The Walled City of Chester
June 2010, by Tom
On our return journey from Ireland, we decided to pop into Chester for one Smurfy night and a lunch with Uncle Peter before the drive back to London.
We had heard a number of good things about this quaint English city and due to it's close proximity to Manchester where Uncle Peter lives, we decided it was the perfect rendezvous point.
It was not all smooth sailing however as due to our missed ferry in Dublin, our new ferry arrival in north Wales was not till 8pm. After an hour and a half drive we reached our intended camp site well after the gates were closed and the offices were shut up .... There was no way in. We were stuck outside and getting panicky about not having anywhere to park up for the night, resorted to TomTom's nearest campsite - 15km away. Luckily, this campsite was open to all, so we drove on in. Unsure about whether we should just park up and worry about the consequences in the morning, a fellow camper suggested we visit the land-lady. So we did. We rang the door bell and after a few minutes came this creepy little "yeesssssss .." from the side window of the house .... After profusely apologising for the late arrival and pushing our foreign identities somewhat, she let us past and stay for the night. Phew.
The following morning, we packed up Smurfy for the last time in a while and took off to the center of Chester. We had planned to meet Peter for an early lunch at a pup at 11am but not before we picked up around 150 78 records for our new Gramophone - purchased the week before from some odd collector guy from Chester.
After loading up our purchase (which we didn't realise would weigh a ton!), we parked up and walked to the quaint old pub on the canals where we met with Uncle Peter. The pub didn't disappoint with Peter having Fish and Chips and myself the best ploughmans lunch you could find.
Following lunch, we decided to walk the city walls to check out the sites and to walk off the meal somewhat.
The walls of Chester are mostly in tact. One of the only towns in England in such a state. They were fantastic. We took a side stroll down the main shopping street and past all the incredible Victorian style buildings as well as "the Rows" - a long shopping strip above the main street level before saying adieu to Peter and calling our fantastic holiday to an end and driving back home to London.
T
We had heard a number of good things about this quaint English city and due to it's close proximity to Manchester where Uncle Peter lives, we decided it was the perfect rendezvous point.
It was not all smooth sailing however as due to our missed ferry in Dublin, our new ferry arrival in north Wales was not till 8pm. After an hour and a half drive we reached our intended camp site well after the gates were closed and the offices were shut up .... There was no way in. We were stuck outside and getting panicky about not having anywhere to park up for the night, resorted to TomTom's nearest campsite - 15km away. Luckily, this campsite was open to all, so we drove on in. Unsure about whether we should just park up and worry about the consequences in the morning, a fellow camper suggested we visit the land-lady. So we did. We rang the door bell and after a few minutes came this creepy little "yeesssssss .." from the side window of the house .... After profusely apologising for the late arrival and pushing our foreign identities somewhat, she let us past and stay for the night. Phew.
The following morning, we packed up Smurfy for the last time in a while and took off to the center of Chester. We had planned to meet Peter for an early lunch at a pup at 11am but not before we picked up around 150 78 records for our new Gramophone - purchased the week before from some odd collector guy from Chester.
After loading up our purchase (which we didn't realise would weigh a ton!), we parked up and walked to the quaint old pub on the canals where we met with Uncle Peter. The pub didn't disappoint with Peter having Fish and Chips and myself the best ploughmans lunch you could find.
Following lunch, we decided to walk the city walls to check out the sites and to walk off the meal somewhat.
The walls of Chester are mostly in tact. One of the only towns in England in such a state. They were fantastic. We took a side stroll down the main shopping street and past all the incredible Victorian style buildings as well as "the Rows" - a long shopping strip above the main street level before saying adieu to Peter and calling our fantastic holiday to an end and driving back home to London.
T
The campsite we managed to fit into. Cute and small.
At the pub with Uncle Peter chowing down on our meals
Along the main shopping street of Chester
The architecture was very impressive and well preserved
