts. Sometimes pleasure gained from reading accounts of your less enjoyable wet and caravan strewn days, safely from the warmth of our bed. But mostly gained from reading your accounts of those glorious moments, sometimes days, when the sky was bright, the sea sparkled, and the coast fascinated.
So thank you for the entertainment, and sometimes sheer delight, of reading your tales and looking at your thoroughly fascinating pictures. A blog to be proud of 🙂
Thank you Neil. Its been really nice to know that the two of you have been following and enjoying the walk.
xx
Yay! Congratulations, Charles. That is quite an achievement and you certainly deserved a brass band, bunting and a chanting crowd at the finish (or, had I known, me waving a little flag to a comb and tissue paper accompaniment). Great final post – planes, trains and automobiles … and, er power stations. Next! Dave p.s. I quite like the footbridge actually!
Thanks Dave. I should have given you notice; I’ll hope to be serenaded by your comb and tissue repertoire another time. Yes, the footbridge is quite elegant, really. Now we really must meet up for a walk in 2016.
HURRAY!
I should have come to meet you at the end instead of in Chester. And then we could have navigated nightmare Chester together too! XXxx
You had enough problem finding the hotel. Finding me in the middle of Chester outskirts would have been worse. xxx
Well, it has taken you nearly 2.5 years (you started this blog on 17 July 2012 and only kept us waiting 24 hours till your second post) to get us to the starting point so we look forward to joining you on the walk to the finish.
So, in a tribute to the past:
* “presence [comma?] disconcerting”
* “next up [comma?] was The Rock”
* “burnt -out house little house”
* “The Old Quay house [comma?] may”
Anne can take care of the other half 🙂
So congratulations and thanks. Don’t forget you also got certified! Oh, and thanks for reminding me about the old web site which I’d forgotten to delete. A quick bit of DNS pampering has put that right. Off to stick the label on my watering can now.
Haha . I have no idea what the first half of this is about, but thanks, once again, for your many and touching congratulations.
Charles, congratulations! I enjoyed the quirky narrative, the humor, the refusal to be stopped by barriers and blockages. The life of the thing is you and your (almost) endless, good humored voice going on and on and on like a Beckett character.
Thanks James. I like quirky. Not so sure about me going on and on like a Beckett character! But to be in the same sentence as Beckett is pretty good.
Crinoids ! The fossils you were trying to hack out of limestone that is. Why not publish this in book format – you can self publish and sell to your blog followers – we can all then own copies of your wit and photos to return to when we need cheering up !
Do crinoids look like little corrugated plastic tubes? But did you spot the little dinosaur skeleton? I support the book idea, though you may have noticed that the textual content has reduced as himself has moved further north. He may need to learn a bit from herself. Maybe add a squirrel or two. But like all great literary geniuses Charles needs to be given peace to write his opus. We could crowd-fund the purchase of a caravan!
Love the idea of a crowdfunded caravan! Yes crinoids do look like plastic corrugated tubing – and the name sounds like a Dr Who monster or a part of the anatomy of the throat.
Yes, they do! Google images has several exactly like the ones in this rock. I just don’t recall seeing them before. I don’t need any more animal pics for the book. As it happens I am working on a possible office at large!
You are right! And have deeply impressed me. Crinoids they most certainly are. Yes, a book is what I would like to do with the material, but my vanity means that I will be seeking someone to publish the book for me! A project to pursue on these wet winter days.
Congratulations Charles! I’m held up in Cornwall at the moment with a frozen shoulder but as soon as I thaw out I’ll be on the road again.
Thanks Patricia. Hope the shoulder improves soonest!
What a wonderful entry chronicling the last segment of your journey! Sorry we were late getting to there for the End of Walk Party! 🙂 3 things – First: I am already sending the link to various friends for them to read. B) Grace and I are so honored to have been welcomed into your (and Anne’s) lives and home, both via websites and in person. Lastly… as always… GREAT PICS!
Merry Christmas from the Colonies….
Kevin, it was great to find you two along the way. And many thanks for the promotion over your side of the pond. I shall hope to see a massive spike in visitor numbers. Best of Christmas wishes to you and Grace.
“Most enjoyable!” Thank you.
(What comes next?)
Colin
You are welcome. Coming up a piece about layers, three walks from Italy, and a tribute piece to my Uncle, Nigel Buxton, who was a travel writer and who died recently.
You are welcome. Coming up a piece about layers, three walks from Italy, and a tribute piece to my Uncle, Nigel Buxton, who was a travel writer and who died recently.
You know the feeling when you’ve just finished a book that you have relished reading at every opportunity, or come to the end of a favourite TV series ( no not Downton). It’s called (WCP) blog loss.
It’s been great fun, being impressed, entertained, amazed and amused.
Congratulations on finishing, Happy Christmas and keep b….. blogging on
Thanks Rob. That’a a really nice message! And its been great of you to have contributed so much, too, thanks. I will keep on blogging, of course, but I can’t see there being another saga like to WCP. Happy Christmas to you, too.
We’ve enjoyed reading your blog giving us a flavour of the Anglesey coastal path, thank you. Two Scots heading for a wee trip to Anglesey tomorrow.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Have a great trip to Anglesey.
Hi On the 22nd of April I compleated Greenfield – Menia Bridge Non-stop in 20 hrs in total I did 60 miles along the Coastal path missing out the Great Orme, as im doing Charity Challeng on 23/05/17,
And just yesterday I did just over 20 miles from Heswell-Holywell, I have to say though I was very Disapointed by the Lack of Coastal Signs along both routes, and the ones that had not been Vandalised or completely removed by individuals are only pointing in a somewhat general direction… whch became very confusing to say the least, I only hope in future anyone who’s job it is to put the sinage up has a little idea of geography and has a basic understanding of the local area. (Rant finished)