There and Back

On our wander around Chester, not only the buildings were interesting, but also the people. Suddenly spotted this elderly lady with her elderly camera, standing in front to me, photographing something. Just had to take a picture of her! We had a conversation for a few minutes, and it turned out that she had several other old cameras in a carrier back in her hand! The Old Photographer A bronze sculpture of a Elephant, unveiled on Tuesday 16th March 2010 opposite the Town Hall. It is called Janya, and is a baby Indian Asian calf. It was donated by Chester zoo. Next we moved onto Chester Cathedral. The C7th Mercian King, Wulfhere, is reputed to have founded a timber church on this site dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, but it was his daughter, Werburgh, who really put Chester on the map. She renounced her royal status to become a nun at Ely Abbey. Many miracles were attributed to her during her lifetime, including restoring back to life a goose that had been stolen an...

One of the first places we passed on our way to Chester town centre, was some Roman remains. The History of Chester can be dated back to the Romans who named Chester Deva (pronounced Dewa) after the spirit of the River Dee. Roman Chester was considered as important then as Londinium (London). The Romans didn't just create a small fort here, they meant to stay, building a city for their 20th Legion. The Romans built Chester as a strategic position at the centre of Roman Britain, with plans to sail from the River Dee to invade Ireland and North Wales.  In the Roman gardens Part of the Chester Roman Amphitheatre - the largest amphitheatre to be found in Britain. The Chester Roman Amphitheatre, was built to serve the fort of Deva. It was used as a multi-purpose entertainment centre for the troops stationed here, and also as a training ground. Installed in 1899, the Eastgate Clock is positioned on the bridge over Eastgate Street in the city of Chester, the ...

The start of our short break!  First a family visit, and then onto the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The pictures and write-up sounded good. so we were looking forward to seeing it. Approaching our destination, we stopped for a while to admire the river Dee as it flowed through the town. Noisily (above) and peacefully (below). And then our first sight of our objective. Designed and built by Thomas Telford and Williams Jessop, Pontcysyllte means 'the bridge that connects', a magnet for those who want to experience one of the most remarkable achievements of the industrial revolution. You can walk across Pontcysyllte, or save your legs and take a leisurely boat ride - we did neither! Well, we did walk underneath and along the path to the edge of the bridge. The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in north east Wales. The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure is for u...