She Said:
June 4
Ate in an adequate (barely) pub last night, then back to the
Stone Villa for an excellent sleep.
Today was an amazing day.
We had scanned a Chester tourist booklet that we picked up
at the train station yesterday, and decided to take the Chester city walking tour,
given through the Tourist Information Center.
We walked the 10 minutes down to the city center (the old town) and
arrived before the Info center opened, so we poked around a bit on our own. We began to see giant effigies (12’?) of
Queen Elizabeth scattered here and there.
Odd, but this is the Jubilee Weekend.
Then more. And more. Most with the same head, different colors of
hair to depict HRH at different ages, and different costumes, all done up by a
school or a shop or an organization.
Obviously, something big was going on here.
Once the Tourist Info Center opened, we had our answer. These were Jubilee Giants, and there was
going to be a huge parade. Apparently,
Chester has a long tradition of celebrating royal festivals with Giants. Though it had fallen out of favor in the
mid-century, one man built one Giant 20 years ago and since then, the tradition
is back and bigger than ever. This year,
the Jubilee was a perfect excuse to go mad, and at least 60 Giants (50 Queen
Elizabeth’s and 10 or so random luminaries – Cromwell, Queen Mary, John the Baptist
(!), Merlin) were decked out in every kind of royal gown and jewel you could
imagine. The streets filled (clogged)
and the party began. Every 10 or so
Giants, there was a drumming contingent – very primitive and Celtic-sounding
and perfect for the event. Colorful and
just about as Serendipity as you could get.
Still, the tour went on – an added attraction. We learned:
The Welsh were here first, so everyone who came after them
wanted what they had.
Chester was settled by the Romans in about 70 AD. It is on the River Dee (good for trade and
marauding) and 15 miles from Wales, which had copper and tin mines (good for
trade and making weapons used in marauding.)
The old town is intact with medieval buildings and a Roman wall
completely encircling the city. Roman
ruins abound in basements of tea shops and churches. The Normans and the Saxons invaded at various
times with various degrees of success. The Victorians put their own spin on things
and the result of all this history is a fantastic town to visit. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour.
We ate a late lunch in a good Italian restaurant and
continued to wander about on our own, discovering another Norman church, a good
ladies’ shop (where I bought 2 shirts), and Tesco, where we bought salads and
wine for dinner here in our room tonight.
Oh, and it was a bright, sunny day.
We hope to take the train to Liverpool tomorrow to goof
around for the day and check out their supposedly excellent museums, among
them, The Beatles Museum.
Life is very good.
4 miles?
He Said:
We saw the weather forecast and knew that today would have the best weather for venturing out into this old city, whereas, the next few days will be quite cold and wet.
We set out early and made a full day of it, mostly wandering around in the old walled part of the city.
The walking tour that we signed up for was an excellent start to understand the history of Chester, as E has described already. I was struck by the major waves of influence of different peoples and cultures over the past 2000 years. I was also struck by the mobs of people out today, the streets and shops were all packed.
We learned that the Celts were here before the Romans, and the Romans pushed them out into Wales after they arrived, the Celts became known then as the Welsh, except for the Celts that were and are in Ireland. We learned that the Welsh have never really been respected in this area. We learned the the Romans ruled for about 400 years, then the Anglo-Saxons took over. We learned that at one time, a Welsh person could be executed on the spot if they were caught within the city after dark. We learned that two Welsh people could meet in daylight, but that three could not meet together. We learned that the Romans liked to have public executions for their weekends and holidays. We learned that the Vikings were here after the Anglo-Saxons when Chester was still a walled fortress. The Saxon residents of Chester used a decapitated Viking head as a football; kicking it around the streets. We learned that when the Norman invasion came, it was really the same line of people as the Vikings coming from the north of Europe. We learned that John Lennon maternal grandmother was born in Chester, and that John got married to Cynthia in 1962 on the same day that the Beatles were performing in Chester (just before they were really famous).
Chester is an interesting place to visit, and such a change from the past two weeks of rural travel.
Oh, and I heard one of the 60 QE2's say to E that "It's you".... and I agree.
Here are some photos from today:
the canal
the cathedral
Chester style
introducing the Jubilee Giants of Chester
the walking tour of Chester
the celebration
St John the Baptist church
We set out early and made a full day of it, mostly wandering around in the old walled part of the city.
The walking tour that we signed up for was an excellent start to understand the history of Chester, as E has described already. I was struck by the major waves of influence of different peoples and cultures over the past 2000 years. I was also struck by the mobs of people out today, the streets and shops were all packed.
We learned that the Celts were here before the Romans, and the Romans pushed them out into Wales after they arrived, the Celts became known then as the Welsh, except for the Celts that were and are in Ireland. We learned that the Welsh have never really been respected in this area. We learned the the Romans ruled for about 400 years, then the Anglo-Saxons took over. We learned that at one time, a Welsh person could be executed on the spot if they were caught within the city after dark. We learned that two Welsh people could meet in daylight, but that three could not meet together. We learned that the Romans liked to have public executions for their weekends and holidays. We learned that the Vikings were here after the Anglo-Saxons when Chester was still a walled fortress. The Saxon residents of Chester used a decapitated Viking head as a football; kicking it around the streets. We learned that when the Norman invasion came, it was really the same line of people as the Vikings coming from the north of Europe. We learned that John Lennon maternal grandmother was born in Chester, and that John got married to Cynthia in 1962 on the same day that the Beatles were performing in Chester (just before they were really famous).
Chester is an interesting place to visit, and such a change from the past two weeks of rural travel.
Oh, and I heard one of the 60 QE2's say to E that "It's you".... and I agree.
Here are some photos from today:
the canal
the cathedral
Chester style
introducing the Jubilee Giants of Chester
the walking tour of Chester
the celebration
St John the Baptist church
I'm going to friend Fr David! :)
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