Chester – small town steeped in history in focus

Who would have thought that the city of Thun in northwest England has a sister city with which it shares an architectural feature – the “Rows”. In Thun, the high pavements are located in the Obere Hauptgasse and invite you to take a leisurely window shopping. In Chester, the medieval two-storey shopping galleries stretch along the historic city centre. I had heard about it years ago on a city tour in Thun and somehow this knowledge got stuck in my brain. While preparing to travel to Liverpool and the surrounding area, I stumbled across the familiar Chester, which is located not far from Liverpool on the border with Wales. In terms of size and distance, it is an ideal destination for a half-day tour from Liverpool. In bright sunshine I set off to see the high pavements of Chester live. The journey from Liverpool James Street to Chester takes around an hour. The suburban train chugs through the idyllic landscape of the Wirral Peninsula.

The Rows

After a ten-minute walk from the train station, I am standing in front of the Eastgate gate. Unfortunately, the imposing bell tower is currently scaffolded for renovation purposes. Nevertheless, the shopping street with its late medieval Tudor-style facades makes a chic impression. Not everything is as it seems and some façades have been retrofitted to the original Tudor style. Nevertheless, the tourists seem to like it. Chester is a popular destination in the region and the shopping streets are teeming with guests. My conclusion: 1:0 for Thun – there the overall impression seems more authentic.

The thousand-year-old cathedral

On the other hand, Chester scores with me with the cathedral. The origins of the imposing building date back a thousand years to the early Middle Ages. In the middle of the cathedral is a secluded retreat. Most visitors take a look into the cloister, but hardly anyone finds the passage to the inner courtyard. What a paradisiacal place! Apart from the splashing of the fountain and the chirping of birds, no city noise penetrates the thick church walls. Around the fountain, benches are arranged under shady shrubs. The perfect place to immerse yourself in a book in peace and quiet or simply enjoy the sparkling sunshine. I could have dawdled here for the rest of the afternoon without any problems, but the lure of the other historical sights around Chester was stronger.

Mauerrundgang

Especially in this picture-perfect weather, the Wall Tour offers the perfect route to get to know the small town from different perspectives. Chester is one of the best-preserved walled cities in England. The origins of the city wall date back 2,000 years to Roman times. There are also the remains of an amphitheatre from this period. The tour of the wall leads right around the old city centre. With the many ascents and descents, there is always the possibility to leave the wall tour. As a horse girl and diligent reader of Dick Francis crime novels, the view over the Chester Racecourse – the oldest and smallest racecourse in England – is my personal highlight. What is it like here on race days? The riverside promenade of the River Dee is also very beautiful on this sunny day. In addition, every now and then splashes of color like doors at Albion Place lure me away from the wall into the neighborhoods. So my tour lasts a full two hours and towards the end I am afraid that I have caught a sunstroke in the blazing afternoon sun (according to the common cliché, it should have been pouring down). That’s why, at the end of the short detour to Chester, I treat myself to a cool off in the Porta Tapas Bar, which nestles directly against the massive city walls at the Northgate gate.