Chester

On 17 July while the men were playing cricket the Wags spent the morning exploring Chester.

Steve left us near the Roman section of the city so Karen, Nola and I decided to explore this area first. The remains of the wall in the picture above formed part of a curved tower that was part of a Roman fort.

We then visited the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre.

A shrine within the Amphitheatre

Our next stop was the Roman Gardens.These have been expanded since our last visit four years ago.

Remains of part of a bath house

Next to the Amphitheatre are the remains of the Cathedral church of St John. The original building was built in 689 by the King of Mercia.

One of the first things we saw when we arrived in this area of town was the city wall built in the Middle Ages.

In the Roman Gardens there is a screen with a painting showing soldiers breaching the City Wall during the Civil War in the mid 1600s. When you stand back behind the screen it looks as if the actual wall is being breached.

We then went for a walk along part of the wall - the section near the River Dee and the old Dee Bridge.

We continued along the wall until we came to the section near the old castle.

A Roman fort and then a Saxon castle had previously been located on this site. When the Normans claimed the area they built a castle here in 1070. Originally it was a timber structure which was replaced by the stone castle in the early 1200s. During the Civil War around 1645-1646 the castle was besieged and damaged. It was partially rebuilt but then at the end of the 18th century was partly demolished and buildings used as a prison and barracks for the Cheshire Regiment. When the army moved out the remains of the castle were renovated and opened to the public.

As we were about to head into the town centre we saw Leanne and David crossing the road. David had been part of the Australian over 60s cricket team. It was good to see them again.

While deciding what to do next we came across a display of Roman artefacts discovered when a new building was being built on the site.

It was then time to explore the streets of the town centre with its interesting architecture.

Our next stop was Chester Cathedral.

On the way to the entrance of the Cathedral we met up with the other members of the group who had been shopping.

There was only time for a quick visit to the Cathedral as we had to return to the coach. Once inside Karen and I encountered this rabbit disappearing into a rabbit hole as part of a display throughout the church celebrating 150 years since the publication of the book, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

On the way back to the coach we passed the market cross the symbol of a former market town.

We only has a couple of hours to explore Chester but it was good to have the opportunity to revisit this special city.