johnsunter.com >> adventures - europe >> city visits 1 >> chester 1
A tour of Chester, and do all the tourist things for £20 (1/2).
In the past, several people have said things like "its okay for you, but we have kids, and we cant afford to travel" (they seem to forget, while traveling, I also got married and bought a house, this site is subtitled "The adventures of an ordinary person").
The point is a fair one though. I have always maintained, that planning and preparation, can be used as a substitute for money.
I am thinking of things like using buses and taking packed lunches, these things take longer, but they save money on a trip that you might otherwise not be able to afford.
So, the challenge is, can I visit a major tourist city and do all the usual tourist things for £20.00. The city I know best, is Chester (I live there).
I set off, from the Railway Station (my agreed starting point) at 9:30am. I am wearing the City Tour hat, which I received in Romania. I took it off fairly quickly afterwards.
Chester is an ancient walled city steeped in history. Some 2,000 years ago, Chester was founded as one of three main Roman legionary fortresses in the province of Britannia.
When the Romans left, Chester became home to successive waves of Celts, Vikings, Saxons and Normans.
Edward I's medieval armies mustered at Chester for the war against the Welsh; English troops bound for Ireland sailed from Chester; Royalist cavaliers defended the walled city for eighteen months against their Parliamentarian besiegers; Chester was a powerhouse of Victorian prosperity. In short, Chester's history is Britain's history in microcosm.
Chester is a very safe and clean city, so I decide to do my bit, by dropping of some bottles at the recycling center, while I'm passing. You can probably tell that I like Polish Beer.
The Chester History Hunter tour starts at 10:15, so I had some time to kill.
The first of my agreed tourist activities, a cup of Tea and a Scone eaten on the Chester Rows.
£2.50, budget now down to £17.50.
I arrive at the Chester visitor Center and meet our guide. If you arrive in Chester by Coach, it will stop right next to this building.
I was surprised to find that the guide was actually Spanish (although her English was superb).
The 90 minute tour cost £5, which I thought was superb value. Budget now down to £12.50.
A lad from Sweden, and a bloke from Melbourne Australia were also on the tour.
Our first stop is Chester Town Hall.
It was a classic Victorian Building, and similar to the Natural History Museum in London.
WH Lynn originally won the contract to build the Town Hall, in 1869 for a cost of £16,000.
Unfortunately, the building ran over budget, and ultimately cost £41,000.
Savings had to be made, and the Building was never fully completed.
Of the 4 clocks originally planned, only 3 were installed. The clock facing the back (towards Wales) was missing, and coined the phrase "wouldn't give the welsh, the time of day".
Not giving somebody the time of day is a phrase that's still commonly used in Britain today.
The cathedral is built on Anglo-Saxon foundations dating back to 907. A Benedictine abbey was founded on the site in 1092 by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, dedicated to Saint Werburgh whose remains were housed there. This red sandstone cathedral is mainly 14th century.
The abbey was gradually extended until 1250 when the cathedral achieved most of the form seen today: it remained an abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries saw it become a cathedral and can thank the personal admiration of King Henry VIII for being left unmolested.
The Cathedral is significant, in not having any steeples. I would have liked to see inside, but this is a budget trip.
The tower wasn't strong enough to support the bells and after 125 years (in the 1960's) most of the bells had to be moved to an alternative tower (which really is the most horrendous building I have ever seen and I refuse to put a picture of it on my website !).
The Chester choir is one of the best in the world.
Our guide showed us the real hidden treasure of the Cathedral, the remembrance Garden (she commented that it was one of her favorite places in Chester).
There were several people sat reading newspapers and relaxing there.
A very well designed series of flower beds, creates a flowery medal of the Cheshire regiment during the summer.
As we join the Chester wall, we visit the Eastgate Clock, 2nd most photographed clock in the UK after Big Ben.
The City's best known landmark it is the International Symbol of Chester, and recognised all over the world.
The clock was placed on the Eastgate in 1899 and commemorates Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee of 1897.
The wrought-iron was made by John Douglas's cousin James Swindley of Handbridge. This clock is by J. B. Joyce of Whitchurch. Until 1974 it was hand wound once a week.
Just beyond here, the wall was closed. This is pretty rare in Chester, and must have been a problem for the many people, that jog circuits of the wall.
The view of Eastgate Street from the Clock. On the left, is the famous Grosvenor Hotel, owned by the Duke of Westminster.
Grosvenor is the Duke's family name, which explains other features in the City such as the Grosvenor Bridge, the Grosvenor Shopping Center, and Grosvenor Park.
The Duke of Westminster, is the wealthiest person in the UK, his personal fortune, surpasses that of Queen Elisabeth II.
If I were to recommend Hotels in Chester, it would be the Mill near my house for luxury.
For more Basic requirements, the Bull and Stirrup at the top of Northgate Street (its in the center of town, unlike a lot of places on Hool Road, where the cost of taxis into town, negates any saving made on accommodation).
As we complete a full circle, we visit St John's Church, across from the Chester visitor Center.
Our guide said most people went straight to the Cathedral, but this was her favorite Church.
I really was impressed with her, it wasn't just a well informed walk and talk, it was the secret places she showed us and the insightful rhetoric.
The Chester Amphitheater built outside the Chester walls and originally used for trade, is the largest in the country.
Records show that there is actually one in York, its location is still unknown, and it awaits discovery.
