Chester Royal Infirmary

The Royal Infirmary was the first purpose-built hospital in Chester, and served as such until 1993, when it was replaced by the Countess of Chester. It was one of the first places to practise isolation for infectious cases, to pioneer inoculation, and where cleanliness was thought important to the welfare of patients. It has now been converted into apartments. You can read more about it here: http://www.chesterwalls.info/infirmary.html

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Queen's School Playing Fields

If you walk clockwise around the walls, you see Queen's School on your left, and the playing fields on your right. Queen's School is an all girls school, except in the Sixth Form, and the leavers at the end of the year have a tradition of playing pranks. The best one I have heard of was as follows:

The leavers filled up the device normally used for marking out pitches with fertiliser. They then used it to mark out a large drawing on the playing field. If you put high nitrogen fertiliser onto grass it grows rapidly and becomes bright green, but it takes a few days. The headmistresses study overlooks the playing field. Imagine her surprise and horror to discover a giant phallus slowly appearing before her eyes...

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Chester Race Course VII - Unofficial Climbing Wall

There is an alternative entrance to the race course, underneath the Grosvenor Bridge, and local climbers have adopted this as an unofficial climbing practise wall. I have walked my dogs past and been surprised by climbers half-dangling off the wall as they try to do a traverse. Luckily, there isn't far for them to fall.

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Chester Race Course VII

In this photo you can see the Weighing Rooms. The central section, under the clock, is where the jockeys get weighed in (if you look hard you can just about see some scales in the window to the right of the clock). The section to the left of the clock is the stewards office, and they have screens from various cameras around the course so that they can see what's going on in a race at all times. They will also make decisions such as which horse has won when it is a very close finish, or whether there has been interference.
Behind the weighing area are the jockeys changing rooms (one for males and one for females) and sauna, for when they need to make a weight before a race. The glassed-in area on the right is for receptions, and holds the trophy cabinets. If you look carefully you can see the head of a man on the roof, cleaning the glass in preparation for the first races of the season.
To see where this is sited on the course, there is an excellent interactive map here: http://www.chester-races.co.uk/your-day/interactive-map#wrap

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Chester Race Course VI

Just at the base of the city walls, inside the race course curtilage, is a newly planted herb garden, courtesy of the 1539 restaurant. They are now guaranteed the freshest of herbs for all their dishes (well, as long as they don't drown in the present downpours...).

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Chester Race Course V

Around the outside of the race course is a rail, to stop horses straying/spectators encroaching, then a raised embankment, to stop the course flooding in times of high tide, as the section of the river that surrounds the course is below the weir, and therefore tidal. This was built in 1710, but in 1969 and 1983 races had to be cancelled due to flooding. In 2010 a new walkway was completed around the outer edge, which connects up with the Earl's Wharf area.

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Chester Race Course IV

In the photo below you can see the County Stand. The section on the left hand end of the stand, above the line of blue awning, is even more exclusive, being reserved for Owners and Trainers only. The slightly separate building to the left of the County Stand is the Leverhulme Stand, and upstairs holds private boxes. Occasionally on race days you can see famous faces up there - for example the whole Manchester United team, as Sir Alex Ferguson is a fan of horse-racing. Note the blue sign pointing to the Parade Ring and 'Champagne Gardens' - almost makes it sound like it flows for free...

One of our apartments is still available for May Races!

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Chester Race Course III

The main stand at the race course was destroyed in a fire in 1985, and was rebuilt. The photo below shows an original building (currently the box office) in the foreground , and the rebuilt stand in the background. Also shown is the grandstand clock and weathervane - I'm not sure whether these were rescued, or are new.

One of our apartments is still available for May Races!

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Chester Race Course II

Chester Races have four different levels of tickets, County Stand, Tattersalls, Dee Stand, and Open course. Both County and Tatts give you entrance to the central part of the course shown here, containing the parade ring, finishing line, champagne bars, and hospitality tents. The Open course is the cheapest, and a good way of taking in a picnic, to be eaten on a rug (or from the back of your car if you get unlucky with the weather). I have never understood the purpose of the Dee Stand tickets, although it's the one hardened gamblers seem to go for, but maybe someone will be along to enlighten me.

