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When in Chester, do what the locals do

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5 Jun 16th, 2007 

7 Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful

Advantages:
Lovely place

Disadvantages:
Does there need to be one

Recommendable Yes:

Detailed rating:

Value for Money

Sightseeing

Shopping

Nightlife

Ease of getting around

RainbowZippy

RainbowZippy

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Member since:16.06.2007

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History - Source wikipedia.com
~~~~~~

The history of Chester extends back nearly two millennia ago, covering all periods of British history in between then and the present day. The city of Chester was founded as a fort, known as Deva, by the Romans in AD 79, and named after the goddess of the River Dee.[citation needed] The city was the scene of battles between warring Welsh and Saxon kingdoms throughout the post-Roman years until the Saxons strengthened the fort against raiding Danes.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Chester came under the Earl of Chester. It became a centre of the defense against Welsh raiders and a launch point for raids on Ireland.

The city grew as a trading port until the power of the Port of Liverpool and "silting up" of the river overtook it. However the city did not decline and during the Georgian and Victorian periods was seen as a place of escape from the more industrial cities of Manchester and Liverpool

Present Day A considerable amount of land in Chester is owned by Duke of Westminster who owns an estate - Eaton Hall - near the village of Eccleston. Grosvenor is the Duke's family name, which explains such features in the City such as the Grosvenor Bridge, the Grosvenor Hotel, and Grosvenor Park. Much of Chester's architecture dates from the Victorian era, with many of the buildings modelled on the Jacobean half timbered style of the medieval times being designed by John Douglas, who was employed by the Duke as his principal architect. He had a trademark of twisted chimneystacks, many of which can be seen on the buildings in the City centre. Douglas designed amongst other buildings the Grosvenor Hotel and the City Baths. In 1911, Douglas' protege and city architect James Strong designed the former fire station on the west side of Northgate Street. Another feature of all buildings belonging to the estate of Westminster is the 'Grey Diamonds'--a weaving pattern of grey bricks in the red brickwork laid out in a diamond formation. By 1945 two problems needed attention: first, affordable housing and second, traffic congestion. As a result vast areas of slums were cleared and in 1964 an inner by-pass ring road was built to direct traffic through and around the City centre. Large areas of open fields on the outskirts of the City were turned into residential areas in the 1950s and early 1960s producing, for instance, the suburb of Blacon.

In the late 1960s the City authorities realised that new developments were radically altering the look of the City centre. In 1968 Donald Insall published a report in collaboration with the City authorities and central government, which recommended preserving historic buildings and finding new uses for them, rather than simply tearing them down.

In 1969 the City Conservation Area was designated. Over the next 20 years the emphasis was placed on saving historic buildings, such as The Falcon Inn, Dutch Houses and Kings Buildings.

On January 13, 2002, Chester was granted Fairtrade City status. This status was renewed by the Fairtrade Foundation on August 20, 2003.

In August 2005 the council announced plans to demolish the police station, an unsightly edifice built in the 1960s. The building was demolished in late 2006-early 2007. However, the replacement building, a cylindrical glass hotel/cafe, has sparked some controversy. This is partially due to the large number of other glass structures planned within the city such as the new council offices.

The Northgate development will demolish the old Council Offices, which will move into a new building on an old car-park. The proposed structure is unpopular with many of the older citizens of Chester, which led to a poem by local writer Gordon Emery in the Chester Standard dubbing it the 'Glass Slug', a name that has stuck.

Cestrians are often perceived (partly-jokingly) of being 'anti-Welsh' (although many have Welsh ancestors). This is exemplified by the fact that the Town Hall clock does not face west towards Wales (so as not to give the Welsh the "time of day"), and an archaic law which states any Cestrian may shoot a Welshman with a longbow if he loiters within the walls after sunset when the curfew bell chimes (although this law no-longer offers legal protection against prosecution for murder). However, many Cestrians work and shop in Wales, and Chester shares a radio station with Wrexham, Wales.

University - Source http://www.chester.ac.uk/
~~~~~~~~
The University of Chester is one of the oldest providers of higher education in the country, with our academic roots stretching back to the early 19th century. Founded in 1839 by a group of prominent local figures, which included Britain’s greatest 19th century Prime Minister, William Gladstone, we pre-date all but a handful of other English universities.

However, at Chester, change is as important as tradition. During our 168-year history, our fundamental mission of educating students for careers of service has continued to evolve and develop, and we have established a broad range of degree choices, which offer our students a high quality experience in a modern and supportive environment.

