Both Sides of the River Dee 4th December 2010

The start of the walk, the Bandstand in the Groves.

The Chester Chronicle Big Wheel from the Suspension Bridge.

The blue bridge at Queensferry and the crossing of the River Dee.

Saltney Ferry footbridge - the parting of the ways, Dave and Mike head for Chester and Martyn heads for home!

Walk stats: Distance:Martyn, 13 miles; Dave J. 17 miles; Mike D. 21 miles (unless he cheated and go the bus home!). Climb:160'.

On the move walking average: Martyn (2.9 m.p.h.), Dave J. and Mike D. 3.1 m.p.h.

Overall walk average: Martyn (2.8 m.p.h.), Dave J. and Mike D. (2.9 m.p.h.).

Group:Martyn, Dave J. and Mike D.

The severe weather conditions forced us to change our plans and complete a walk on our local patch using only public transport or shank's pony to get to the start. Consequently each one of us clocked up a different mileage, with Mike taking the prize at over 20 miles for the day!

The walk along the Southern side of the Dee was the most treacherous underfoot where all three of us slipped on the compacted snow as we went through Curzon Park Golf Club. Nevertheless progress was good and without too many stops to look at the wildlife, we reached the blue bridge at Queensferry avergeing 2.8 m.p.h.

However as we set off back towards Chester on the Northern side of the Dee the rain had set in and unfortunately didn't stop throughout the rest of the walk. We enjoyed lunch on the banks of Dee, sitting on a bench in the rain. Lunchtime was pretty short!

After lunch the pace was upped slightly and at times we were walking at 3.6 m.p.h., no wonder I wanted to go home when we reached Saltney Ferry footbridge! Dave and Mike continued Chester and I went over the bridge back to home.

Birds seen or heard today included: Mute swan, Mallard, Grey heron, Black-headed gull, Great cormorant, Teal, Long-tailed tit, Blue tit, Great tit, Kestrel, Buzzard, Chaffinch, Long-tailed tit, Moorhen, Redshank, Lesser black-backed gull, Herring gull, Common gull, Redwing, Fieldfare, Robin, Winter wren, Meadow pipit, Peregrine falcon, Sparrowhawk, Stonechat and Chiffchaff. The bird of the day was probably the Peregrine falcon, but at this time of the year the Chiffchaff takes some beating!

Despite my best efforts and catching a bus pretty quickly, they got to the Bear and Billet in Chester before me! The beers enjoyed today included brews from Cwrw Conwy and cider fro Cheddar valley.