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Chester Race Course I

Spurred on by fact that May Races will soon be upon us, and the fact that I have received an email from the Race Course saying that tickets for all three days of the main May meeting are nearly sold out (hurry up if you want some!), I thought some information about the Race Course might be timely. So here goes:

Horse racing began in Chester in 1539, when the Mayor, Henry Gee, cancelled the traditional Shrove Tuesday football match because so many players got hurt. To ameliorate the disappointment felt by the townspeople, he replaced it with a prize of silver 'to whom shall run best and furthest upon horsebak' (sic).

In 1607 a 'new gallerie' was built at the Roodee paid for by the city, and in 1609 an additional race was run, with 'Sainte Georges bells and vase of running horses', given by Robert Amerye, ironmonger and sometime sheriff, at his cost. In 1640 the sheriffs (the city had two at a time) gave a plate of £13 6s 8d, for a race to replace the traditional sheriff's breakfast.

One of our apartments is still available for May Races!

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Over At The Allotment

For the first time, we have dug over the whole allotment, ta-da! Potatoes are going in, strawberry plants are being netted, lettuce is already being picked, and all is right with the world. I love the feeling of spring.

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Ewloe Castle

At the end of Wepre Park sits Ewloe Castle, a romantic ruin surrounded by trees. According to Chester Plea Rolls Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Gwynedd, 'built a castle in the corner of the wood' in 1257. The remains in the photo are almost certainly the castle that he built. It has two adjoining walled enclosures, each with a strong tower. Unfortunately he didn't site it very well, because it is overlooked by high ground on one side - an easy placement for an device for bombardment, say. Perhaps because of this Ewloe Castle seems to have been abandoned soon after the conquest of Wales in 1284.

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Wepre Park

Wepre Park is a little way outside Chester, in North Wales, and it is the best place for dogs and kids to get wet and muddy and tired. It is a 160 acre woodland, between Ewloe Castle and Connah's Quay. At this time of year it is full of the smell of wild garlic and the more delicate scent of bluebells, and is the only place locally where I have ever seen a kingfisher.

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Sticky Walnut

The Sticky Walnut is a relatively new restaurant in Hoole. They are a little way out of town, and on a side street, so not easily discovered, but perfect for when the city centre is packed full of shoppers or racegoers. We went there for lunch today, ate local asparagus with poached eggs, and very good it was too. I recommend them to you. You can find out more about them at www.stickywalnut.com

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The Evil That Is Sainsbury's (or Tesco)

Hoole is a suburb of Chester which was originally a village, before it was swallowed up by urban sprawl. Nevertheless, it still has a very 'villagey' feel, with its good quality shopping streets where you can buy local produce and bump into the neighbours for a chat. The shopkeepers know and welcome their customers and the food is generally of a high quality. Until now, that is. Against strenuous objections Sainsbury's are being allowed to open one of their 'local' stores, and will be attempting to kill local small traders. I am voting in the only way I can - by refusing to buy anything from Sainsbury's ever again, and by supporting the local shops as much as possible. Tesco's wanted the the same site for the same purposes, so they join the boycott. I don't want to live in a world where the only choices are between competing supermarkets.

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Bluebells

The bluebells are popping up all over the place. I am told, by someone who should know, that these are Spanish bluebells, and that our English bluebells are being pushed out of their habitat by them (English bluebells are more delicate, with fewer flowers, and the top of them curves over and 'nods)'.

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Roman Amphitheatre III

The amphitheatre may have become a Dark Age stronghold for a local warlord. The east entrance and at least one of the minor entrances were blocked, perhaps to make the structure defensible. Timber buildings were erected in the arena. Although the stones of the amphitheatre were stolen in the Middle Ages, the streets continued to curve around it.

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Ship Inn

The Ship Inn is right next to the Old Dee Bridge, and has undergone an extensive program of refurbishment in recent years, including building a glass-sided extension dining on the back. I am told that the food is good, and they now have live music on Friday evenings.

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The Weir II

The weir can be navigated by crossing over the top during high spring tides. On the city-side of the weir is the United Kingdom's only example of a weirgate, a low height single lock gate that can be opened to provide extra draft once the water levels on each side of the weir have equalised. This allows carefully planned passage from the non-tidal River Dee, via the short tidal estuary section, onto the Dee Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal (originally the Chester Canal) at certain times of year.

The Mills of Dee for which it provided power were amongst the largest and most valuable in England during the 13th century, the annual rental being 270 pounds. The weir was restored in the early 20th century to serve the City Council's hydro-electric power station, which operated from 1913 to 1939, on the site of the former mills.

