Today we visited the historic border city of Chester to see Bridge Street, Chester Cathedral and Eastgate Clock.
Our mini tour of the UK continued as we made our way to the historic border city of Chester.
We had a great day yesterday discovering Snowdonia National Park and were looking forward to another great day in Cheshire.
Garth Pier, Bangor
Before checking out of our hotel, we took a quick walk down to Bangor’s Garth Pier.
This pier is the second longest pier in Wales and the ninth longest in the UK.
We walked all the way along this 460 metre pier and got some good views of the Menai Bridge and Anglesey. As it was early morning the pier was eerily quiet.
Llanfair PG
Leaving the hotel we crossed the historic Menai Bridge to Anglesey. This famous bridge was built in the 19th century by Thomas Telford.
Our destination was Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch or Llanfair PG for short.
Apart from the train station this village is famous for having the longest place name in Europe.
Unusually for me, I actually know how to say Llanfair PG in full. It must be one of the only things I picked up in school.
Llyn Ogwen, Snowdonia National Park
We decided to have a scenic drive through Snowdonia National Park before heading to Chester.
En-route we stopped at a viewpoint of Llyn Ogwen. This spectacular lake is surrounded by rugged mountains and Glyder Fawr. This was a great location for a few photos.
From here we continued uninterrupted on our journey to Chester.
Sunday lunch at Big Hand Alehouse, Chester
One we arrived in Chester we were starving and thirsty (for beer). We made our way to Big Hand Alehouse for Sunday lunch.
As well as serving their own ales, Big Hand Alehouse serves a number of beers from independent breweries from around the country. I opted for the Big Hand Appaloosa, an American style IPA.
The Sunday lunch of topside of beef with vegetables was easily one of the best I’ve had in a restaurant.
1 Bridge Street, Chester
After food we walked into the centre of Chester to see the iconic 1 Bridge Street building.
The Grade II listed building is a great example of black-and-white architecture and forms part of Chester Rows.
As the name suggests, the building is at the top of Chester’s Bridge Street. The street is full of other black-and-white buildings, all home to cafes, pubs, restaurants, shops and galleries.
Chester Cathedral
For our next stop we walked to the impressive Chester Cathedral.
The cathedral was formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery. Since the 16th century it has been the seat of the Bishop of Chester.
Obviously with the Coronavirus pandemic ongoing we could not go in the cathedral. Instead we wandered around the gardens.
Eastgate Clock, Chester
Only five minutes walk from the cathedral we arrived at Eastgate Clock.
I honestly thought this fascinating town clock would not look out of place in any European country I have visited. Interestingly the gate and clock are on the site of the original gate to Deva, the old Roman fortress.
Eastgate is definitely one of Chester’s must-see attractions and apparently is the most photographed clock in England after Big Ben.
We walked up onto the walls just under the clock to get some nice views of Chester’s Eastgate Street.
I seem to remember a scene from the film 24 Hour Party People was filmed at this location.
Chester Amphitheater
After a quick drink in Chester’s most haunted pub – The Marlborough, we made our way to the Roman Amphitheatre.
The ruins are not as grand (or haunted) as places I’ve visited previously such as Paphos or Ostia Antica, but are still interesting.
Saying that only the northern part of the ruins has been excavated.
Chester Roman Gardens and city walls.
Just before we were due to check in to our hotel we had a quick look at the Roman Gardens and city walls.
These gardens were developed in 1849 to display Roman artefacts found in Chester.
Chester’s city walls are just behind these gardens. Construction of the walls started in the 1st century and they were eventually encompassed the city in the 12th century.
After this we checked into the hotel and had a few beers in the city. This rounded off our day in Chester quite nicely.
Tomorrow we head north for a few days in the Lake District.
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