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Today was the day we went to Chester. Mom had been told by some of the folks we talked to on the canals that we should go there, and they were right. A very interesting city with history that went back to something like 600AD.
We took one official tour - in a cool double decker bus with a narrator who was hard to understand and only provided the most basic description of the sights. She also kept directing us to look to the right and left, and as you all probably know, Mom and I definitely have the left right problem, so we spent the entire tour trying to figure out right and left. Later on, when we were on our own in town, we ran into another guide who took us on a quick impromptu tour of the city, and was really the highlight of the day. He did mention several times that the things we were looking at were older than the United States.
We started out at St John's Church, the original cathedral in Chester, now a church, after being dissolved during the reign of Henry VIII. The church has a complicated history, being built,
Gavin
The master boat navigator and operator dissolved, rebuilt, repaired and I think even used as a firing position during the civil war.
Chester really come into its own as a Roman fortress and the Romans built an impressive fort there on the river - apparently to defend their empire from the Welsh, who are only about a mile and a half away. There are still lots of Roman remnants in the city, two of the original walls, the remains of a amphitheater and some Roman baths. Inside the walls, there are tons of shops and restaurants all along ... Many dating back to the 1600s and with the original cellars and living quarters arrangements.
A great place for looking at architecture - from Roman, to Gothic, to Tudor to Gregorian and Victorian - they have it all. The town was also preparing for the upcoming Jubilee, and it was fitting that they also commemorated Queen Victoria's Jubilee as well with the clock that is mounted in the Wall's East Gate.
The "new" cathedral is a converted parish church that is Victorian on the outside (some dispute in the group about this ... Gothic is the other possibility) with carvings and work
Motherly instincts
Poor Gavin wasn't expecting this from the inside that date back to Norman times. It seems everywhere we have been, when a change was made - in this case the inside of the cathedral arches were changed from Roman to Gothic - a worker always leaves one that isn't converted. At Hampton Court, we saw the same thing ... One remaining combination of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn's initials left when all others were erased. This cathedral is massive ... Seems like it covers two or three blocks in total and seems to go on forever.
Because there are two of the Roman walls remaining, we decided to walk along them as well ... How neat! The tops that used to be used for patrolling, are now just used for strolling ... A transition that began during Queen Anne's reign.
We found out from reading the very helpful and explanatory plaques around the town that Chester was a Royalist town during the Civil War, and came under heavy fighting and eventually a siege that lastednearly two years. The town finally surrendered.
The train took us about two hours to get there, but almost three to get back. One of our return trains
was cancelled and the speed of the trains was limited because of the heat and how the tracks were being impacted. But eventually we got home. Tomorrow we think we are going to the Cotswolds .... But it will be an easier travel day for us.
In case you are wondering why there were no pictures last night, it was because we had a scare that we had lost our camera. But don't worry, we found it and you will see pictures from yesterday and today tonight.
Oh and one more thing .... England is busy right now with the Olympic torch and the Jubilee. You will see some pictures of Chester getting ready for the Jubilee and the torch is moving ever closer to London.
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