Outdoor Theatre

The Outdoor Theatre is back in Chester for its' summer season, albeit in a slightly different location (but still in the Grosvenor Park), and with some covering, i.e. rain protection for the rear seats. The season runs until the 19th August, and you can find out more about them (and book tickets) here:
http://www.grosvenorparkopenairtheatre.co.uk/

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Roman Elliptical Building

Buried deep underneath the newly-refurbished town hall (of which more later), is a mysterious Roman elliptically-shaped building. This building was unique in the Roman world, and together with the amphitheatre and the very large Principia building, suggest that the fortress was intended to be of high status and importance. It has even been suggested that Chester was at one time destined to be the capital of a Roman province which included Ireland - a dream which did not turn into reality.

You can find out more about it, including a visualisation of how it might have looked, here:
http://www.take27.co.uk/julianbaum/ChesterProject/EB/EB.html

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Chester Civil Justice Centre

Built backing onto Dee House is Chester Civil Justice Centre. A not-very-lovely building, I suppose it will be demolished if and when Dee House falls down, but meanwhile it is where you go if you want a divorce, or to adopt a child, or wish to declare yourself bankrupt.

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Dee House

Dee House is one of the most controversial buildings in Chester. It is built on top of part of the amphitheatre, and some people want to knock it down so that the amphitheatre can be fully excavated. Others want to restore to the elegant Georgian building it once was. Time ticks on, and the building falls into greater and greater disrepair, including having caught fire in the fairly recent past. It is owned by the Council, who, I guess, are hoping it will fall down of its' own accord and resolve the problem.

Built in 1730, it was originally a house for James Comberbach, a wealthy merchant and mayor of Chester, It has been lived in be a number of clerical occupants, including becoming an Ursuline Convent and girls' boarding school. Latterly it was used as a telephone exchange.

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St Werburgh Street Subsidence

St Werburgh Street is looking in a poorly way at the moment, with a variety of repairs being carried out. At the top end of the street, stretching from the Halifax in St Werburghs Row to the war memorial, the road is sinking due to an infilled quarry underneath. The pillar in the bottom photo has sunk by 15cm in the last 10 years. At the bottom end of the street, where it connects to Eastgate St, there is a dip in the road due to buried cellars. And in the middle, at St Werburghs Mount, props are holding up the buildings whilst owners investigate the cause.

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Shop Signs

Chester has very strict regulations about shop signs - they are not usually allowed to be illuminated, and projecting box signs are forbidden. Hanging signs are the long-established form of advertisement here, and the Council encourages the use of hand-carved and hand-painted signs or symbols depicting shop trades. Banners attached to the Rows are not permitted in any form. All of this can turn signs into an art form, and the photo below shows a new one that I spotted at the Eastgate Street entrance to Godstall Lane.

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Missing Mansions I - St John's House

Throughout the 18th century, merchant wealth and ecclesiastical patronage ensured that the area now covered by the Amphitheatre and Grosvenor Park maintained an elegance and seclusion from the city. A number of substantial and fashionable residences were built. Three of these survive - Dee House, the Old Bishop's Palace, and St John's Vicarage (of which more later). The other five have been demolished, but archaeological traces remain.

St John's House was built sometime in the early 18th century, and was located partly over the north entrance of the amphitheatre. It was demolished in 1958, when the first major excavation of the amphitheatre was carried out. It had extensive gardens which covered over half the area of the amphitheatre, and would have been sited approximately on the area of grass shown in the photo below.

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Souters Lane

To the west of the amphitheatre a road runs down to the river, now called Souters Lane. This lane originally connected stone quarries down at the riverside to the fortress, along which would have been hauled cartloads of stone to build the fortress and amphitheatre. It is also probable that victims of the amphitheatre would have been dragged down here to be thrown into the river.

Souter is a Middle English term derived from the word for a shoemaker, which suggests that leatherworking was likely to have been concentrated in this vicinity in the late Saxon period. Nowadays it is just a convenient way to get to the boat trips on the River Dee.

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Eaton Hall Open Day

Eaton Hall is the home of the Duke of Westminster, Gerald Grosvenor, and is not open to the public. However, occasionally they open the grounds to raise money for charity, and there is an open day next Sunday. You can find out more about the Hall here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eaton_Hall,_Cheshire

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Queen's Park Bridge Repairs

The council finally seem to be getting round to repairs that should have taken place a while ago. Latest on the list is Queen's Park Suspension Bridge, which is swathed in blue sheeting whilst the work is carried out.

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Lumley Place

Lumley Place is an attractive row of houses, built by the first Duke of Westminster in 1878. They were originally almshouses for retired clergy, and were constructed on the yard of a sawmill. They are thought to be the work of architect John Douglas.

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Chester Cathedral Door Repairs

Chester Cathedral is having its' west-facing doors removed and repaired. These doors are normally used to allow royalty to enter, and have not been taken down since they were first hung in about 1520, when the building was still a monastery and about 20 years before it became a cathedral. The doors will be away for about 6 weeks, and a temporary screen will be put in their place.

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Bollands

A new shop has opened in Eastgate Street Row, selling specialist teas and coffees. Not being a tea-drinker myself, I opted to try one of their coffees, roasted and ground for an espresso machine, and very good it was too. They also sell a small range of tea- and coffee-making implements, and will do special blends to your specification.

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Lorimers' Row

On Northgate Street is Lorimers' Row, which begs the question, what is a lorimer? I can reveal that it is, or was, a person who made bits, spurs, and other small metal objects, and that this row was built in the 12th century. The Blue Bell is the last remaining part of it.

