Flint to Chester

9th October 2016

This walk is on page 1 of our book (which walks from North to South) and we were hoping for as big a momument in Chester as there was in Chepstow all the way back on 1st January 2016.

We confess that after yesterday’s 18.9 miles we could have done with a rest day, but this was a flat and short section, so we deliberately started the day quite late and at a relaxed pace.

And today did remind us a bit of that first leg in Chepstow, although the walk here was a bit nicer. There were handy markers along the pavement showing the coastal path symbol and directional arrows for both ways, rather than the usual signs, which were slightly harder to spot.

Today was all about walking the Dee estuary, with Ellesmere Port on the other side of the river, and parts of the walk covered industrial estates, and fishermen in lines along the river.

The path follows the estuary for quite a while but then suddenly you cross the estuary at the small old Queensferry crossing, and the last few miles of the walk are on the other side of the river – still technically in Wales apparently.

I confess that our pace was not fast, and our start was late, and suddenly darkness descended, and it felt quite lonely walking along the last part of the path in the dusk, with only the occassional cyclist with their lights, and a mobility scooter to keep us going. We weren’t even sure we would know where the coastal path ended but we found it.. just….

And that was that, not quite the atmosphere that we had hoped for, and a bit dark, but we had walked the last leg of the coastal path (without a lot of the middle). Which section becomes our final leg to complete the whole path remains to be seen, but to have done the start and the end this year at least felt good, mirroring (in my mind at least) a year of highs (getting engaged) and lows (the loss of Cleo).

But our challenge wasn’t quite over as the coastal path ended in the middle of nowhere and we still had to walk into Chester city centre and find the train station to board the train back to the car with a train full of drunks – oh this is the life!!

So 16 miles walked today, of which 12.5 were coastal path making 228.9 miles in total and 641.0 to go. One more day – let’s hope it is easier and lighter!!