The University has two campuses, set approximately 25 miles apart, connected by a free shuttle bus service. Our Chester campus is the primary location of undergraduate teaching for a broad range of courses in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Applied Sciences, the Arts, Teacher Training, Nursing, Midwifery and Law, while our Warrington campus is the main site for the thriving courses that address the need for well trained graduates in a variety of vocational areas. Home of the North West Media Centre, Warrington is a leader in the provision of modern media degree courses, such as TV and Radio Production, Commercial Music Production, Film Studies and Advertising. Courses in Computer Science, Business, Journalism, Sport, Graphic Design and Nursing are available on both campuses

Shopping
~~~~~~~~
The main shops are located in or around the city Centre. It has a vast range of stores as well as well known high street brands, such as HMV, boots etc. One shop i would reccomend, is the old sweetshop, located opposite Chester Cathedral. One thing, you'll notice about chester is, most companies have atleast two shops in the city, so your never far away from the shop you need.
While on your shopping spree, visit the little shops, such as corner shops etc, as you'll find some of the cheaper products in them.

Restaurants
~~~~~~~~~~~
Theres quite a lot of Resteraunts in chester, thats for sure. Fatty Arbuckles, macdonalds, Burger King and not forgeting the 5 star restaurants, these posh nosh places are located everywhere. Chester has Restautants/chip shops and cafes for every taste bud out there, american, cantonese, chinese, japanese, and of course english.

Pubs and clubs
--------------
In the last couple of years a lot of public houses have appeared in and around the centre. The main places to go to on a friday and saturday, are Rosies and Brannigans, be on the look out for famous people, as you'll definatlly find one or two. There clubs and pubs is fierce competition now which is great news for the consumer. Various bargains can be found at lunchtimes and early evening to try and attract you into their establishment. Although what we really want is cheap booze.

The sights
-----------
This really is the place to go for sights, ok so you dont have lights like you do in blackpool, but during both day and day, there are plenty on things to do.

Chester Zoo - is a big attraction, for the family. This is a great place to visit, while there take a look in the bat cave, travel the monorail, but most of all Dont ask to feed the goats. I did once, went in the pen to feed them, one goat nicked my wallet and ran off with it, luckily i got it back but with a fiver missing( guess the goat, wanted to pay to see the elephants). Its a one of price, but enjoyable for all the family.

River Dee, this is a great place to go to in day and night, take a tour of the river with a ferry ride, go canoeing and more. At night, its quite romantic, with bars on the river front (Just don't blame me if you fall in the river after too many drinks).

The wall, this is worth looking at, but will be bored after five mins, cos hey, once you've seen one wall you've seen them all.

Laser Quest - great for kids parties

Plane Flights - just outside the city is a place where you can learn to fly, great place but slightly expensive.

The North GateArena is the local sports centre. It has all the usual facilities you would expect to find such as swimming pool, gym, squash courts etc. This also has a computer fair, something like every two months.

Chester Fc, may not be a premiership team, bout the tickets are cheap, and games are worth watching.

Accommodation
--------------------
There is quite a lot of places to accommodate you on your visit to Chester, personally I've never slept in one, due to the fact I live there, but a hotel called Grosvenor Pulford Hotel, or known locally as the grosvenor. This hotel is usually recommended by everyone and quite popular for visitors and has an excellent service.

Grosvenor Pulford Hotel
Wrexham Rd Pulford
Chester Cheshire CH4 9DG

Tel: 01244 570560


Other
------
What ever you do, don't get injured enough to go to hospital, The countess of chester, has recently been given a rating of one of the worst hostpitals in the uk, with a grade of 1/10.

Transport
~~~~~~~~~
The buses in chester are quite good, as well as the train station
Although locally most people drive cars and public transport can be a bit pricey. Taxis are a total luxury and charge a small fortune to get you home from a night on the town.

Overall I think Chester is a Great city to shop in and go out for bite to eat or a drink. The definate place to go, great tourist attraction

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Comments about this review »

knight_of_the_soundtable 16.06.2007 20:46

Fairly nice, but if you take away the bulk of information that you just copied and which we could all get elsewhere, there's not much that remains, and most of it would apply to lots of towns. Why get bogged down in copycat material, when it's your personal experiences that count? But you make 'em look like an unimportant addendum. And why leave out what makes the place unique & characteristic to you? I think you'd better focus on that and extend your last few paragraphs.

HotBabes 16.06.2007 11:59

Never visited but it sounds a nice place. I can only rate this H as it would have been nice if you'd written it all in your own words and not used 'borrowed' material to make up over 50% of the review. :-)

nic63 16.06.2007 10:22

I went to Chester Zoo when I was a kid on a school trip - many many years ago!! Great review, Nic x

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