Enjoying retirement
In The Red Rose County
A huge traffic jam delayed our progress but, before going to Chester, we were going to see the Duke of Westminster's gardens at Eaton hall, which are only open three times per year. Extensive they certainly were but to be honest I was not impressed. We have seen much better gardens on our travels. Still, they allowed us to wind down from the traffic jam! I liked the long grass in the orchard. However the Camellia house which boasts it is the largest in Britain had but a few solitary blooms and was very disappointing. Surely camellias don't need to be under glass anyhow? Older houses had been on the site, the latest by Alfred Waterhouse, but as these deteriorated they were knocked down in the Sixties and odd buildings left intact. A new house was built, but its design was not considered to be sympathetic to the local landscape, and in the late 1980s it was 're-cased' and given the appearance of a French château. There were some very impressive carriages in the stables. Here is the inner courtyard of the Victorian Waterhouse building......the statue is very fine. Hunting must remain in the blood........ What we did appreciate much more than the grounds of the Hall was the Estate villages which all had beautiful brick houses with blue design work. We took a back road to Chester and there were some very fine houses indeed leading into the suburb of Handbridge. Our destination was the Abode hotel. We had one of the better class rooms which was very spacious and with a lovely view...... The views from the 5th floor restaurant where we had a light lunch were brilliant too. Suitable refreshed we set off on our first planned walk around the North-West quarter, admiring many fine houses (there were merchants houses all the way down Watergate to the River. God's Providence House is so-called because of the carved inscription (also found on other Chester houses whose owners survived the plague). We ascended to the old butchers' row..... Luckily The Rows seem to be picking up with specialist traders and the likes of Waterstones encouraging customers to head aloft. Bishop Lloyd's Palace built in 1615 supports biblical scenes...... Another palace we hoped to visit later (not open to the public, but I had been in touch with a Trustee) is the Stanley Palace. Built as a town house for Sir Peter Warburton in 1591, it has since been apartments, a boys' school, and a museum. Stanley Place contains fine Georgian houses on both sides........ and nearly all have elegant bootscrapers. We passed the Victorian terracotta frontage of the Queen's School and next-door the house where the Georgian doctor John Haygarth practiced. He did a lot of work on preventing fever and small pox. We soon arrived at Telford's Warehouse, alongside the Shropshire Union Canal, now converted to a very popular bar. and walked along the canal basin with some good apartments (some student accommodation). The roving bridge was interesting built for horses to cross over whilst still maintaining their towrope. Walking further along the canal we noted some very nice apartments and houses...... We returned to the City walls and found the sculpture depicting a broken cannon together with a broken barrel from which lies a spilled cannon ball. It commemorates the Siege of Chester, during the First English Civil War. There are a surprising number of Roman remains (some under shops)....... Wherever you walk in Chester there is something to admire in the street architecture and houses. The building next to the Red Lion (now an Italian restaurant, so we didn't feel able to explore the Fifteenth Century braced kingpost roof) has parts which may date from the Eleventh Century. This back lane is within the old Abbey precincts and may be the medieval Bell Lane. Here the Little Abbey Gateway. The lane led to what was the Westminster Coach and Motor Works, now nicely converted and in front of it some Roman column bases. After an average meal at the hotel we strolled the streets once more Next morning we walked the circuit of the Walls. Here the castle the river Dee the Fourteenth Century Grosvenor Bridge bleak Seventies flats (along with two atrocious car parks the biggest eyesores in Chester) many fine streets abutting the Walls........ When we reached the Roman Gardens we enjoyed watching some school groups training to be Roman soldiers..... But,past there, a group of derelict buildings just asking to be converted..... Here the footings of a Roman tower.... We took a pic of two Chinese girls at the Eastgate Clock. They reciprocated! Next was the Cathedral with its unusual modern belltower. Inside there was of course plenty to admire.........the Cloisters.... the Cloister Gardens.... .....masses of monuments.... ....a recently constructed Lego model...... a rather nice abstract window...... and the famous wood carvings...... .......splendid roofs...... .....old Norman fabric....... We had a small snack ( a cup of tea and one biscuit each) in the Refectory. Our afternoon's visit was to Beeston Castle which I had always wanted to see. The approach was dramatic. Our afternoon's visit was to Beeston Castle which I had always wanted to see. The approach was dramatic. Beeston Castle is a former Royal castle perched on a rocky sandstone crag 350 feet above the Cheshire Plain. It was built in the 1220s by Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester (1170–1232), on his return from the Crusades. In 1237, Henry III took over the ownership of Beeston, and it was kept in good repair until the 16th century, when it was considered to be of no further military use, although it was pressed into service again in 1643, during the English Civil War. The castle was slighted (partly demolished) in 1646, in accordance with Cromwell's destruction order, to prevent its further use as a bastion. During the 18th century, parts of the site were used as a quarry. The outer gatehouse contained a small and interesting museum, and the model of the castle gave some indication of how extensive the building was. The outer bailey seemed huge, and the views were extensive..... including in the distance Joddrell Bank.... The inner gatehouse was impressive.... and reached over a deep protective ditch......The defences consisted of two parts. Firstly, a rectangular castle on the summit of the hill, with a sheer drop on three sides and a defensive ditch up to 30 feet deep in places cut into the rock on the fourth side. Secondly, an outer bailey was built on the lower slopes, with the massive entry gatehouse protected by a 16-foot wide and 10-foot deep ditch. The outer bailey was roughly rectangular, with 6-foot thick walls faced in sandstone and infilled with rubble. The walls, parts of which still remain, contain a number of D-shaped towers, an innovation in English castles at that time. The towers allowed defenders to shoot across the walls as well as forwards, and their open-backed design meant that they would not offer cover to any attackers who gained access to the outer bailey. The inner bailey was on the rocky summit at the western end of the crag. To provide the castle's inhabitants with a supply of fresh water, two wells were dug into the rock; one of them, 370 feet deep. This is one of the deepest castle wells in England. We took the woodland walk on the way down and saw the reconstructed roundhouse...... Next stop for a light supper the well-known Pheasant at Burwardsley. Very pretty with fine views of its own...... And finally to The Churchill Tree at Alderley Edge, a fine new opening for the Cheshire Pub Co. It was once part of the sprawling Stanley family estate, originally used as a ballroom for lavish parties by the Stanley family who lived in the neighbouring Alderley Hall sadly destroyed by fire in 1931. It is very stylish, like one of its paintings which I like.....
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August 2023
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