Adventure to Ancient Chester

First train ride

To say that I (Caleb) was excited to go to Chester is an understatement. After 3 weeks of study at Keele University I was ready to get out and see some of the beautiful British country side and cities. Not because Keele is a terrible place, in fact I like Keele very much. It's like a college mixed with a university in country setting, but I'll talk more about Keele in a later post.

Entering Chester Old Towne 

Chester is the first city we have visited since we arrived in England. After an early morning bus ride to the train station and a 40 minute train ride we arrived in Chester's town centre. Chester has a lot of history starting from its foundation 2000 years ago by the Romans. In fact they built a wall that still stands. The Chester wall is one of the few remaining walls that completely surrounds the city. It is considered one of the best perserved walled cities in the British Isles. The wall has been added to throughout the years and it served as a strong hold in the British Civil War (1642-48) where King Charles I saw his army (Royalist) fall to the Parliamentarians  from Phoenix Tower located on Chester wall, which still stands today. The issue between the Royalist and the Parliamentarians; the king had to much power and parliament did not and as such the people didn't either. After the war the king's power was greatly reduced and as such it was the start of English royalties decline in power and prestige.

Black and White

We  walked all around the city wall (2 miles). Justus, trekked right along with us. He spent a large portion of the time sleeping, but when he was awake, he is quite the wonderful little baby. Soaking in the sights with wandering curious eyes, a studious look on his face, and smiles interspersed throughout. He is quite the wonderful little traveller, just like we knew he would be.

We got spend the whole day in old town Chester. The main street has some unique black and white buildings that have been converted into shops and some have been around for over 500 years.

Chester Wall w/ Phoenix Tower

Of course, to follow in my long established tradition, I had to get a jumping picture. I chose Chester Castle, which was built in 1070 and with additions in 1788 & 1813.

Chester Castle

Chester Cathedral

After all the walking our appetite was ignited and our quaint-restaurant-radar was raised to full power. We ended up finding a delightful little tea room called the Three Kings, at which I enjoyed a traditional lamb meal and Charity a scrumptious sandwich. A few hours later the 40 degree weather drove us to get some hot chocolate at the most magnificent coffee shop. Chester cathedral which is over 1000 years old and the second largest in England had a large room which used to be the dinning area for the monks, is now a large coffee shop. At this point, Justus, the epitome of a good baby--sleeping, eating, and smiling, decides to test out the incredible acoustics of the cathedrals coffee shop by crying. It was funny, but we left promptly since we didn't want to disrupt the rest of the people who where enjoying the serene setting. 



Our day came to an end with a night stroll through Old Towne and then a train trip back home. Just like most old cities in England, one day is not quite enough to enjoy all they have to offer or scratch the surface of the historical wonders that lie beneath. However, we felt we were able to enjoy ourselves and learned quite bit about England and Chester's history. If you come to visit, this is a great one day option we might take you to ;-]