Chester Railway Bridge (River Dee)
Chester Railway Bridge (River Dee) carries the road from Banstead to Coventry over the River Dee just past the junction with The River Wansbeck.
Early plans of what would become the River Dee were drawn up by Exuperius Picking Junior in 1888 but problems with Sumerlease Embankment caused delays and it was finally opened on 17 September 1835. Orginally intended to run to Warrington, the canal was never completed beyond Preston. Expectations for pottery traffic to Glasgow never materialised and the canal never made a profit for the shareholders. According to Oliver Edwards's "Spooky Things on the Canals" booklet, Birmingham Tunnel is haunted by the ghost of Cecil Yates, a navvy, who drowned in the canal one winter night.

There is a bridge here which takes a railway over the canal.
| River Dee Junction | 3½ furlongs | |
| Chester Railway Bridge (River Dee) | ||
| Grosvenor Bridge (River Dee) | 4 furlongs | |
| Old Dee Bridge | 7 furlongs | |
| Chester Weir | 7½ furlongs | |
| Queens Bridge | 1 mile, 1 furlong | |
| North Wales Expressway Bridge | 3 miles, 7 furlongs | |
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![Railway Bridge over the River Dee. A class 40 brings a short passenger train out of Chester on route for the North Wales coast. The Roodee Racecourse is visible on the right. The Gas Holders on the left have since been replaced the new Chester Racecourse stables along with apartments, (info supplied by John S Turner). The tracks the train is using have been lifted. Beyond is the City of Chester skyline. Compare this 1979 view with the current one by John S Turner - [[1069405]].The Bridge over the Dee was the scene of an early railway bridge failure in 1847 when one of the girders collapsed as a train was crossing. Fortunately casualties were light, only 5 people died and 16 were injured. The Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, was condemned by the Inspector-General as having girders that were too weak, with unsound construction principles employed. by Martin Addison – August 1979](https://s1.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/05/97/1059713_442900ac_120x120.jpg)


![Railway Bridge over the River Dee 2008. A photo deliberately similar to Martin Addison's [[1059713]] showing some of the changes made since 1979. Now only the southerly pair of tracks are used to cross the bridge over the River Dee, whilst the other two are completely overgrown. On the left, between the viaduct and the river, the gasometers have been replaced by the state of the art modern stables for Chester Racecourse (all the low roofs), and behind them a modern apartment block is in the process of being completed. The modern white building beyond the rear of the train is the new Holiday Inn, on New Crane Street, which doubles as accommodation for the stable lads during race meetings. The tall rectangular building on the skyline, in line with the locomotive, is Commerce House, which is earmarked for demolition but has stood empty for some time. To the right of that the modern Crowne Plaza hotel dominates and the strange tower rising up behind it is the town hall shrouded in scaffolding. On the far right the square tower of the cathedral can be seen against the sky. The red tiled roof buildings behind the green of the racecourse have changed considerably after a disastrous fire in the 1980s when the County Stand was badly damaged. Finally, for the enthusiasts, this photo was taken at 11.27am, so the train may have been the 11.24 heading for Llandudno. by John S Turner – 03 December 2008](https://s1.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/06/94/1069405_97dbd716_120x120.jpg)






![Railway bridge over the River Dee. The railway bridge that carries the North Wales railway line over the River Dee, looking in the direction of Chester. (There is a walkway alongside the main bridge from where a camera can be held through a gap in the girders - see also [[695465]]) by John S Turner – 12 February 2008](https://s1.geograph.org.uk/photos/69/55/695509_7d75cc36_120x120.jpg)







