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Published: February 25th 2007
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Chester
the cathedral in Chester Hiya guys,
Well the last week or so has seen some more preperation for the big trip - Insurance matters to be dealth with, as well as some running repairs to Sheryl the van. We managed a quick day trip to the local Town/small city/village/settlement of Chester, South-West of Manchester near the Welsh Border.
Chester has the reputation of being a standout shopping centre; but it also has lots of old Tudor buildings, a large Cathederal and a Roman wall surrounding the township. All of this you might say, makes up the recipe for a quiet day out with nice strolling along the wall, stopping to look at the cathederal and the old black and white shops (see photo's below)
And it was, for the most part. But we also saw the other side of chester; in the large police presense that filled the town with a constant eye on what seemed to be a large population of scallies running around the town. Apart from this, we had a great day out and even managed to pick up some tapes for the van from an op-shop (including a mint condition tape of U2's greatest hits from 1980 to
Chester
walking around the wall of chester 1990).
We finished our trip with dinner at a pub called "The Green Dragon" mear Lymm. It came highly recommended by Alan, an old friend of Bens from Bairnsdale. He had swarn he had the best meal ever at this pub; it was called the "Hunter Chicken." Needless to say we gave it a go- it was a really great meal - definately in the top ten.
The next weekend we planned a trip to a local football match wtih - Macclesfield Town vs. Darlington, just outside of Manchester. We went to the game with a bloke from Ben's work and his wife - Dom and Amy. It was a very small game in comparison to the top leagues, with only around 2000 people there. They had a warm-up guy on the pitch who could not be heard due to microphone distortion and his thick accent, as well as hot dogs, pasties and over-sized mascots kicking the football with kids on the pitch.
We stood in the section to the left of the main stadium, in relative quiet compared to the main area. At the start of the game Ben noticed that the guy next to him
Interesting Motto
The fear of the lord, is a fountain of life. Can anyone explain? was looking at his (Ben's) feet funny, and that all of the guys next to him were trying to shuffle along.
This may seem odd, and it did to us until the man explained the situation. Apparantly every week, all of the old men stand in the same spot - and they know where to stand because the guy next to Ben always stands in the puddle that Ben was standing in. So in effect, Ben was standing in this guy's puddle.
We had a laugh about it with them, and chatted away the gaps of the game. They were a great bunch of people, who knew each other well through there standing relationship every weekend at the football. They yelled abuse at the referee and the manager, sometimes gave each other a bit and talked about the good and bad players. At the end they invited us back to the next game - reassuring us that they would be in the same spot!!
Well after the game we made a bit of a de-tour before heading home - Dom had seen an advert for an old leather chair in a local shop, and as they were
The Green Dragon
It came complete with ye olde pub interior in need of a re-furnish we got the address and tracked it down. It turned out to be bright red, and despite have a few cracks was in great condition. It fitted into the Van perfectly (as the photo below shows). It did make for a few wierd looks on the way back home, but seated Dom comfortably and in style.
The next weekend involved an afternoon of fishing on the River Mersey, near Liverpool. It was organised by Ben's work mates who chartered a boat from a local operator. Unfortunately Stace couldn't make it, but it was a bit of a blokes trip in the end anyway.
It was a great way to see the area, and even though Ben only caught two crabs and the weather was pretty shoddy it was a great day out. Two of the blokes caught a Cod each which were good eating size, check out the photos below!
Anyway hope everyone is coping with the heat, till the next blog,
Cheers
Ben and Stace
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Purple Monkey Dishwasher
Ben Thomas and Stacey Kneebone
The Chair...
Was 10 Pounds!! So 23 Australian Dollars-ish! Good to hear about the rain.