Walled city of Chester. Chester on the river Dee. Red rock. Race course. Rows. Possibly best known for its Rows - the shops with the covered walkways at both street level and the floor above.
No I haven't suddenly flown home, we visited there after Tewkesbury and it has been sitting in drafts while I tied myself in knots over other stuff.
Red Rock
Race Course
(reportedly the oldest still in use in UK, and a former patron Mr Gee is claimed to be the source of the term gee-gees for racehorses.)
Rows
They are still investing in the walls (a chunk is under big time repair at present) and tourists are still flocking to Chester, so he appears to have been right. We stayed in an apartment that looked out onto the wall near the North Gate.
The cathedral has the most attractive cathedral gardens I can recall ever having seen.
And Chester provided us with this
Surely the smallest bike ever locked to a public bike stand!
Chester is a lovely city. I have only visited briefly but have always wanted to return for a longer stay. I am assuming the "Red Rock" is sandstone. It is widely found here too and the town of Peel, where we lived until two years ago, has many red sandstone buildings, including its small cathedral.
ReplyDeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteIt is a very pretty place indeed -but OMG... that bike!!! It's the sort of thing clowns and stunts-folk would ride. Not something you'd expect to see on the stteet! YAM xx
Poor wee bike was too small to have been taken away from its mummy!
DeleteI once lived near the city. It hasn't changed. Its got rich and poor people like most towns and cities have.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Dave, outside the touristy bit it looks like a normal British community, it is fortunate to be set in a nice bit of countryside and doesn't look to have been blighted by destructive industries.
DeleteChester to me is all about the Roman remains, baths, all that. If this is the same Chester, that is.
ReplyDeleteThere are visible remains of its Roman history (some city wall) but we didn't know about baths there. The city centre feels calm and a people place because cars have been excluded from a lot of the older parts.
DeleteGosh such old buildings, nothing like that here in NZ (as you know), a very old historical place.
ReplyDeleteWe even watched a re-enactment Roman centurion putting a bunch of school kids through their paces in the old Roman theatre srea. They had shields and had to form different battle formations. Probably would have beeen fun for them if it hadn't been a bit damp that day.
DeleteYour definitely making me think another tour of the uk is needed.
ReplyDeleteThe only walled city we visited was York. Chester looks amazing
I imagine the cathedral glows in the sun. I love the explanation of gee gee.
ReplyDeleteIts beautiful, the catherdral is spectacular, and now i wonder just who rode that bike and where they are and how it got there. I like the idea of no cars allowed spaces.. that draws me to it as much as the beauty
ReplyDeleteChester is a joy. As you can imagine I wasn't too disappointed when my son decided to go to uni there. We enjoyed exploring the city when he was up there. It still has.qn original Roman shrine in situ in one of thr parks.
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