Chester

Below the city centre Chester is divided by the River Dee. The river rises above Llanuwchllyn in Merioneth (Gwynedd), North Wales, and passes through Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) before sweeping through Llangollen and then heading northwards, through Bangor to pass over the weir in Chester and eventually out into the Irish Sea. It is some 70miles long. Once it reaches Farndon (on the English bank) and Holt (on the Welsh bank) 8 miles south of Chester it forms the border between England and Wales before entering England to pass through Chester then flows back into Wales where it remains until passing out to sea.

The river was the reason the Romans came to build their fort here and the area below the city now called The Roodee, which is now occupied by the racecourse was where the harbour was located until silting of the river and the ascent of Liverpool made it no longer viable for sea going vessels.

The canalising of the river, the 5 miles between Chester and Queensferry and the sea was an attempt between 1732 and 1736 to improve the shipping conditions and prevent the silting up of the port. Below the Grosvenor Bridge in Chester the only other river crossings were by ferry until the opening of the Hawarden railway bridge in 1889. The ferry at Queensferry was replaced by a bridge in 1897. But prior to the building of the A550 bridge across the Dee at Queensferry in the 1950's the three crossings beneath Chester's original Dee bridge were made to accommodate tall masted ships by being high or moveable.

The weir located just above the old Dee bridge is one of Chester's iconic landmarks. It features in innumerable pictures. Built in 1093 by Hugh d'Avranches, first Earl of Chester, to provide a head of water to power mills along the river bank. Over the centuries it has been used to power corn, fulling, needle, snuff and flint mills. Latterly, between 1913 and 1939 it provided a source of power for a hydroelectric power station who's building still stands on the other side of the bridge. The weir still provides a pool of water that is abstracted from the river as Chester's domestic water supply.

Along the northern, City, bank of the river is the “Groves”. A paved promenade complete with bandstand, cafés, restaurants and public houses. Here you can take to the water on one of the river cruises, or propel yourself in a motorboat, a rowing boat or a pedalo.

Across the Dee, in the city centre, there are three bridges. The oldest is the “Old Dee Bridge” built on the site of several earlier incarnations. This one was built during the reign of Edward 1st. The eastern side of the bridge has had it's parapet removed and replaced with railings in order to provide a walkway in 1826. Queens Park Suspension Bridge, a pedestrian bridge linking the city centre and the Groves with the Queens Park area on the southern bank was built in 1923 to replace an earlier construction. The Grosvenor bridge, opened in 1832, was the largest single span stone bridge in the world. Built on high pillars it was designed to allow tall masted sea going vessels passage beneath. Built to relieve congestion on the original bridge upstream and as an attempt to divert traffic that would otherwise have gone via Thomas Telford's new Shrewsbury to Holyhead toll road, now the A5.

The other crossing of the Dee in Chester is that of the North Wales Railway which crosses just west of the race course, crossing the valley of the Dee on a viaduct. The original bridge was built by Robert Stephenson, of cast iron, in 1846 and was the scene of one of Britain's earliest rail disasters in May 1847 when all but the engine and tender of a train travelling from Chester plummeted more than 40 feet to the river below, the bridge having collapsed, causing the death of 4 passengers and the stoker. After the accident there were several attempts to reinforce the cast iron bridge by Robert Stephenson until it was finally rebuilt in wrought iron.

The river is an important part of Chester life. There are walks across the water meadows at Earls Eye on the southern bank, and great walking along either bank of the river. In the Groves there are regular cruises up the river during the summer months and music is played from the bandstand. There is an annual raft race and the river bank is home to a number of rowing clubs.

More pictures of the Dee river as it flows through Chester can be found in the gallery pages.