Chester

We spent nearly  a week in Chester, Mum and John came to visit for a couple of days. There is so much to do and see and many interesting facts about the city. Unfortunately we had rain on most days but we didn't let it dampen our spirits or stop us exploring.

The 1.9 mile circuit of the city walls are almost complete, the most complete in Britain and the canal runs a short length of this just outside and apparently uses the old moat. It is one of the best walled Roman cities in Europe and the best surviving Roman walled fortress in northern Europe. 

City Walls overlooking the River Dee

Chester is reputed to have more ghosts than any other English city, that's if you believe is ghosts, fortunately we didn't experience any evidence of them. We paid a visit to Chester Cathedral, it is apparently the most popular free entry destination in the UK. 

Chester also has Britain's largest tea rooms and they are in one of the oldest buildings in Chester. 'The Rows' are amazing, being half timbered black and white buildings dating from the 13th Century, they are shop galleries on two levels. We paid several visits to The Boot Inn up in The Rows, Chester's oldest pub, they don't have any branded drinks at all and the only food is crisps, a proper old pub and a pint of Dark Mild costs the grand sum of £1.34. 

Almes Houses

Chester Centre from the Wall

Chester Library

The Grosvenor Shopping Centre

Chester Cathedral

Courtyard Gardens

Eagle inside the Cathedral

The River Dee also runs through Chester just outside the walls, in the Middle Ages Chester was the most important port in northern England exporting cheese, candles and salt, part of the Roman harbour wall remains. The Old Dee Bridge was built in the 14th Century and was the only bridge across the Dee in Chester until the 19th Century, it had many re-builds with the latest one being opened in 1832. At 200ft is was the longest stone arch bridge in the world but now the fourth longest, but still the longest in Britain. Chester weir in Britain's oldest surviving mill dam. 

Nesting between the Dee and the canal

Narrowboat on the River

Stone Bridge and the Weir

The Victorian Eastgate jubilee clock from 1897 is claimed to be the second most photographed in the world after the Houses of Parliament. 

A couple of herons kept up company by our mooring

Back on LJ for lunch