Chester history #3

Hi everyone,

Thanks for stopping by today and for your continued hugs, thoughts and prayers for Dad, for that's how I truly know Bill, for the family and for all of us at this very difficult time. We truly do appreciate each and every one of you!

I thought we'd continue our look at some of the sights in Chester and our brief history lessons too. You can see the other posts HERE and HERE. I've also now added the tag "Chester" to both of them and will do to all of the city, so if you click it in the side bar, or in the posts, it will bring up all other related posts. :)

Before we continue our mini highlight tour, I'm not sure if I've said this before, but I spent 8 years of my life living in one of the suburbs of the city, so I truly know it like the back of my hand! Indeed I'm often back for meetings and sometimes I play tourist too, although I don't need a guide LOL! So although the pix in these posts are years old, I have many, many others and will be sharing more with you in future posts.

And so we continue...

Our first stop today is the turf racecourse, the "Roodee", the name translating from Rood Eye, meaning "Island of the Cross". The site was first used by the Romans during their occupation, when it was then their harbor on the river and in the pic below you can see some of the city wall to the far left...

It is the oldest racecourse still in use in the UK, the first recorded race having taken place in 1539. The date is now the name of the on site restaurant. It is also the smallest racecourse in the UK at just 1 mile, 1 furlong. In the pic below the winning post is just visible where the track is shaded...

A bit further along the road above the Roodee is this depiction of the Roman Quay and city walls, with the Eastgate Clock on the center right...

From the Roodee we head back into the city center, to exact center point within the walls and the Chester High Cross, although it's more commonly known without the High in it's name. The Cross stands at the junction of Northgate, Eastgate, Bridge Street and Watergate Street (which is the road up from the Roodee). The original structure dated from the 14th century and was later replaced in 1476. That one was damaged during the Civil War in 1646 and further replaced, although the piece that is now the top was saved from that one and now sits atop the current one, seen below, which was constructed in 1949...

The last pic for today shows the view down Bridge Street from the Cross and the gorgeous black and white timber topped buildings which can be seen all over the city and indeed outlying areas...

I hope you've enjoyed this further peek into some of the history, as I'm enjoying sharing it with you!

Thanks again for your hugs, thoughts and prayers for Dad, they do mean so much to us all.

Hugs,
Em x