Day 56 - to Chester

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5 locks, 286 in total.







A swift haircut and then we set off for Chester – not a long run but the lock gates felt very heavy in the oppressive heat. Met someone coming up the locks who mentioned a Tesco Express in the centre of Chester – that saved us a lengthy walk to the only other other supermarket that we'd found on our route.







Like many other places, Chester has belatedly woken up to the attractions of its canal. There are some new apartments facing it but all older buildings present their scruffy sides to the canal. Moorings are sparse and fairly bleak in the centre of town – we are moored opposite the back of an old Gaumont cinema, which is now a bingo hall, and a small car park – not a blade of grass in sight. There has been plenty of road building over the last 20 years or so and the inner ring road, however helpful it is to traffic flow, cuts an ugly swathe through parts of the city. To give an idea of the extent of road building, there are bridge numbers 123a, 123b, 123c, 123d and 123e! The upside of Chester is that the city wall is almost complete, having had extensive repairs, and the cathedral and other historic buildings are beautiful.







We walked the city wall this afternoon to get an overview of the area and I headed back when it was cooler to visit the cathedral, which unfortunately was closed by then – I'll return tomorrow. There are so many half-timbered buildings in Chester but information about individual buildings is almost non-existent. I just took some photos to give you a feel for the place and there will be more tomorrow too.



Can't seem to upload the photos today - will try again tomorrow - sorry.

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Photos

Christleton.
This place looked great from a distance but close up it's a little shoddy.

The Salt Mill
Now used for bars and restaurants.

City Wall - Phoenix Tower
Apparently a levy was paid called murage for the upkeep of the wall and towers but this proved insufficient for needs. In a move well ahead of their time, a form of sponsorship by the guilds was suggested - this tower was sponsored by the Painters' Guild and their emblem was a phoenix.

The canal is part of the original moat
We couldn't walk this section of towpath as there were some loose stones that needed securing but this shows the wall on top of sandstone, with quite a drop to the canal.

3 staircase locks ...
.... hewn from solid sandstone.

Ages of transport...
road, canal, railway and inner ring road (just visible top centre).

Chester Racecourse - the Roodee
The oldest home of horse racing in Britain - as the Kingswooders know! - the Roodee was part of the old port of Chester from Roman times to the Middle Ages.

The castle walls.
Much of the castle has gone, replaced by Assixe Courts and other administrative buildings.

Grosvenor Bridge over the Dee
In 1832 it was the longest stone-arch bridge in the world at nearly 200'. It is still the longest in Britain but only 4th in the world.

The Roman Garden
Roman items have been moved or recreated here.