Enjoying retirement
In The Red Rose County
Last time we used a £1 rail ticket The journey took two and a half hours. This time we drove to the Park and Ride. The journey was an hour and a half. Our first target was the Grosvenor Museum seen above. We were impressed by their display of Chester hallmarked silver. We then moved on to the Art Room which tells the history of Chester and Cheshire through Art. All displayed in an old-fashioned Victorian sort of way which felt appropriate. Chester from Boughton.... Beeston castle..... John Laird founder of the famous shipbuilders...... A basalt vase which was part of a pair made specifically by Wedgwood for Winnington Hall in Cheshire. Interesting for me as I have just finished the splendid biography of Josiah Wedgwood by Tristram Hunt. An allegory of Maritime Commerce made for a fire place....... A more recent portrait of one of the Westminsters of Eaton Hall. We then started to explore the Roman Museum where finds from Deva/Chester are displayed (after watching a centurion put his charges through parade ground practice). It really is amazing what turns up and what a good level of understanding of their civilisation finds give us. Even the pipes for sewage, hypocausts etc are very revealing.... The section on bricks and roofs was quite something as.... the museum had constructed a small rooftop using original Roman tiles.... We made an especial note of the lead ingot in the centre which was found under the Roodee racecourse as this was where the Roman wharfs were and it had presumably dropped from a ship whilst loading or unloading, and we were due to visit the wharf area later. I don't know why but I found this small display of luggage labels very personal and fascinating.... Next stop the collection of Roman tombstones which is world-famous. Most of these were found as in-fill in the City walls. Below, a man - Flavius - enjoying a banquet in the afterlife with his son Serapion. Obviously a lot of love there. The next tombstone, rather untidily carved, shows a Roman centurion, Marcus Aurelius Nepos, and his much smaller wife. A space has been left for her name but it was never inserted. Why? And this stone commemorates a man who died at sea. The last section would usually read H S E which stands for 'hic situs est' or 'he is laid here', but the H has been missed off indicating the body was never recovered. We don't know his name but we know that he was about to be promoted to centurion. He never made it. We really enjoyed the Grosvenor and learned such a lot about Chester. Before lunch we next did some of one of the four guided walks from 'Chester Inside Out' which replicates the format of the wonderful 'Snickleways of York'. We started at the racecourse where, below the Walls, we saw the Roman structure of a wharf which was part of the harbour here, and was where the ingot had been dropped into the river. A little later we came across the model for the Grosvenor Bridge sent stone by stone by cart to the architect. And here the real thing ......Grosvenor Bridge.....a good match! We then walked around the castle outer walls. Here the Old Dee Bridge runs into the castle via what was presumably a watergate. You can't go anywhere in Chester without seeing beautiful buildings....... A brilliant discovery for us was St Mary's Hill said to be the steepest urban cobbled street in Britain. It was indeed very steep......... At the top is the old rectory built in Georgian times but re-fronted in the Nineteenth Century. You see the front entrance and the stables entrance. St Mary's which is now an events centre was closed . It has the oldest churchwardens' accounts and parish registers in Cheshire. The registers recorded deaths - sometimes by execution. 'Thomas Laceby a p'soner prest to death bur. in churchyard on the north side of the steeple.' We saw but couldn't visit the oldest Norman tower in the castle the Agricola Tower..... And Thomas Harrison's new gateway to the castle - the Propylaeum. Through the gateway stood the rather nice, I think, circular replacement for the old police station which was apparently not very nice. And it was not without its own historic interest, as there was a display of finds from the excavations for the building. We went looking for Chester's oldest church and lost our way in White Friars. No problem as it was an exceptionally nice road, full of barristers apparently, and we were helped by the resident of this house who came across us looking a bit lost. She seemed like a well-heeled barrister and was very proud of Chester. Further up White Friars was the over-hanging black and white timber-framed building known as 'the Old House' built in 1685. But lunch called and off we went to the very atmospheric pub 'The Architect' actually one of the Brunning and Price pubs. Near us the Aspinall Arms is part of their group too and with a remarkably similar interior, both full of old books and old prints, and enticing menus. Back on our route the Bear and Billet proved to have an interesting history. ....and more townscape delights..... We eventually found St Olave's Church now deconsecrated. Restored by the Victorians, it dates from pre-Conquest, and reflects the Scandinavian interest in the city. Its patron saint King Olav was killed in 1030. The Scandinavian form of twelve jurors is very much still with us. As is the Yorkshire greeting 'Now then' which remarkably is still used in Norway. Onward to The Rows, one of Chester's most famous features - continuous half-timbered galleries, reached by steps, which form a second row of shops above those at street level along Watergate Street, Northgate Street, Eastgate Street and Bridge Street. They are utterly unique Sheltered and with super views - magnificent! What a pleasure it is to visit Chester. A thoroughly enjoyable day.
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August 2023
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