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The Weir

Chester Weir crosses the River Dee slightly upstream from the Old Dee Bridge. The weir and associated salmon leap have been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building

Originally this was the site of a causeway across the River Dee. The weir was built in sandstone in 1093 for Hugh Lupus, 1st Earl of Chester, for the Benedictine Abbey of St Werburgh (now Chester Cathedral). It was designed to provide a head of water for the medieval mills on the river. The mills were demolished during the 20th century and the weir was restored to serve the Chester City Council's hydro-electric power station, which operated from 1913 to 1939 on the site of the former mills.

The weir continues to provide three essential roles in maintaining the very substantial water abstractions from the River Dee. It prevents tidal water ingress up-river for all but the highest tides; it provides the water head for an abstraction immediately behind the weir and it holds back what is a long linear lake which enables that largest abstraction to be taken at Huntington for the North West Water supply to the Wirral and surrounding areas.

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Handbridge Shops

City Engineer Greenwood, builder of the suspension bridge, was also responsible for this fine row of black-and-white shops close to the end of the Old Dee Bridge in Handbridge.

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Sausages

I bought some sausages from Mike, of Pen-y-lan pork, at the Food Festival, and we ate them yesterday evening, and very yummy they were too. He often sells at local farmers markets and festivals, and you can see the pigs they come from here: http://penylan.site40.net/page1/page1.html
Incidentally, I believe the young man in the photo is his son.

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Chester Food and Drink Festival 2012

Today was the first day of the Food and Drink Festival at the Racecourse, and we had VIP tickets, which meant we had a glass of champagne and lunch included. The whole thing was presided over by giant Queens, ready for the Jubilee later in the year. The festival continues tomorrow and Monday, and you can read more about it here http://www.chesterfoodanddrink.co.uk/.

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Queens Park Bridge

The Queen's Park suspension bridge was built in 1923, replacing an earlier footbridge. It was built by City Engineer Greenwood, who also developed the Greenwood Plan for Chester, none of which was ever implemented. On hot days in summer the local youths take it in turns to jump off the bridge, although, of course, it is strictly forbidden.

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Stones By The Old Dee Bridge

If you wait for low tide, and lean out on the west side of the Old Dee Bridge, you can see some very large blocks of stone in the water. If you look at the current alignment of Bridge Street and the bridge, it is slightly crooked, veering to the east. Since we all know that the Romans built in straight lines wherever possible, and not crookedly, and there was no real reason for the bridge to take a left, the theory is that these stones are the remains of the Roman Bridge, which collapsed into the water, and the builders of the Old Dee Bridge shifted slightly to the east to avoid them.

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Roman Amphitheatre II

The arena had four entrances, the main one being on the north side. There was a small room in the east entrance which had a narrow gateway to the arena, which could have been for holding wild beasts, perhaps with a box above it for holding officials. There was also a shrine, which is now in the Grosvenor Museum (a replica is in place), to the goddess Nemesis, with an altar dedicated by the centurion Sextus Marcianus. The walls were plastered and painted ochre to give a marbled effect, and sand would have covered the floor.

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Riverside

Down by the River Dee, the sun was shining last week. Tourists were strolling, riverboats were cruising, pedallos were being pedalled, ice cream was being sold, afternoon teas were being taken, and all was right with the world.

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Roman Amphitheatre I

The construction of amphitheatres ('double theatres') began in southern Italy and followed Roman conquest. The amphitheatre in Chester is the biggest known in Britain. It seated up to 7,000 spectators and was a symbol of Roman supremacy. It could also have been used as a parade ground for drilling soldiers. Archaeological excavations have shown that there was a first, smaller amphitheatre, with stone walls and an earth bank seating. Timber seating replaced the back on the north side and a staircase was built against the outer wall. In the early third century the amphitheatre was rebuilt and enlarged. A model of this second amphitheatre has recently been put in place. It would have stood about 13 metres high, 101 metres long, and 88 metres high.

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George & Dragon

The George & Dragon stands in the middle of two roads, Parkgate, and Liverpool. Originally the church of St Thomas Becket  is said to have stood here, then 'Jolley's Hall'. Latterly it was owned by John Fletcher, who published a newspaper in the city, but it now is a public house, often frequented by the students who are just down the road at the University. There have been numerous reports of sightings of the ghost of a Roman Centurion here, and, indeed, it stands roughly where the Romans would have buried their dead, so that they could pay their respects as they passed out of the city.

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