This is a grade C ride of 38 miles starting outside Chester Railway station at 10:40 am, finishing at Hamilton Square Railway station.
There are quite a few parts of the route that go over rough dirt tracks (e.g. 3/4 mile over the path into Shotwick from Deeside Industrial estate, twice: there and back, and just under a mile along a footpath through a field from Neston to the Old Quay). So best to use a hybrid or gravel bike if you can.
This is a grade C ride of 38 miles starting outside Chester Railway station at 10:40 am, finishing at Hamilton Square Railway station.
There are quite a few parts of the route that go over rough dirt tracks (e.g. 3/4 mile over the path into Shotwick from Deeside Industrial estate, twice: there and back, and just under a mile along a footpath through a field from Neston to the Old Quay). So best to use a hybrid or gravel bike if you can. or just walk.
The ride goes through Chester to the River Dee and the site of the Roman port just upstream of the Old Dee Bridge, then around Chester to see the Roman Wharf on the Roodee and onto the medieval port of Chester by Watergate. Then to the Chester Canal Basin (1797) and up the Shropshire Union canal to the Greenway and along the Dee Estuary to a series of old ports at Shotwick (12th century), Burton (13th & 14th), Denhall (15th), Neston (16th & 17th), Parkgate (18th) and Gayton (historic ferry crossing to Basingwerk Abbey).
Lunch is at Wirral Country Park on the shore by Thurstaston, where there two cafes (The Whistle Stop and Flissy’s) and benches/tables if you want to eat your own food.
Then onto the quay at Dawpool (19th Century), The Kings Gap in Hoylake, the Roman naval station at Meols, and then along the Birket to the West and East Floats in Birkenhead (19th & 20th century), before the final port, the modern ferry terminal at Twelve Quays (21st Century). The ride finishes at Hamilton Square and there is no return trip to Chester planned. Merseyrail trains from Hamilton Square go to Hooton, West Kirby, New Brighton and Liverpool.
Here is the route on Komoot if you want to download a GPX file for the trip: <Historical Ports of the Wirral> or on Garmin Connect <https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/186874757>
38 miles, Grade C
Created by John Hampson