Sunday, April 3, 2011

Nikos' Sunday Strolls No. 59 - Circumnavigation of Chester

Why not start the walking tour of the City of Chester with an exploration of 19C plumbing and sanitation (more anon.).

Here is a line of terraced houses, probably over 100 years old each with a privy* at the end of the garden fronting on to the back passage.

*An outhouse, a small structure (holding a single person, and freestanding) for defecation and urination


If you want to find out about Chester read this without my warped views----------->CLICK HERE .

All I know is this is a good place to take Mrs Nikos on stroll around as the Roman city walls still mostly remain and avoid us having to mix with the riff raff shoppers  and  the city could have been as important as Liverpool has become except that malicious Welsh people threw their rubbish into the River Dee thus silting it up and making it unavigable from the sea to Chester docks.  There are also  Hein Gericke and Maplin shops usefully located near Cheshire's main  Triumph dealer (that 800 XC triple fits me like a dream incidentally) that we pass on our way from Knutsford.

Some Roman stuff
Some Victorian stuff

 
Some contempory stuff inserted into some Norman stuff

The Cathedral boasts wonderous and informative stained glass windows offering delightful prospects
The view over Northgate locks thought by some** to be the design from which many of the locks of the Panama canal were modelled.
 **Some old drunk who accosted Mrs Nikos


Having passed Chester Race Course, we have now made a minor deviation from the walls to cross the River Dee on the old bridge and stroll through the Groves.


The weir - behind us is the sea - during some phases of the moon the weir is covered for 2 minutes at high tide.

 
Weir, walls and walkers
Finally, we cross over Enoch Gerrard esq's 1852 suspension bridge to leave the Groves and return to the affluent Queen's Park area

19 comments:

  1. N, this brought back memeories of when I lived in Chester, I rented a large flat in front of the bridge in your last photo - very nice (apart from the neighbour from hell who lived upstairs). Anyway, as you say a lovely town; unfortunately at the time I was under instructions from my doctor to give-up alcohol, and as you know every second building in Chetser houses a pub, so I spent many a miserable evening wandering the streets peering in the windows at the revellers within enjoying themselves. Bloody glad to leave the place!

    Regards, El D.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely photos Nikos (even the Circumcision. That's the thing I miss about the UK - the sense of history is everywhere around you if you care to use your eyes.

    P.S. Thought that privies had disappeared decades ago. Presumably now used for storing bicycles, pigeons and whippets.

    ReplyDelete
  3. El D

    Did you ask for a second opinion?

    N

    ReplyDelete
  4. Geoff

    Mrs Nikos took the picture of the stained glass window - she was obviously getting her own back after I inflicted a cornish pasty on her.

    All the best, N

    ReplyDelete
  5. I sure hope those privies aren't still in use. But given the speed of technology in some places...I'm sure they might still be used in the hills around us. :)

    Is that lock used in the canals for the houseboats in Great Britain? Had a friend tour that way for a couple of weeks and she loved it!

    -Lori

    ReplyDelete
  6. This brought back some childhood memories of visits to Chester - I too have strolled around the wall... probably looking for a loo...
    Sx

    ReplyDelete
  7. I see you have not missed an opportunity to get schoolboy readers sniggering - this time it's a window dedicated to someone snipping at a Man Banana. Disgusting. I know it's an old window but it doesn't need publicising. I'm sure many people will have written to the Rev Peter Forster about this - although I'm not one to engage in Bishop bashing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Is Enoch Gerrard by any chance Stephen Gerrard's grandad?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Nikos:

    I failed to look at this blog for two days, and discovered it filled with new posts. Your Chester and Chester here in Pennsylvania have a few things in common, and a few things that are slightly different.

    • Your Chester has houses with privies in the back.
    • Chester here looks like the residents take dumps on the front porch.

    • Your Chester looks old.
    • Chester, Pa looks worn out.

    • From Roman days, your Chester has seen battle.
    • Chester, Pa is still under seige.

    Great pictures of the cathedral, terrace homes, and a park. That canal is almost as wide as my pants.

    I look forward to taking you on a tour of Lancaster, when you get here. I think it's really neat how the English have named so many towns there after tourist spots in the US.

    Fondest regards,
    Jack • reep • Toad
    Twisated Roads

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have been to Lancaster PA: I found it historic, interesting, with a cafe able to deliver a decent plate of meat loaf. But best of all, it's just up the road from Intercourse.....it's worth phoning one's loved one from there:
    "Where are you?"
    "I'm just in the middle of Intercourse..."

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Lori

    The canal holiday can be a restful way to spend a holiday. Unfortuately my only real experience of one was with a student group who turned out to be manic chess masters who vanished from the bridge leaving me in sole charge of the boat powered by a 1,5hp 1 cylinder diesel engine at any hint of rain (of which there was a lot + snow +hail). I took pleasure in ramming into the bank thus knocking all their pieces over.

    Thanks for writing in, N

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Ms Exile

    The cathedral proved a useful venue for a pee

    xsN

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Mrs Jessop

    If you had bothered to read 3 comments up you might have noticed that I was not clutching the camera at that point.

    Thank you and good evening

    xsN

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Jack

    Your incisive analysis of my blog is much appreciated and I do so love bullet points.

    I'm looking forward to a tour of Lancaster too especially as it appears to be twinned with the French town of Condom (Blame Affer for bringing up Intercourse)

    Thanks for writing in, N

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Affer

    You are well travelled and I look forward to meat loaf

    Thanks for writing in so many times, N

    Enoch, Gerrard? What's the difference?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dear Affer:

    Lancaster is not Chester.

    Fondest regards,
    Jack • reep • Toad
    Twisted Roads
    The Blog That Explains The Difference Between Chester and Lancaster

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear Jack:

    Chester is not Intercourse.

    Yours aye,

    Affer.

    (Well, not in the colloquial sense, anyway!!!!)

    ReplyDelete
  18. "a privy* . . . fronting on to the back passage"

    Nicely, and graphically, described :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Looking at the first photo I experienced a moment of gratitude. A stinking toilet at the end of the garden? No, thank you.

    ReplyDelete

Site Meter