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Rivers and canals are central to Ellesmere Port & Neston borough, with the area bounded by the Mersey and the Dee. And without the Shropshire Union Canal, Ellesmere Port would never have been built. Today canals make up a major part of the tourist industry.
Shropshire Union Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal passes through Ellesmere Port at the start of its journey to Ellesmere in Shropshire and then beyond to the west . The canal was first opened in 1795 as the Chester and Ellesmere Canal.
A walk along the towpath allows you to experience the sights and sounds of the canal and see where industry old and new meets the countryside.
A suggested canalside walk begins at Ellesmere Port's Boat Museum and follows the historic waterway for about 3 miles. The Boat Museum makes a good starting point.
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Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1894 by Queen Victoria.
Known as the People's Canal it was created to link Manchester to the sea, employing 16,000 men who excavated an estimated 53 million tons of rock and earth. It is 35.5 miles in length from the main entrance at Eastham to Salford Quays. Today the canal handles a variety of shipping traffic carrying oil products, pulp, newsprint, steel and bulk products.
Cruises are available through Mersey Ferries.
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The Dee Estuary
The Dee Estuary is recognised nationally as an important site for wading birds.
The abundance of invertebrates on the mudflats attracts winter migrants such as knot, dunlin, curlew and sanderling.
Other groupings include buntings and finches during the winter, breeding reed buntings and skylarks during the summer and meadow pipets and stonechats, which nest on the marsh. For many hundreds of years the villages of Burton, Neston and Parkgate were ports for seafaring vessels until the gradual silting led to the development of the mudflats.
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The River Mersey
The Mersey estuary flanks the eastern side of the Borough but the position of the Manchester Ship Canal and industrial complexes means the river cannot be reached. Ferry cruises are available along the river between Liverpool and the Wirral peninsula.
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