A Visit to Chester.

The Eastgate Clock.

This ornamental clock stands on top of the medieval city wall in Chester, and is said to be one of the most photographed clocks in Britain after "Big Ben" in London.   Chester was founded in the 70s AD by the Romans who  built a fort here.  The city has the best preserved medieval city walls in the the UK, stretching for two miles around the city.  Apart from a short stretch where the wall has disappeared, it is possible to walk around the entire city on the "Wall Walk."   The above photos shows one of the entrance gates through the wall, which also has towers at regular intervals, which were originally used as lookouts posts in times of civil strife, when the city needed to be defended.

The Rows.

These half timbered  Victorian buildings are unique in Britain, and have shops below ground level, on ground level and also on the first floor.   To the bottom right of this photo stands a group of school children, who were listening to a history of the city from a man dressed as a Roman soldier.   It was fortunate that the weather was on the warm side, as he was wearing rather a short skirt, no trousers or socks,  and Roman sandals on his feet.

Queen´s Park Suspension Bridge.

The bridge, which spans the River Dee that runs through the city, was opened in 1923.  It allows pedestrians to walk from the town centre out towards there homes in the suburbs.  I met my German penfriend here, and we enjoyed a lovely walk together through the walkways and trees of Grosvenor Park, and then back into town along the banks of the River Dee. 

Much of Chester is owned by the Duke of Westminster, who owns much of London too.  His family name is "Grosvenor," and many streets and buildings in Chester bear this name.

R sits beside a model of the Roman amphitheatre.

This site has was excavated several years ago, and many of the artifacts from the Roman fort and other buildings  can be seen in Chester museum.   Our short stay of only three hours in the city was not enough time to see all the interesting places.   At 2.30pm we were back on the coach for the return to our seafront hotel on Rhyl.    There is so much to see and do in Chester, too much for just one visit, so that means I will be revisiting at some time in the near future.

Standing on Queen´s Park Suspension Bridge after our walk through the park.