Chester, Frodsham and Keswick

July 14, 15 and 16

We left Wales July 14 - sad to say goodbye to such a pretty little town as Llangollen, and to our very kind hostess and host.  I think if Lynn and I lived in the same city, we’d probably become good friends - she’s easy to connect with and is very creative - it would be fun to sit together with cups of tea making all kinds of fun things and chatting.

Following our friend Paul’s suggestion, we drove to Chester on the England/Wales border  to have a look around and take some pictures for him as he’s from a nearby town called Frodsham.  We didn’t have a lot of time as we were driving to the Lake District and needed about 4 hours to get there.  

The Old Kings Head Pub in Chester (this is for you, Paull K!)

Funny little skinny building in Chester

The little sign says this Tudor home was built in 1503
during the reign of Henry VII

Chester is an old Roman settlement, so there are some old bath ruins there that have been made into a city garden.  We followed a couple of groups of school children who were dressed up as gladiators and discovered the park.  (well, it’s hard not to follow kids dressed up as roman gladiators!)  Young instructors were there teaching them how to be proper Roman soldiers - it was fun to watch for awhile.  I listened to one of them explain to a young girl that she couldn’t be a soldier because she was a girl, and that she’d probably lose her life quickly anyhow due to her “head handle” (ponytail) which he grabbed and pretended to move her back and forth to the great delight of all the participants.

School kids next to the city wall

City wall in the background.  School kids getting
lessons on how to be a Roman soldier

Roman bath remnants in Chester

Roman Bath park in Chester

We decided that even though the Chester cathedral is supposed to be wonderful, we’ve seen enough beautiful churches for now, so we took a little walk along the historic city walls,  a stroll down the main shopping street, snapped a picture of the old King’s Head pub for Paul, and carried on to Frodsham where we stopped into his old pub, the Ring of Bells, for lunch and a chat with the locals.  This pub was owned by the parents of Daniel Craig who used to run around the pub as a small child, and later became better known as Bond, James Bond.  We found a fellow called Graham McAra in the corner who knows Paul, so took his picture and sent it with Graham’s regards via the instant messenger on my phone.  What a world we live in!   

Roman wall remnant as seen from the city wall in Chester

Downtown Chester - old city.  So pretty

Another one for Paul K - in Frodsham

Ordering lunch at the Ring of Bells in Frodsham

And then on to the Lake District - Glen visited this area about 40 years ago, and has always talked about returning to hike around the area.  So here we are.  We arrived in a torrential downpour of rain, so really didn’t see too much of the beautiful landscape on the way in.  Our first full day here was a spectacular sunny day, not too hot, so we set off on what was supposed to be a 4-mile hike around Rydal Water (a lake).  Being Anne and Glen, we get distracted fairly easily, and wound up hiking up a mountainside to get some views.   We discovered a couple of huge caves, climbed to the top of a peak to get a 360 degree view, and then down the other side of the mountain and ended up in a village called Ambleside.  It doesn’t bear much resemblance to the Ambleside in West Vancouver.  

Starting out - heading for Rydal Water.  They don't call them lakes here -
they call them water.

About the spot where we distracted ourselves and started heading up
the hill instead of down.

Rounded a corner and found a cave!

Quite a large cave 

Inside the cave - it goes way back.  Glen is practicing his
echo-location here.  

Looking outward.  Our current host told us that
Christmas candlelight concerts are held here.  It's
a bit of a hike up, but it would be an amazing evening.

Another cave mouth.  We didn't go in this one - it
was a bit of a scramble to get in.

Almost to the top of this mountain.

View from the top.  Glad we went up instead of down.
Ambleside in the far distance.

Ambleside in the distance.

Glen standing in a frothy featherstorm of ferns

We sat down to have our picnic lunch, and then tried to figure out how to get back to our car . . . after a few wrong turns, we found a kind couple who had been smart enough to leave home with a map.  They finally got us on the right trail, and we eventually found the car.  All in all, we were out for about 5 hours - great day,  great weather and good exercise.

Walking through a farm - love the stonework on the
houses here - different again from other areas of England.

  

Stopped here for lunch in Ambleside

Heading into town to see if we can get directions back
to the car.  These were funny bits of slate set as a
path border.

Old abandoned house on the trail

Walked along the lakeshore for awhile.  Rydal Water

The path up from Rydal Water - this is the one we should have gone
down at the beginning of the day!

We came home for a breather, then headed out again to see the local stone circle which is about a 20 minute walk from the AirBnB where we are staying.  The place was packed with people - teenagers hanging out, young kids climbing all over the rocks, spiritual types having some sort of meeting in the middle, and a lot of sheep cruising around the outside edges leaving their usual minefield of droppings.  

Castlerigg stone circle near Keswick, Lake District

Kids playing on the stones.  These ones were a
lot larger than the circle we saw in the Peak District

Glen posing

Great spot to sit and read a book.  This circle is on a beautiful meadow with
views that go forever almost 360 degrees.

This area was kind of a circle within the circle

Baa Baa Black Sheep Have You any Wool?

We’re staying in another “shared home” AirBnB - the kitchen, living areas and laundry are all shared with the homeowners, and again we’ve found ourselves the nicest people to stay with.  Sharon was here the first night, but had to leave to care for her father who recently had a heart attack.  We had such a great connection and conversations the night we arrived, and David her husband is equally hospitable and has made us feel like we are part of the household.  It’s a lovely home that’s new by English standards - built in 1933!  David and Sharon have done some extensive renovations on it, and I finally got into a home with a conservatory!  What a great concept for a room.  It’s nice and bright and I pretty much spend all my time in here when we’re at the house.  Unfortunately, our second full day here is a repeat of our arrival day - pouring rain.  We decided to use the opportunity to go into the village of Keswick and get haircuts which were rather badly needed.  We tried to do a drive-around, but really there’s not much to see in the rain, driving these narrow roads on a sunny day takes a lot of concentration.  Rainy days make them not much fun at all.

Home in Keswick

Sitting in the conservatory

 So we’re glad we got in one good day of hiking.  Too bad it couldn’t have been both days, but we leave here with great memories.  Tomorrow we are off to Scotland!