The Dee Estuary, between the North Welsh coast and the Wirral, is a place of constantly changing sands. The marshes which fill its head are growing, so that the sailing area is becoming smaller. The sands which block the lower estuary and which extend off its mouth are growing rapidly also, and the shallow channels are becoming navigable only by very small boats. In fact, it is just the place for dinghies.

The current Admiralty chart gives a completely misleading picture, and should be used only for the entrance channels, where there is still a certain amount of shipping. There are two main entrance channels, Hilbre Swash and the Welsh Channel.

The Swash is the way from the north. It is well buoyed as far as Hilbre Island, a prominent landmark with its tall beacon, where it joins Welshman’s Gut, leading across the mouth of the estuary to the Welsh Channel. There is a way through to the Rock Channel, leading to the Mersey, from the pair of buoys two miles north of Hilbre Island. A dinghy can cut the corner at this point, at about two hours of flood, and sound a way across the tail of East Boyle Bank on a course for the buoys at the entrance to Rock Channel.

Hilbre Island is a bird sanctuary, so that one has to have permission to go above the high water line. This leaves a large area for landing at most states of the tide, but there are no stores to be had — only a keeper lives there. There is a very pleasant anchorage just east of the island, in a sandy gutter where a boat lies aground for eight hours out of every twelve. This is a beautiful spot to spend a tide; one can scramble over the rocks of the island to see a magnificent view of the Welsh hills and Anglesey, in clear weather. The banks here are of firm sand, and the walk to West Kirby at low tide is an easy one. It is only possible to sail between the West Kirby shore and the three Hilbre islets at the top of the highest tides.

The other way into the Dee is from the Welsh Channel, also well buoyed and with deep water for dinghy purposes at all states of the tide. It enters the Dee round the Point of Air, a headland of sand dunes with a disused lighthouse. The shallowest point of the entrance channels is in Welshman’s Gut, where the two channels are connected. There is always water for a dinghy, however, though the channel is rather narrow between the West Hoyle and Salisbury Middle banks.

Grey seals are usually to be seen in this part of the Estuary. At low tide they lie on the south-east corner of West Hoyle Bank.

There are two main channels up the estuary, one navigable, for part of the way at least, by vessels of some size, the other for yachtsmen and small fishing boats only.

The main channel is buoyed, and begins along the Welsh side of the Estuary. The Dee Buoy is at its entrance. It is separated from the Point of Air coast by mud banks and marshes. This stretch is known as Wild Road, and cargo boats waiting for water often anchor here. They are usually bound for Mostyn Ironworks, or for the Point of Air Colliery, or sometimes for Connah’s Quay on spring tides. It is possible for a dinghy to anchor on the shoreward side of this channel, and the Point of Air provides shelter from the prevailing westerly winds, but there is no way of getting ashore.

The channel runs from Salisbury Swashway buoy to the end of the protecting wall running out along the entrance channel to Mostyn Harbour. There are constantly changing banks to be navigated through if one wishes to reach Mostyn at low tide. The harbour belongs to the ironworks, and is for commercial traffic only. Its entrance wall protects a sheltered bay to the south-east of it, where there is quite a good anchorage. Care should be taken to avoid the bad holding ground close to the end of the harbour wall. The shore at Mostyn is of horrible mud — landing only possible at high tide, and no recognized landing places, as ironworks and railway separate the shore from the road.

A shallow channel runs close to the shore for some miles upstream of Mostyn. There is a better landing place at Llanerch-y-mor, where a muddy little gutter enters the channel, and several fishing boats are anchored close by. A footpath runs along the sea wall here, and there is a path along the gutter to the road, near to a pleasant pub. The landing is muddy, and care should be taken to avoid the mouth of the gutter itself, which dries as a steep-sided ditch. The local fishing boats are moored further out, and their punts left near the shore upstream of the gutter. When approaching at high tide the position of these boats will give an indication of where the gutter runs and where it is best to anchor. The channel close to the shore in which the boats are moored dries out.

