Thursday 4th April

We must have exhausted Muffin yesterday as he didn’t wake up until 5.45am! We must try and do it again today!

The sun was shining again though the wind was still bitter. We set off into Chester to find the sightseeing bus. We like these buses and have used them in major cities across Europe. The commentaries are usually good and we’ve learnt a lot more about the city we are in than just by walking around. We weren’t disappointed in the Chester bus and both drivers we had were very friendly and helpful. We took the bus from the bus station and meandered down to the river where we got off to see the amphitheatre – having been to the Coliseum I have to admit we felt more than a little let down! We wandered along the river a little way until we came

Our little beach hut on the River Dee

to the Barge Inn where we stopped for lunch. I can highly recommend the pub if you are dog owners. We sat outside in a little beach hut overlooking the River Dee and even had our own heater. I reckon we were better off in the sunshine outside than being inside. After lunch we got back on the bus and completed our tour.  

The Chester Rows

After the bus we wandered round the Chester Rows. The Rows consist of covered walkways at the first floor behind which are entrances to shops and other premises. At street level is another set of shops and other premises, many of which are entered by going down a few steps. The Rows, found in each of the four main streets of the city of Chester are unique; nothing precisely similar exists anywhere else in the world. We also came across the Eastgate Clock which is on the site of the original entrance to the Roman fortress of Deva Victrix, which later became Chester – the clock is a prominent landmark and said to be the most photographed clock in England after Big Ben.

The Eastgate Clock

I’m not going to go into loads of the history of Chester but it’s sufficed to say that the city is steeped in it and a wonderful place to visit.

Just in case Muffin wasn’t tired enough we took him for a walk round the racecourse again. The racecourse is known as the Roodee and is, according to official records, the oldest racecourse still in use in England. Horse racing at Chester

Chester Racecourse or the Roodee

dates back to 1539 and the course is thought to be the smallest racecourse of significance in England at 1 mile and 1 furlong. Towards the centre of the in field is a raised mound which is decorated by a small cross known as a "rood". It is from this that the race course derives the name "Roodee"; Roodee is a corruption of "Rood Eye", meaning "The Island of the Cross".

On our return to Mary H we had new neighbours – Katynka who we had met in Liverpool last year. We invited Ian and Diana in for a drink and a very enjoyable evening it was too.