To the left you can see Newgate (un pretentiously named, it was a New Gate) .The original back wall of the Amphitheater would have been as high as the pub on the right (the popular, Off the Wall).
I have registered as a volunteer, to help out next summer when they begin the excavation again.
A live web cam of the amphitheater, can be seen here.
We stroll through the Roman Garden.
OK, its a garden, with loads of old Roman Rocks around it, and its not particularly authentic.
That said, its one of the most relaxing places in Chester and I frequently go there at lunchtime.
Our guide shows us around the Roman Baths.
Although the Romans occupied most of Great Britain, they brought many good things with them. Anyone in the City, was allowed to visit the baths, not just Romans.
After bathing, hot air from a fire, would be blown underneath, and people would dry themselves lying on the warm stones.
As we pass through a doorway in the wall (one of only 2 in the City) we pass the famous Albion Pub.
A favorite of my wife's, the Albion is internationally renowned for its superb food, its authentic wartime interior and its quirkiness (a sign outside says "family unfriendly" another on the front door, says "opening hours: when were open, were open, when were closed were closed").
We continue along to the Old Dee Bridge, called the Deva Bridge in Roman times.
Its famous for its seven unequal arches and is featured in Chester's entry for the Doomsday book.
Across the bridge and too the right, is a park, created when all the Limestone was removed by the Romans.
The weir across the river was built in 1093, under the orders of Hugh Lupus, to provide power to water powered mills along the banks of the river.
This ultimately led to the river shrinking, and the largest port in the North, "drying out" and becoming the site of the racecourse.
We walk up Lower Bridge Street (of special interest to me, as I work on the street).
The phrase daylight robbery robbery, comes from window tax, introduced in 1696 in the reign of William III, which lasted until 1851.
The 3 windows in the center, are not actually made of glass, but built into the masonry.
The idea, is that the combined size of the remaining windows is less than 5 normal sized windows, and the property would be taxed at a lower rate.
I found this amazing, as I pass this building, nearly every day, and I have never noticed it before.
During the English Civil War, Chester was one of the last Royalist strongholds, and as such was heavily besieged. The Old Dee bridge was heavily damaged in order to impede the progress of the Roundhead armies.
This forced the Parliamentarians to cross the river at a ford ten miles upstream, leading to the Battle of Rowton Heath, at which the Royalists lost and Chester became invested.
The orange steps to the left, are La Taverna restaurant on Gamul Terrace. Its in this building, where King Charles I, was staying and from here, that he was taken to Westminster and beheaded.
The pub to the right, was named the Kings Head for this reason .
The famous Tudor house (its now a Sandwich shop, I frequently buy my lunch here).
Although a plaque on the front of Tudor House dates it to 1503, this building is unlikely to be earlier than 1603.
This is one of the "proper" tudor buildings, many of the other "half tudor" buildings, were built in the 1800's, as was fashionable in victorian times.
This is said to be the oldest shop in Chester.
The Falcon, one of my favorite pubs.
What I didn't realise, was this was originally the home of the Westminster family.
A view up Bridge Street.
St Peters church at the top of the Street, was once a Roman Garrison.
Our guide asked us to imagine 5000 Roman Soldiers, marching up the street to Garrison.
Just to the left, the Three Old Arches, the oldest shopfront, in the UK.
I bought my suit from Slater Menswear, who occupy the building at row level.
Our guide explained how the rows came to be built (they are unique, in the rest of the world).
When the Romans were called back, they were told to leave everything behind.
Many of them dug holes, under there houses, placed valuables inside, and then covered them over with bricks from the demolished houses (they believed they would return).
Once they had left, there was no way to build anything on either side of the streets, as they were effectively mounds of rubble.
A few enterprising people, covered the areas with soil, and built on the fairly high up ramparts.
Years later, the soil would be cleared and the rocks moved, so the lower part of the buildings could be completed.
A view from the rows, showing the exact center of Chester.
We continue along the rows, and our guide takes us to a Sofa Shop.
As we go inside, we see that the shop is a converted town house, dating back to the 1500's.
It was pointed out, that while most people think of old houses as dark places, they were painted white inside, and were quite bright and lively.
I was surprised at the size of the building, this shot was taken from the upstairs balcony overlooking the living room.
In one of the small rooms, was this amazing find.
The symbol on the back wall, is of Katherine of Aragon, who later married Henry the Eighth.
She spent the night here, when she visited England to meet the King, and the symbol remains to this day.
Like so many things I had previously walked past.
The Chester Cross in front of St Peters church, First mentioned in city records in 1377.
During the Civil War, the Cross had served as a rallying point for the Royalist citizens, but after their eventual surrender to Parliamentary forces at the end of the siege in 1646, it was feared they would destroy it, an ordinance of 1643 having called for the "utter demolishing of all monuments of superstition and idolatry"
The tour sadly ended here, I said goodbye, and sincerely thanked our guide.
Its just after 12 lunchtime, the 2nd of my challenges, a traditional pint, in a "proper" pub.
I walk back down the Street to the Falcon and relax with a pint.
Okay, I cheated a bit, and I didn't drink real ale, I had Lager. £1.50, £11.00 remaining.
I use the time, to decide what to see etc, using the free map and guides I had downloaded from the internet.
Most of you know, for City visits, I prefer Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness guides, but they vary between £10 and £18 and weren't suitable for this trip.
