Ellesmere Port Things to Do

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Housed in a former canal port where goods were transferred from ocean going vessels to canal boats to be distributed inland, the large museum is houses many buildings and warehouses storing recreations and models and exhibitions. They tell the stories of the people who worked in the port and on the canals through interactive displays, models and film and audio recordings.

You can step back in time at the dock workers’ cottages and see how people lived from the 1840s to the 1950s.

Designed by Thomas Telford under the direction of William Jessop, this was a working canal port until the 1950s. The scheme of locks, docks and warehouses together with the pump and engine room which provided the power for boats and cranes, blacksmiths forge and stables vividly recreate what life was like at the turn of the century.

The Blue Planet Aquarium located in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire ( about 15 miles from Liverpool ) offers the chance for you to dive in their shark tank along side their resident 10 foot long Sand Tiger Sharks as well as other smaller species and rays.
The brave ones get to spend 30 minutes in this magnificent setting and believe me, its an awesome feeling to see these mighty creatures gliding by !
Each group of 4 divers has a guide and 2 safety divers and when the sharks swim past, trust me, they get right of way!
This was bought as a birthday present for me and it will live with me forever!
If you like to dive or like me you're fascinated by sharks, then this trip is a must!

The boat museum just has so many outdoor sights to see and explore as well as many historical interesting exhibitions to see. Something for all the family. This is the view as you enter the museum from the shop entrance.

Entrance fee is £5.50 for adults (correct 2003)
Excellent value is the Annual Season Ticket - less than the price of two-day admissions you can visit the Museum and take part in the various events throughout the year.

Bigmere is an unpowered steel dumb barge and was used to transport grain along the Manchester Ship Canal to Kelloggs at Trafford. She had a cargo capacity of 100 tons. Today she sits outside the Toll House (the centre of the old Dock Life) with the Manchester 250 Years a Port exhibition inside her.

This hall contains many engines that supplied the power for many boats - some can even be seen in operation - for example the Bolinder engine famous for powering many of Britain's canal boats. It was first installed in the Cadburys fleet of boats in 1911.
Engineers can be seen at work lovingly maintaining these engines and polishing them so that they are gleaming!

Take time to look at some of the exhibitions in the old dock buildings around the complex.
Gives an amazing insight of what it was like in those days. Must have been wonderful to see the boats in the dock, with the horse and carriages at the dockside.

the canal boats and see how they used to live on the boats. Space looked small but cosy. Do take care when climbing in if its been wet or icy like it was this day and children must be supervised to avoid a tumble into the docks.

The canal boats are colourfully painted and many can be boarded and explored. This canal boat used to travel to Bournville (Cadbury's chocholate plant in the Midlands) carrying chocholate crumb cargo and hence the captain was known as Chocolate Charlie.