A secret weekend Pt 3.

I had no plan to do a part 3 to our weekend. It wasn’t until arriving back home and walking through Manchester that i decided i would do a pt.3.

So why have i done it.

Well click on this link and have a look at the photographs i took just walking around the town of Chester. They are not altered images in any way and were not taken to emphasise the point of this post.
Link

What didn’t hit me full in the face until walking back home was how spotless Chester was. There was no litter, no overflowing bins, no overpoweringly smelly back streets. No fast food bags lying on street corners, no pizza boxes and fish and chip trays left on steps or walls or grass verges, no cans smashed on top of spiked railings. No office detritus pilled up in the road.
I could go on.

Walking back through Manchester from Piccadilly to Shudehill bus station i was ashamed to say this is my City. It was an absolute tip. The areas where visitors to our City would get their first impressions were a smelly littered disgrace and the walk in between was no better.

I could expand further but i’m sure you get the picture.

Manchester council need to send somebody to Chester and have a walk round with a member of their waste management team. Come back and implement how they control it. Because at the moment i think Manchester have become blasé and are now a blinkered lot. And please don’t tell it is just lack of money because Cheshire and Chester are in the same boat as Manchester. And they don’t have Arab Millions being spent in the town which must be saving the council a fortune.

I apologise to visitors who no doubt will be shocked at the mess and can only hope it improves quickly.

Just an example. Outside one of the most visited places. Printworks.

Cross roads of Cross St and Market St.

Just off Lincoln Sq.

 Well St. at the side of the Printworks. (Taken with Sheila’s phone.)

And on the bus going home.

A secret weekend Pt 2.

 The day was warm, sunny, no breeze and outside the crowds had yet to form on Chester’s Eastgate. Breakfast over Sheila had a plan. It’s going to be a walking day. Well most of it anyway.
First off the Town Hall Square then the Cathedral then the Roman City Walls which should bring lunch in the Roman Amphitheatre. After Lunch we head for the river and get the 2.30pm boat for a 2hr trip along the River Dee. Which will bring us back in time to get dolled up to go to Simon Radleys Restaurant.  Mmm, you didn’t mention stopping off for a beer somewhere i said. We can do that anytime was the reply.

So the Town Hall Square at 10.30am had a few people milling about but the touristas had not yet arrived in bulk. Quite a few Red coated pike men were about and some dressed up like Guy Fawkes. At this point we had no idea what was going on and then they formed ranks and marched off behind the Cathedral with an entourage of people snapping away with cameras. It was like a scene from the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Chester Town Hall

The Red Coated Pike Men. (and women)

We watched them disappear and carried on looking about the square. A beautiful building stood to the right of the town hall and i was surprised to find it was the ornate frontage of the Westminster Coach and car co. It hadn’t clicked at the time but i should have known with this being the playground of the Duke of Westminster.

 The frontage of the Westminster Coach and Car co.

We made our way the few hundred yards to the Cathedral. There are lots of leaflets in Chester letting you know that entrance to the Cathedral is FREE. They seem quite proud of the fact that it is FREE.

So when you go in, why are you channeled into a small area with a desk and a till and young ladies who tell you that it is FREE to enter but we WOULD like you to make a donation of £3 a head. You had to be pretty hard faced not to cough up and to be honest it is worth every penny, BUT its a cynical and belittling way of getting money from visitors. Typical of the workings of the Church. It left a nasty taste.

Chester Cathedral

Inside the whole place is spectacular. A camera, especially my compact camera cannot do the place justice. There is so much to see from the gardens and sculptures, the fretwork and stained glass, the grave stones and tiled floors and much much more.

I have put together my photo’s on the Cathedral Interior here for those interested. Click Here.

My opinion is that this Cathedral is better internally than York but externally York leaves it standing. We could have spent twice as long as we did inside. (About 1 hr) but we wanted to get onto the Roman Walls. Time waits for no man and this was our only full day.

Walking behind the Cathedral brings you within a minute or to to the walls. Amazingly the walls, built from Sandstone in about 100AD. They took about 100 years to construct and they replaced a previous mound and wooden palisade construction. Many changes have taken place and it wasn’t until after the Norman Conquest was the complete circle finished. Around the middle of the 12th century. The walls protected the old medieval city and are 3.2km long. 

Sheila holding up a Roman Lampost. Next to the Roman Galvanised tube fencing.

 Well as we got a little further it became obvious what the Red Coats were up to. It seems that we were not alone from Manchester as the Earl of Manchester’s Regiment of Foote had penetrated the City Walls and had captured the land adjacent to the Cathedral. I bet they captured a few Ale houses too.
It must have been a very civilised battle as the next skirmish had a time of 12.30pm. I suppose that was to find out who was paying for the next round of drinks. Ah well.
The walls were walked and very wallish they were too! There’s lots to see from the walls especially the race course, the canal, the Roman baths, the river, plenty of pubs and an old grey Fergy.

 The Old Grey Fergy looking resplendent

Chester Race Course seen from the wall.

