We meet at Chester about lunchtime and our first afternoon includes a visit near Northwich. Here we take a boat ride on the Weaver Navigation to see the Anderton Boat Lift – remarkable Victorian engineering and the world’s first of it’s kind.

A cracking day out in The Wirral is completed without the use of a coach at. Local rail and the Mersey Ferry take us to Albert Dock for the Museum of Liverpool. Learn about the Beatles, the slave trade and the overhead railway before a truly fascinating visit to the Western Approaches. It was here that Allied Commanders commanded and directed the Battle of the Atlantic. In the afternoon we are back across the river for picturesque Port Sunlight, a private village of black and white houses built by Lever Brothers for their workers.

Off over the border today for a round trip into Wales and a super steamy excursion. We travel over the hills to the Bala Lake Railway at Llanwchllyn for a narrow-gauge trip, chuffing alongside the lake, and keeping an eye out for the resident monster. Later, we track the ex-GWR line back into the Dee Valley for an afternoon at the Llangollen Railway – another scenic ride of riverside and country views. We trundle back to Chester over the famous Horseshoe Pass.

After breakfast we head south once more by rail to Wrexham and on then to Trevor. The highlight of our last day is quite literal as we travel the “stream in the sky” over Telford’s famous Pontcysylite Aqueduc. We’ll be back in Chester early afternoon for homeward bound journeys.