General Chat

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On the same vein as the Liverpool thread...

what do you know about Chester, it's people and it's places?
do you have any links to Chester?
Do you have any tales to tell? (apart from the Chester meet lol)

Chester (pronounced /ˈtʃɛstər/) is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants,[1] and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the 2001 Census.[2] Chester was granted city status in 1541.

And on the 1st August 2009 it was invaded by alot of mad geneaologists.

pmsl

Chester was one of the last towns in England to fall to the Normans in the Norman conquest of England. William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle, to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. In 1071 he created Hugh d'Avranches, the 1st Earl of Chester.

Chester has the reputation of being the "English medieval city par excellence", but many of its buildings are from the Victorian era.[3] Along with Derry, Chester makes a claim for being one of the best preserved complete walled cities in the British Isles[4][5][6] It has the most complete city walls in Great Britain,[7] and most sections of the walls are listed Grade I. The Industrial Revolution brought railways, canals, and new roads to the city, which saw substantial expansion and development – Chester Town Hall and the Grosvenor Museum are examples of Victorian architecture from this period.

and it has a River Mac

Helen lmao :-))))

Lesley, it was lovely seeing you again.

My mum was born above Lloyds bank in Chester. I knew it as a little girl when I used to be taken to the lovely old market ( pulled down by philistines in the cause of progress!) and remember the 'singing bird' and 'monkey up a stick' toys that i used to be bought there.

It has a beautiful river, which meanders through the water meadows and out into the countryside, through the Grosvenor Estate. A beautiful journey on the riverboats.And my most favourite bridge in England :) the suspension bridge by the 'Boat House' .

xx

n

http://www.chestercathedral.com/chester-cathedral-home-history.htm

Five ‘don’t miss’ things in Chester Cathedral!
1. The finest medieval woodcarving in the country!

The quire carving The amazing woodwork in the quire dates from 1380. This where the monks held their services, 7 times a day starting at 2.00 in the morning! The canopies above are to keep their draughts off the back of the monks’ necks as well as to reflect the sound of the singing, while below are elaborately carved ‘misericords’ which allowed the monks to take the weight off their legs during the long services. Each one is an extraordinary work of art in its own right.

Can you find the Elephant and Castle? Whoever carved it had never seen an elephant and gave him horse’s hooves!


2. The Cobweb Picture
A picture of the Virgin and Child, painted on the web of a caterpillar. This famous painting is about 200 years old. A Tyrolean art form, there are apparently only 64 remaining in the world, and this is the only one in the UK.

3. The Chester Imp
This is a carved representation of the Devil in chains, high up in the clerestory windows of the Nave. Apparently, a monk was walking along the upper gallery and saw the Devil looking in the window. The monk was rather worried about this and told the Abbot about it. The Abbot told him to put up a carving of the Devil in chains, so that he would know what would happen to him if he dared to return.

4. A unique Church Court
This is a unique survivor, the only old ecclesiastical court in the country to have survived. The woodwork dates from the late 1500s and was placed here in 1636. The courts dealt with the proving of wills (‘probate’), slander, libel, non-attendance at church and clergy discipline.
The Consistory Court

5. The Creation Window in the Refectory
The superb Creation Window at the west end of the Refectory was designed by Rosalind Grimshaw and installed in 2001; it illustrates the Genesis account of the six days of Creation in the upper lights, with a contemporary interpretation of each image below.

Site worth a look at re Roman Chester

http://www.chesterwiki.com/Roman_remains

....... wanted to say that as I live over the border in Wales did you know if you are Welsh and caught within the walls of Chester after 8pm you can be executed!!! Old law not revoked! True I jest you not.

Linda

Ps just as well I am only half welsh! lol xx

Thanks everyone.....Rose, I definitely have to go back to Chester lol That's really interesting!

Linda - does that mean that if you get caught, they will only half-execute you? or only execute half of you? Don't worry - the other half will be OK.

Hope those who went to the meet had a good time.

Chester Racecourse is Britains oldest sporting venue (in continual use) with the first race occurring in 1540

Henry Gee was mayor of Chester in 1540. He cancelled the Traditional Shrove Tuesday football game and replaced it with a horse race. His surname is where we get the informal name for race horses
'Gee Gee's'.

http://www.chesterwalls.info/index.html

very interesting

http://www.chesterwalls.info/overleighgallery.html

Have a look at the above SRS , pics from Overleigh cemetery .

xx

Chester has the Largest Roman Amphitheatre in the Country.
It also has the only surviving rock cut Roman Shrine in the Country.

Chester has the most complete set of Town Walls in the Country, and The Rows are Unique to Chester.

It was decreed that any Geneologists Visiting there on the 1st of August 2009, would be interned in the Zoo and never released as they may cause unrest among the Indiginous Population.**M**.:o)>. pms;l

Chester is beautiful x