An easy and direct drive from the Lake District through Lancashire sees us arrive in Chester in Cheshire at lunchtime, taking just a few minutes to check into our B&B, Mitchell’s of Chester, before heading into the city.
Taking a bus ride to escape the afternoon showers and get our bearings, we do a lap of city taking in the two-mile circuit of city walls dating back to Roman days and wide variety of impressive architecture including the Roman amphitheatre, the famous Rows – buildings with shops or dwellings on the lowest two levels, some medieval and other Victorian ‘black-and-white revival’ style, medieval Chester cathedral, the Gothic-revival style Town Hall, Eastgate and Eastgate Clock, and Georgian and Victorian structures.
Passing by the Victorian century at the end of the Grosvenor Bridge we learn about one of Chester’s famous past residents – Mary Jonas – who surprisingly lived until the age of 85 despite giving birth to 33 children. And if that wasn’t bad enough, these included 15 set of twins!
Mary apparently won a free lifetime subscription to Titbits for efforts “contributing the most people to the British Empire”.
Another sad and curious tombstone is there of Mabel Ireland-Blackburn: the ‘Chewing Gum Girl’ who was said to have died at the age of three from chewing gum (she actually died of pertussis/whooping cough). In any case a local rhyme sprung from this to discourage children from chewing gum:
Chewing gum, chewing gum, made of wax
Brought me to my grave at last.
When I die, God will say
Throw that dirty stuff away!
Our bus driver stops the bus to give us a good view and tell us all about the lead shot tower, built in the eighteenth century to supply musket shot for the British forces in the Napoleonic Wars. He also filled us in on the history of the River Dee, once a bustling shipping port but due to heavy silting this came to an end.
We then explore some more on foot, and can’t resist buying some sherbet ice bricks from Mr Simm’s Olde Sweet Shoppe.
We take a walk along the city walls past the Roman Gardens which display building fragments from the Roman legionary fortress of Deva, the amphitheatre, down to the river and then stop at Bear and Billet Inn, built in 1664, to quench our thirst.