A Happy Birthday Girl.

Another special day has come round for my wonderful wife but I can't understand it really as she seems to be getting younger all the on her own woth out me  time. I made a bit of an effort Flowers from Tesco (date expiring) 90p, manicure £22, small chocolate cake £2-49, cup of tea in bed everyday of the year priceless!!

Helen went off for a manicure round the corner where nobody spoke English? and then had a few hours wandering round the shops on her own before coming back for lunch. We then went out together to finish our walk round the walls that we started last night. We found a couple of pubs last night and then came back to the boat via the walls. In the Roman Gardens they are having an outdoor cinema through the summer and it was fun trying to identify the film. We failed!

East Gate Clock.

East Gate, Chester from the Clock above the gate.

Tower Basin of the canal with the dry dock. Here there is an arm that descends down to the River Dee. There are Warehouses etc built by Telford here too.

The Water Tower on the NE corner of the City Walls.

The final straight at Chester Race Course, on the Roodee ground. On the bottom left can bee seen the old river wall where from Roman times the ships were worked that made Chester the most important port in the North of the country. However the course of the river shifted and the land of the race course was left. The first race was in 1539 when there was a race from the Water Tower to the Castle. The race was started as they wanted to discourage the sport of football, or mass brawl as it was in those days. This is said to make Chester the oldest racecourse in the country. The Mayor of the at the time was one Henry Gee and this is also to be thought why we, or rather small children, call horses Gee Gee's. I had often wondered about that.

Birthday portrait of Helen taken in Grosvenor Park in Chester.

Not such a good Birthday Portrait!

We then cut back into the city and went to have a look round the Cathedral. The Original cathedral was St John The Baptist Church which is now a Parish Church and has been a church since 689!! The present Cathedral was first the church of a Benedictine Monastery and was made a Cathedral in 1541 by Henry VIII. The organ was playing when we went in and the cloisters were intact and special. There were many monuments on the walls and it was very interesting to read them. I would like to have a monument to me but with some interesting text about my good and bad points, if anybody could find any that is, and not just the dates etc.

Chester Town Hall wouldn't look out of place in an industrial city in Lancashire of Yorkshire.

We found an ice cream shop and licked away as we wandered back to the boat. The quickest was was back to the walls.

This is the Shropshire Union Canal, as is now, running at the foot of the walls acting as a moat. You can see some of the original Roman Wall built by the Roman legionaires to protect the fort the constructed at Deva (pronounced Dewa) started in 79AD! It is the part of the wall on the right of the photograph with the 'jutty out' bit half way up it.

We are making a picnic and cooling a bottle of fizz to take with us for an open air rendition of Othello in the park. I'm hoping that the rain holds off.