Having done the complete circuit we bought lunch and made our way to the Roman Amphitheatre to find a seat in the sun. And it was hot. We had only been there a few minutes when 3 of the numpty class made themselves nuisances and were quickly interviewed by the local bobby’s. Peace restored.

Behind the amphitheatre is the oldest church in Chester, St John’s the Baptist, which is being renovated and also there is a section of the original structure which is in ruin. Well worth a visit.

There is an oak coffin walled into the arch way and inside it it says Duft to Duft (Old English for the obvious Dust to Dust).

Again, we spent half an hour here and its all very interesting. The river trip was 2.30pm so we hurried off to the river. Passing a very busy and large John Willy Lee’s pub called the Boathouse, we gave it a wide berth. 

Finding the jetty for the cruises, Sheila popped over to have a word with the Pressganger’s while i had a sit down in the sun. She came back really disappointed. The 2.30pm boat had been rented out entirely to one party. There was no other boat going on the 2hr trip. How inconsiderate.

We found consolation in an ice cream apiece and passed the time with a walk up and down the river looking at all the very expensive properties which align the banks, then listened to a jazz band for a while.

It was all very pleasant and they had quite an audience by the time we headed off back into the city for a walk round the shops. We passed a pub called the Albion and the sign board made us laugh. We would have to find time to call in here later we said. It will just have to be done.

Brilliant rules of the house. A visit is a must.

Back at the Hotel our meal at Simon Radley’s restaurant (2 star Michelin) was so, so good and the service was First Class. As was the wine, albeit a bit overpriced to say the least. But it was a special occasion, wasn’t it Sheila!

Then back to the Albion for some proper vino plonko. It didn’t disappoint. Just like stepping back in time to the 1940’s. Friendly place and some real character.
Here are a few pics of the inside.

 The bar at the Albion

Naughty but nice

All too soon we had to say farewell.
The twins from last night would be waiting no doubt and so we dashed to the Boot Inn and yes they were waiting. Unfortunately this pub still lives by the opening and closing times from years ago. 11.00pm weekdays and 10.30pm Sundays. I havn’t come across these hours for so long it seemed very strange. But we still had 3/4 hr of chat about United amongst other subjects.  Denis Law met the twins and they showed us the signed photo. Such nice people.

Tony and Peter. Chester’s best.

A secret weekend. Day1.

 With my 60th birthday coming up next weekend Sheila very kindly decided that we should have a long weekend away on our own. She had kept all the arrangements very secret including the destination.
I was told what to pack and the fact that she said that i couldn’t take a rucksack or Aldi bag to carry my stuff in was a bit daunting. I got the car out of the garage but she said we won’t be needing it as we are getting the bus. It’s Manchester i thought.
Wrong. Getting off the bus at Shudehill station we then set off across town with me pulling this wheeled contraption that we had to dust off before filling it. Piccadilly train station was very busy on a Friday morning. I got my orders to wait and don’t look at the timetable board. Then we got on a train at platform 11.
Still no idea where the destination was we sat there for 20 mins before being told “engine failure” everyone off and get on the train at platform 1 for Chester. The bubble had burst. I think Sheila had done a great job of keeping it secret and a very nice surprise.
Believe it or not i have worked all over the world but i had never been to Chester. Only an hour away by car. Alighting at Chester’s lovely station, although it could do with a lick of paint, it was still architecturally pleasant. I had no idea of the destination.
Again i dragged this contraption across the city and within 15 minutes we entered the foyer of The Chester Grosvenor hotel with it’s two top hatted and tail coated concierge.
To say this is a stunning hotel would be an understatement.

The Chester Grosvenor, owned and named after the family of The Duke of Westmisnster.

On the way up to our room, number 322, we passed this magnificent chandelier. 

Sheila had a spa afternoon planned and i was told that during my time on the very comfy relaxation couches that i fell asleep and was snoring. Well anyone who knows me would tell you that couldn’t have been me! Hmm. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon before pre dinner drinks and a lovely meal in the restaurant.

To walk our meal off we had a stroll through town before stopping off at a pub across the way called the Boot Inn. It was indeed a surprise to find a good pint of cask Conditioned Ale at £1.80. We sat next to a table of elderly gents and soon got chatting. It turned out that 2 of the gents were twins of 74 years and both had worked at the Grosvenor as painters and decorators. One had been there man and boy whilst the other had worked there in his later years. They were real characters, Peter and Tony, and were very proud of their association with the hotel. You must go and see the Westminster room we were told, its spectacular. They also told us a story of how during a fire practice the fire officer had told them to vacate the building, but they needed to finish painting one of the rooms before the guests arrived and so wouldn’t leave. That room happened to be room 322! How spooky was that. Our very room. 

We had a lovely evening and they asked us to come back in tomorrow. We had a meal booked in the Simon Radley restaurant tomorrow night and thought we might be a bit pushed for time but said we would try. 

Eastgate and what must be the most photographed clock in the world. 

The Grosvenor is on the right with the blue sign.

A great start to the secret weekend.