A few years back we started a trip towards Scotland from Liverpool and we investigated worthwhile sites in the area. Chester came up as a top choice but due to the fact we were going north we never made it. Still it stayed in our backpocket till this trip when we had to visit it as it was on our route to Wales right at the border. We are prepared with a parking garage right in the downtown area and soon after parking it is time to explore. We start with the walls, you can walk on them for quite a distance and we start from the Newgate through which we passed also with the car just a few minutes ago.
It is quite a nice walk and well maintained with the only issue being that we are not sure where we can climb down from the wall – is it a few hundred meters, is it measured in kms?
Undeterred we press on enjoying the nice houses along the way and being surprised when the wall gets closer to the houses. In fact at some points the houses are built right on the wall so the wall walk is also the entrance to them.
Here we also find some stairs that we take, we have limited time in Chester so no matter how we wanted to do the full wall walk that is not going to happen today. Now we return following the walls form below to some Roman ruins we saw from above. it is nothing that exciting but at least the informational panels are quite good.
We especially like on this stretch that we can see the walls from below. They don’t look that impressive but still we wouldn’t be able to scale them without a ladder or something.
The trail leads us to the Roman Amphitheatre, not a lot of it is left compared to other sides but you can see the basic form and can guess how big it was. And now it is time to turn towards the downtown pedestrian area as long as we can find it.
We finally arrive at the pedestrian area right in front of the Eastgate Clock. It is one of the most famous clocks in England, supposedly the most photographed one after Big Ben. So we also duly make our own photographs both of the clock and the very scenic street leading from the gate towards the city center. The gate in its current state is from 1768 with the clock added in 1899 to celebreate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.
A question that we had is if you can climb the gate. The answer is yes so of course we climb the gate to have another view of Eastgate street but now from a bird’s eye view. We then continue towards the center of town at St Peter’s Church where four streets meet each coming from a different gate.
Now it is time to explore the streets, they are very well preserved with beautiful wooden houses and a joy to look at and photograph. While there are quite a few tourists they do not reach the throngs we have encountered in York previously which makes for a nice visit.
Of course we also visit some stores, one of the more interesting ones is a fudge shop. As we enter the owner is hard at work creating new fudge and we cannot resist and have to buy some (we are also getting hungry at this point).
We return and continue exploring the beautiful Chester Rows, it is quite special that such a town has survived without being burned down or bombed seriously during WW2.
Time and time again we return to the Chester Cross at the main intersection which is also our meeting point with our relatives who are doing their own exploration for groceries. This time we meet up with them and continue north towards the visitor center which is located in the beautiful town hall. While the original town hall was built in 1698 it burned down in 1862 and the existing one was built by 1869 and officially opened by the Prince of Wales.
Next we make our way to the Chester Cathedral a short distance to the east and visible from the Town Hall. The entry is free with a recommended donation and in we go following a few corridors until we finally reach the cathedral proper which since 1541 is the seat of the Bishop of Chester being built between the 10th and 16th centuries with multiple additions afterwards.
Inside we are amazed at how beautiful it looks, it speaks of the riches and power of the local bishops. It is also huge, while there is a fair number of people inside you would have to make an effort to find any crowds.
The details are also exquisite, be it the coffins of prior bishops or the paintings on the wall explaining the lives of Jesus or apostles.
The stained glass windows as usual are also quite interesting even though we do not know the majority of the saints or people represented in them. We continue exploring all the nooks and crannies but at this point our relatives, and us, are starting to really die of famine so out we go to search for something to it.
Here we split apart with our relatives searching for a supermarket to buy provisions for the whole day while us looking for a fast food location that serves local specialties. We find a local market building which has lots of choices but nothing really that is prepared and looks interesting.
We return to the main street and we finally find a place that has a nice mix of pastries and also offers coffee and here we eat relatively fast while also from time to time keeping in touch with the relatives so they know where we are.
With the shopping done and with both us and our relatives full it is time to return to the parking area so we can continue towards Wales. Overall this was a really worthy stop as the city is quite beautiful with lots of very scenic buildings and locations.