The main channel of the Dee is a little further offshore at this point, and swings out in an easterly direction to the middle of the estuary. It is well buoyed, although the buoys are not marked on the Admiralty chart. It describes an S bend, to swing back again and run up to Hawarden Bridge between the Flint shore and the wall built out from John Summers’ ironworks at the head of the estuary. These huge works are built on land reclaimed from the marshes, and they are a prominent landmark from all over the estuary. From Hawarden Bridge the Dee is canalised as far as Chester.

Just down river from Flint Castle a deep gutter runs into a factory. Boats float there at all times.

Between the retaining wall built out from the ironworks and the Wirral shore lie Burton Marshes. There are gutters draining these marshes which can be entered by a dinghy for a short time at high tide. This is a place for bird watchers — there are nesting grounds crowded with shore birds of all kinds along the edge of the marshes. The coastline is a mile away from the furthest point to which a dinghy can penetrate, and to cross the marshes one has to know or discover the way round the deep gutters that riddle them. Burton Point stands out as a landmark, a wooded headland of sandstone cliffs, but it is now washed only rarely by the very highest spring tides.

The other channel up the Dee is more frequented by yachtsmen, and not at all by commercial traffic apart from small fishing boats. There are fewer of these every year — the nobbies which used to trawl for shrimps (though long since used as motor boats only) are one by one being converted into yachts.

This channel leads from Welshman buoy along the edge of Lime Wharf, the bank extending south-east of Hilbre Island, Middle Hilbre, and the Little Eye — the three high-tide islets which are really the highest points of this long bank. On this bank are moored many boats belonging to West Kirby sailing club. The sands are firm, and it is quite easy to walk ashore to West Kirby — a mile away at low tide. From West Kirby there are good bus and train communications to Liverpool.

The first buoy to make for from Welshman is Seldom Seen, then East Bar. Just above East Bar buoy is the farthest point up the gutter at which it is possible to remain afloat at low tide. A group of yachts and fishing boats is moored here. A few yards upstream of the farthest up river of these moorings begins a knobbly mussel bed, an uncomfortable resting place for any dinghy which dries out on it.

From here the channel is navigable only as the tide rises. Cawdy Buoy, a mile south-east of East Bar, is the last of the permanent buoys, but the marker buoys of the Dee Sailing Club provide a guide to the course of the channel in the summer. A landmark is the white cottage by the wooded clay cliffs near Thurstaston, known as Sally’s after the old lady who lived there for many years. There is a path up the cliffs here leading to the road to Thurstaston. The channel is nowadays a little way out from the shore at this point, but is closer in a mile further on, where two grassy valleys break the line of clay cliffs. The cliffs become lower as Heswall is approached. This is the chief mooring place for yachts upstream of West Kirby. The clubhouse of the Dee Sailing Club is at the point where the road from Heswall reaches the shore. Nearby is Richard Evans’ boatyard. Water can be obtained here, by permission, and there is a general store a little way along the road. From this shop buses run to Heswall, and from there services run to Birkenhead, West Kirby, and Chester. It is possible to launch a dinghy from a trailer where the road reaches the shore. There is water for sailing for two hours each side of high water. At low water the banks are muddy, but can still be walked over.

From here the channel becomes narrow, and Gayton now looks out to growing marshes. Parkgate is a marsh-side rather than a seaside town — though the Dee fishermen traditionally live there, driving home by car from Thurstaston or West Kirby. Shrimps are still sold at their doors in Parkgate. It is only possible to sail up to Parkgate on high spring tides, and still more rarely to Neston Quay, now embedded in the marsh.

These channels, the one from Dee buoy to Connah’s Quay, and the one from Hilbre to Heswall and Gayton, are the only ones open to keel boats now. A dinghy can still get over the banks at high tide to cross the estuary from Heswall to Greenfield — but not at neaps. The sands known as Salisbury Bank, which block the lower part of the estuary, can be crossed by an exploring dinghy at some states of the tide.