Chester the Molester

Chester is only 45 minutes out of Liverpool by train and was possibly the centre of the Roman empire in the north of England. It was founded in AD 79 but has undergone many face-lifts over the centuries following the Norman conquest in AD 1066. The word Chester itself means 'fort'. Surprisingly the town used to be a port city, however river levels have subsided such that this is no longer the case (global warming???). Many of the remaining buildings have either Victorian, Georgian or Tudor facades.

It was nice to get out of Liverpool which didn't seem to have much to offer a tourist, especially when the weather was shite, other than expensive and tacky Beatles tours (which I didn't do!). Plus I couldn't understand word any of them (Liverpoolians) were saying.

Arrived in Chester mid morning, walked from the station through the botanic gardens to the river which the fortified part of town resides next to. After entering the walled city, I was in desperate need of food...was feeling faint. Found a homely looking place, The Three Kings, displaying apple and raspberry pie in the window. Sold! BEST PIE EVER!!! Exactly how I like it. It was a promising start, a far cry better than some of the shite food I had in Liverpool.

River Dee in Chester

Home of the apple and raspberry pie.

Walked around some of the wall and the main streets in town. Full of buskers and a generally good vibe. The sun was out so everyone was extra churpy. I'd read about a pub selling good food out of the touristy part of town. With the help of the GPS I found it....cumberland sausages and mash. Winner again. I was liking Chester very quickly.

The Old Harkers Arms for lunch

Without doing a tour or reading up on the history of Chester, it was hard to get a feel for it. At 2pm there was a tour leaving the Town Hall. Turns out it was a Taste of Chester tour. I was too full to eat much more. Thankfully the other couple doing the tour were also more interested in history, so we forewent some of the taste testing in lieu of historical facts. We covered a lot of the ground I had earlier in the day, but it was amazing how much I'd missed. We sampled ice-cream (not really a local produce but I didn't mention that but this oversight was more than made up by the Spanish waitress who had very nice ice-creams), Chester cheese (not a fan, the smoked blue was ok but otherwise a bit bland) and the final stop was for a local Chester cake at a cafe down near the river. This cafe was on the same street as the one I'd been too that morning. I asked our guide Patricia which side of the street. Sure enough it was the same place. So back to The Three Kings for Chester tea cake...and another piece of pie. Rolled out.

Chester Cathedral

Didn't get to try this place unfortunately.

The couple who did the tour with me, Steve and June, were from Hong Kong. Steve had just retired after 34 years at Baker & McKenzie. Nice couple, invited me to dinner in Hong Kong when I'm there.

And if you are wondering why this post is called Chester the Molester...well whenever I hear the name Chester I think of a song by Sloan called Chester the Molester.

5th July, 2012