Chester and on to Conwy
Trip Start
Feb 15, 2008
1
33
57
Trip End
May 31, 2008
Conwy,
United Kingdom
Sunday, April 13, 2008
I set off to have a look around Chester. The city has an old Roman amphitheatre and when I walked up to see it there was a Roman Centurion taking a group of school kids for a guided tour and I managed to get a photo. Also of interest is a replica Roman garden which was built in the 1950s to provide a place to display a number of stone artefacts which were discovered in the surrounding area. Whilst looking at the garden I heard some people talking in Spanish so asked them to take a pic of me and had a bit of a chat. They were from Barcelona so I was able to share a bit about my travels to their city.
The wall that surrounded the old city is now a public walkway and the round trip can be completed in about an hour. There are also information inscriptions providing a bit of history and the high position offers some good views of the city and surrounding area.
The Chester Cathedral stands on the site of a 10th century Saxon church.
Tudor buildings1, Chester
In 1092 it became a Benedictine Abbey, and a new church in the Norman style was built, parts of which can still be seen. The church was rebuilt from 1250 onwards and the process took about 250 years, resulting in the building we see today. Following the dissolution of monasteries by Henry VIII, the Abby was closed in 1540 but the following year it became the Cathedral of Chester and has since served the area.I then continued on by train to my next stop, the Welsh seaside town on Conwy. Chester may have a Roman wall which is older but Conwy has a medieval wall surrounding the town which is far more impressive. This town is everything one would expect from Wales. It is dominated by a true 11 Century medieval castle and almost the entire stone wall surrounding the city remains in place and can be traversed offering some great views of the town, castle and surrounding area. Conwy is a lovely small seaside town and while not obviously touristy; its streets are filled with tasteful shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs. There are also some fantastic views of nearby snow capped mountains which can be reached using one of the cog railways which operate in the region; though a little difficult to access without a car.
Conwy's castle was built in the 1280s by King Edward the 1st in to secure England's position against the province of Wales. The castle is built on a rock outcrop and guarded the entrance to the Conwy River. Conwy's castle is listed as a world heritage site and entrance is £4.70.
Tudor buildings2, Chester
There is also a brilliant stone and steel suspension bridge which was completed in 1826 and was one of the first road suspension bridges in the world. Fortunately the bridge's supporting towers were built to match the castle's turrets. The bridge is now in the care of the national trust is closed to traffic though can be crossed by foot between 10am and 5pm. The bridge became an important link to reach the ferry to Ireland which departed, as it still does, from Holyhead. The following morning I happened to bump into the same three people from Barcelona which I had met in Chester the previous day. It turned out that the couple were visiting their daughter, Monica, who was on a posting at the town of Chester through with her company who are based in Spain. They asked if I wanted to spend the day with them and take a trip out to the nearby town of Caernarfon to see another castle which I did.
The town of Caernarfon is not so pretty though the castle is impressive in that the condition of its stonework is practically perfect and all of its corridors and stairwells are open allowing you to explore at will. The Castle was also constructed by King Edward the 1st and was completed in 1283 as part of England's conquest of Wales. There is a nice little museum where you can see memorabilia and a video of Prince Charles receiving his crown from mummy dearest in 1969. There's also a well prepared audiovisual theatre showing a documentary all about the history of the castles in the region.
By now I was all castled out. The following day involved a short trip by train to Holyhead followed by a two hour ferry ride to Dublin.
