Chester
The station has an impressive range of elegant buildings in brick and stone built by the Chester and Holyhead Railway. Despite some modern depredations, I find the result pleasing.
Chester station buildings.
Immediately opposite the station is the large Queen Hotel (unusually, lacking the possessive in the name) which hints at a more gracious age. The long, straight road connecting the station to the city is called, logically enough, City Road and it has a multitude of hotels and boarding houses. Even on a cold and rather dull January morning, there seemed to be quite a few tourists emerging from their accommodation for a day sight-seeing. When I reached the bridge over the Shropshire Union Canal, I stopped and recorded the view looking east before returning to the station.
Chester: View of Shropshire Union Canal looking east. Left: Inevitable apartment development with Shot Tower behind, right: former Steam Mill.
I was a bit downhearted at "Mee Too" design of the apartment buildings on the left which could have been anywhere. I didn't realise until later that they formed part of the 'regeneration' of the old leadworks site, although I correctly identified the Shot Tower visible in the background.
I'd first learnt about Shot Towers (which manufacture lead shot for cartridges) in 1951 when I'd seen the Lambeth Shot Tower which was retained as part of the Festival of Britain South Bank site and converted to bounce radio signals off the Moon! After the Festival the Lambeth Shot Tower was demolished to make way for the concrete bunker of the Queen Elizabeth Hall which still disfigures the South Bank. The Chester Shot Tower is Grade II listed so may have better luck, although the appearance is rather spoilt by a 1971 lift shaft attached to the outside.
The Steam Mill is also Grade II listed and has been expensively converted into the Steam Mill Business Centre. There's an informative website on the Steam Mill Business Centre here.
I made my way back to the station in time for the 10:23 to Holyhead which was on time. This modest 2-coach train had started from Cardiff a little after six and, although it batted along between stations, because it stopped apparently at all stations it was a little after noon by the time we finally reached Holyhead.
Airbus UK, Broughton
Travelling on the 'seaward' side, I didn't see much of the Airbus UK plant at Broughton, next to Hawarden Airport. This plant produces wings for Airbus products. They were originally shipped by 'Super Guppy' aircraft to Toulouse for final assembly and I spotted one here some years ago. However, as the 'Super Guppy' aged and became uneconomical, Airbus introduced the Airbus Beluga. However, even the 'Beluga' cannot cope with the massive wings for the Airbus A380 and these (I discovered later) are shipped from the Port of Mostyn. Incidentally, I've described A380 flights in the posts Big Jet to Johannesburg and East Again!.
Connah's Quay Power Station
We followed the River Dee towards the sea, passing Connah's Quay Gas Power Station. Being more used to seeing coal or oil fired plants, with their attendant large cooling towers, the gas-powered version with Hybrid Cooling Towers looks rather strange. This time, when I returned home, I found out a bit more.
Connah's Quay Gas Power Station
This power station is operated by E-ON, who publish some information here. There's also a Wikipedia article here. The site runs on natural gas from the Liverpool Bay Field, generating electricity using Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGT). Hybrid Cooling Towers are used at Connah's_Quay. These reduce visible plume and need less water. The SPX site here has more information about Hybrid Cooling Towers.
Holywell Junction
The station here closed years ago but the imposing station building on the Down side survives and the signal box of the same name is still in use.
TSS 'Duke of Lancaster'
Since 1979, passengers between Holywell Jn. and Mostyn have had the curious sight of a large passenger ferry beached in a small creek in the grassy foreshore. The ship is getting rather scruffy now but has an interesting story which is told on the 'Duke of Lancaster' website. In 1956, TSS 'Duke of Lancaster' replaced an earlier ferry on the Heysham - Belfast route. On a recent visit to Heysham (described here), I was reminded that I'd seen the ferry at Heysham years ago, although I never sailed on her.
TSS 'Duke of Lancaster'.
Mostyn
Mostyn is recognisable by its port, but I can remember a time when there was also an iron and steel industry here, complete with one or two mechanised blast furnaces. Originally, 'Mostyn Quay', as it was then known, was operated by the Mostyn Coal and Iron Company. There's a short history in Wikipedia here. The colliery closed in 1884 after serious flooding but iron and steel making continued until 1965.
Mostyn Iron Works, around 1908, showing two hand-charged blast furnaces (Photo: Flintshire Record Office)
A quick search has not found much about the modernisation of the blast furnaces to the form I remember, but there's an interesting historical survey in the Flintshire Historical Society Publications which appears on the internet (in a slightly garbled form) here.
The Port of Mostyn has survived, and prospered, by adapting its services to modern needs. There's an informative website here.
It supports Offshore Windfarm construction and Operation & Maintenance projects. After initially serving as the base for the North Hoyle and Rhyl Flats schemes, it has gone on to cater for a number of other, larger, schemes. There's more information here.
The Port of Mostyn viewed from Mostyn Sea Wall, showing pre-assembly of towers for Wind Turbines.
The Port of Mostyn is also involved in delivering wings for the Airbus A380, which are too large to be flown by Airbus Beluga. The process is described here.
Point of Ayr Gas Terminal
The gas for Connah's_Quay comes ashore at Point of Ayr, and reaches the power station via a pipeline around 17 miles long. Wikipedia also have an article here on the Point of Ayr Gas Terminal. So, my ignorance is exposed (once again). What I though was a 'chemical plant' at Point of Ayr is actually the Gas Terminal where, I discover, the delightfully-named process called "gas sweetening" is carried out (see Amine gas treating). The Gas Terminal was built in 1994 near the site of the Point of Ayr Colliery. This deep mine was finally closed in 1996 but I remember seeing it on previous trips.
A hasty picture showing Point of Ayr Gas Terminal, partly obscured by trees.
The Holiday Resorts
We now passed through the string of holiday resorts which were so well-served by the railway in the days when few people had cars and foreign holidays for ordinary people were unheard of. We made brief stops at Prestatyn, Rhyl, Abergele (which I remember having railway Camping Coaches, almost on the beach) and Colwyn Bay. My favourite resort, Llandudno, remains served by a short branch line from Llandudno Junction.
Offshore Wind Farms
The sea off the North Wales Coast is becoming home to an increasing number of wind turbines. The North Hoyle and Rhyl Flats wind farms are clearly visible from the train.
Part of the Rhyl Flats Offshore Wind Farm viewed from the train near Colwyn Bay.
Until I checked, I'd no idea just how many windmills are being built.
Click for larger view
Map of the Celtic Array Wind Farms.
The description of this journey beyond Llandudno Junction is continued in Trip to Holyhead (Part 2: Llandudno to Holyhead)
Related articles on other sites
Chester Shot Tower (Wikipedia).
Steam Mill Business Centre.
Connah's Quay Power Station (E-ON).
Connah's Quay Power Station (Wikipedia).
Point of Ayr Gas Terminal.
Related posts in this blog
A Trip to the Seaside (Part 2 (Describes a trip in 2011 along the North Wales Coast line to Llandudno)
Trip to Holyhead (Part 2: Llandudno to Holyhead) (Describes the second part of this trip).
My pictures
Chester.
North Wales Views.
North Wales Line (Crewe - Llandudno).