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Welsh Slate

Houses in Chester have traditionally been roofed with Welsh slate, quarried from the mountains in North Wales, although, sadly, it can now often be cheaper to use Spanish or even Chinese slate. However, slate is also used for purposes other than roofing, one of the most extreme examples being a slate bed at Penrhyn Castell that Queen Victoria refused to use. Below are tombs made from slate in a graveyard in North Wales.

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Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar

Last night we went all the way to Conwy to hear Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar perform. It was an amazing night, they were excellent, and Ciaran in particular has musical skills way beyond his years. They have a new album out, which you can find out more about here: http://www.therecordjournal.co.uk/gregciaranalbum.html

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F.I.D.O.

F.I.D.O. stands for Friendly Instructional Dog Obedience, and is a dog training club based in the scout hut down on Sealand Rd. The owner and chief instructor is Angela Pitman, and the club has snowballed from two classes a week up to its' present eighteen. She also offers home visits and one-to-one consultations for particularly difficult dogs. You can find out more about it here: http://www.fidodogtraining.co.uk/

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King Charles Tower Repairs

The repairs to King Charles Tower have reached the stage where you can now see the whole tower, as the wall has been stripped down to the same level. You can see how much the wall has dropped, and where the mortar has been replaced on the lower section of the tower.

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Chester Races - 14th July

Yesterday was Chester Races, and just for once the weather was good, the going was soft, and we had money on four winners (not bad out of seven races). The photo below is of one of them. We made just about enough money to cover the cost of the champagne we drank.

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The Lock Keeper

There is a pub down by the Shropshire Union canal, that has recently been refurbished. It keeps changing its name. When I first came to Chester it was the Lock Stock and Barrel, lately it has been the Frog and Nightingale, and I think there may have been a couple more names on the way. Now, however, it is the Lock Keeper, the refurbishment has been done well, and it looks a nice place to sit outside, whiling away a summers day, practising your gongoozling.

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Yog-Art

There is a relatively new shop on Northgate Street, Yog-Art, which sells frozen yoghurt with a wide variety of flavours and toppings. I have tried them, and they are delicious, and they also have a loyalty card so that you get every sixth one free. You can see their website here: http://loveyogart.blogspot.co.uk

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Pub Signs

Inn signs probably originated with the Romans, when vine leaves would be displayed outside taverns to show that they sold wine. The equivalent in Britain was small evergreen bushes hung outside, and early pubs also used long poles or 'ale stakes' to show that they sold beer — together with the bushes if they also sold wine. In later times, by about the twelfth century, it had become common for taverns to have names. However, the great majority of the population were unable to read or write at the time, and so pictorial signs were used to indicate the names.

In 1393 Richard II ordered that all pubs and inns had to display a sign, so they could be recognised by the official Ale Taster. Ever since then a wide variety of inn signs have reflected British history, people, events and tastes.

Probably the commonest pub name of all is the Red Lion: a 2009 television documentary reported that there were over 600 in Britain with this name. It dates from the time of James I of England and VI of Scotland, who came to the throne in 1603. He decreed that Scotland's heraldic red lion must be displayed on all important buildings — which included pubs.

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Red Lion - Northgate Street

There is a Red Lion pub on Northgate St. It has been through several incarnations, including being an Irish pub, but has now reverted back to what it was originally, the Red Lion, a traditional English pub, and is much the better for it.

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Spice of Asia

In Brook Street is the Spice of Asia supermarket, where currently they have some of the best mangoes around, as well as all the essentials for Asian cookery - everything from Curry spices to Nam Pla. Staff are friendly and helpful, and are always willing to give advice.

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Burlingtons

In Northgate Street Row there is a cafe called Burlingtons. Most tourists miss it, because it is tucked away, but locals know it's there. Food and ambience are good, the only drawback is the low doorway - I tend to duck as I go in.

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Castle Gates

The lower entrance at the Castle has recently had some new gates, to create a better gateway to the city for anyone parking on the Little Roodee. I have yet to see them open, though.

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Northgate Bakery

The Northgate Bakery is a Grade II listed building on George Street, and has a beautiful frontage unfortunately marred by a plate glass window. It's a shame that there aren't any small, locally owned and run, bakeries in the city centre any more.

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Choral Evensong At Chester Cathedral

I was passing the Cathedral the other day, and went in to check out the new shop that there were signs for. Alas, no shop yet, but I nearly got caught up in the procession of clergy going in to choral evensong (Saturdays at 16:15).

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Grosvenor Museum Horse Exhibition

The current exhibition at the Grosvenor Museum is all about the horse, and includes the skeleton of Manifesto, a racehorse famous for running in the Grand National eight times and winning it twice. He held the record for the highest handicap weight, which still stands, and was a crowd favourite.

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Roman Mansio Skeleton

In the Roman Empire, a mansio (from the Latin word mansus the perfect passive participle of manere "to remain" or "to stay") was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling. There is what is believed to be a mansio on St Mary's Hill in Chester. It existed from the late 1st century into the 4th century, and was rebuilt several times during its life. It was originally timber, then was rebuilt in stone. During the 3rd century it was burnt down, and rebuilt yet again. Some of the debris and rubble were dumped into one of the two wells on the site, the other well remaining in use until the mansio was finally demolished in the 4th century. The skeleton shown below was found at the bottom of the well filled with 3rd century debris, and is on display, with other artefacts found at the same time, in the Grosvenor Museum.

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Chester Cathedral Cloisters

Originally the Cathedral cloisters would have been occupied by monks sitting or standing at desks, working on manuscripts. There were no windows - they were a later addition - and in winter it would have been bitterly cold. Nowadays it is very peaceful, and I caught myself picturing how it must have looked when the monks were still at their work.

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