Rochester (England)

...little history===

Rochester was originally a Roman creation, being founded shortly after they arrived in Britain. It was built strategically to secure the trade and military routes across the river Medway. A lot of the original architecture has remained to this day, and a fair amount of the original city wall is still clearly visible (and in use!) Needless to say the Romans were ultimately driven out and the Celts and so forth took ...
...===The Attractions===

Rochester is essentially an historic city (hence all the signs say "welcome to historic Rochester") so tourists only come for the sights. Of course, we don't disappoint!

---The Cathedral---

It's rather large, and I've spent far too much of time in there! It is a typical Norman Cathedral which leans towards gothic style, but not overly so. The Nave is large also, and there ... more

My most sincere apologies for the title - what I wanted to have was "Rather Ornate Cathedral's Home? Exactly, Something Tourists Eagerly Relish!" but ciao has a 50 character word limit! It's 06:10 and some lovely person in my hall of residence intentionally set of the fire alarm at 05:00! Since I have lectures at 9, I thought "What to do, stay up or get 2 more hours of sleep?" I decided to stay up, and what's more I decided to write a review of my lovely home town to ease my anger at the evil person in question! Well, wouldn't you?

Rochester

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Well it's been my home for 14 of my 18 (almost 19!) years so I feel qualified to speak honestly and descriptively about it. It's ironic though that I only thought of doing this now that I live in London and have to rely entirely on memory!

A little history

Rochester was originally a Roman creation, being founded shortly after they arrived in Britain. It was built strategically to secure the trade and military routes across the river Medway. A lot of the original architecture has remained to this day, and a fair amount of the original city wall is still clearly visible (and in use!) Needless to say the Romans were ultimately driven out and the Celts and so forth took over. Amazingly enough there are parts of the town that look almost exactly the same as they would have done hundreds of years ago (minus the odd café in the High Street!) The point directly between the Castle and the Cathedral is stunning as, aside from cars and streetlights, it hasn't changed at all.

The Attractions

Rochester is essentially an historic city (hence all the signs say "welcome to historic Rochester") so tourists only come for the sights. Of course, we don't disappoint!

---The Cathedral---

It's rather large, and I've spent far too much of time in there! It is a typical Norman Cathedral which leans towards gothic style, but not overly so. The Nave is large also, and there is an impressive Quire. There is also a rather nice organ which has recently been brought into the modern age! You may not believe this but the organist no longer has to sit in the organ: there is a modern "peripheral" organ, placed anywhere in the Cathedral, which can operate the organ remotely! Personally I'm against this idea but I can see why they did it.

Entry is free, and the staff are eager to help someone who looks lost and helpless! I remember going in one day without my school uniform on and being offered a map of the relevant sights to see (I knew all these things anyway but I really didn't want to be rude!) so I can vouch for them!

There are regular sung services (Matins, Evensong etc) sung by the Cathedral Choir. They regularly hold Communion services on Sundays. If you're deeply religious then they even hold services such as Midnight Mass. I should point out though that wherever you sit, if it's for a prolonged period of time then you will lose the feeling in certain parts of your body. This is fact and cannot be avoided! A tip though, if you have to sit in the Quire, the rows at the back against the walls are more like chairs and have at least some padding!

If you're hungry whilst browsing then you can visit the tea rooms which are situated just off of the old Cloister.

If you thought that a Church establishment would abhor capitalism, you'd be wrong. In the back - right corner of the Nave you can find the Cathedral shop which sells things both nice and really rather tacky - but it's a nice place to get mementos if you're a tourist.

*Well it's 06:48, no lectures yet, so I'll keep on writing!*

---The Castle---

It's big. It's actually very big. It's also amazingly well preserved. Not only has the Castle Keep survived but all of the grounds have as well. You can sit on a cannon which overlooks the bridge and the river, but the view on the other side of the river is less nice, so don't look too far! There are times when there are markets and fairs held in the Caste grounds, which is always fun. I should point out that if you have a physical disability, then the best way to gain entrance to the grounds are via what is essentially the back of the grounds, near a building called Satis House - this way you can avoid having to use the steps by the river or the steep hill by the High Street.

Entrance to the Castle is not free as there is a lot of continuous maintenance to be done. The prices are (from Medway Council website)

 Adults £4.
 Child/student £3.
 Concessions £3.
 Family ticket £11.

I believe that educational group trips are free though, so if you're organising a school trip it should be free entry (don't take my word for it though!). Again if you have a physical disability, bear in mind that there are many steps leading into the Castle itself, and then inside most of the stone steps are steep and partly worn away. It is very easy for anyone to injure themselves.

You can access most parts of the Castle, all the way from the dungeons to the battlements which provide an amazing view of the Cathedral and the rest of Rochester (and Chatham and Strood as well). Don't be alarmed at the large net across the centre of the Keep, it's there to keep pigeons out, but it doesn't work!

If you're interested in a historical sidebar - one of the turrets was knocked down during of the many sieges of the Castle and was rebuilt. However by then, technology to build castles had improved, and the turret was rebuilt round rather than square. In fact I believe Gundolf (Bishop of Rochester) built Rochester first and then built the Tower of London.

---The High Street---

It's all very quaint really. This is the perfect place to find charity shops, second hand bookshops and antiques. There's even a Chinese restaurant! Don't expect to find many modern, trendy shops like Virgin Mega stores. The High Street is full of pubs and bars - in fact the place comes alive at night. Good pubs include "The King's Head" , "The Coopers' Arms" , and "Ye Arrow".

There are also some good places to eat, varying in quality and quantity depending on how much you want to spend. There's the Bakery which is definitely frequented by hungry students looking for cheap food! More expensive but also good is Tony Lorenzo's which is frequented by the student who's either hungrier or slightly better off! For dinner there are plenty of cafés and restaurants ranging from Italian (Simply Italian, Don Vincenzo) to Chinese (Blue Ray's).

The High Street is also host to many festivals which take place throughout the year, which brings me on to… (*assuming I don't have to pack my bags yet…07:17, I'm still good!*)

The Festivals

If you're a local you'll be used to seeing people dressing up strangely at certain times of the year, you may even be one of them. If you're a tourist then don't be alarmed, let me explain it to you.

---The Sweeps' Festival---

It's descended from Morris dancing, and essentially celebrates an old holiday of chimney sweeps which took place on May Day. You'll see a lot of traditional Morris dancing (and people are properly dressed up as well!) and also a lot of people dressed up as chimney sleeps, with black raggedy clothes and blackened faces! Although I've never taken part in one, the people involved do seem to enjoy it!

---The Dickens Festival (Dickensian Christmas)---

Did you know that Charles Dickens lived in Rochester? He even wrote some of his books there, and Rochester is described in Pickwick Papers and Great Expectations. In fact, what he refers to as "Satis House" is now known as "Restoration House" and can be found on a road called Crow lane, next to "the Vines" (if you've never been there then all these names are fairly meaningless, but it's still good to know if you want to go! - oh it rhymes!)

Anyway I digress, every year at the beginning of December some people like to dress up as Victorians and walk around the High Street. It sounds odd I know, but again it does look like fun, if you don't mind the cold! It's a bit strange when you see it for the first time, but it's all in good fun, and you soon get into the spirit of things.

For either of these, if you're coming to Rochester for another reason, don't even think about parking anywhere near the High Street! All the car parks/pavements/dust patches/grass verges are packed. If you're driving to the festivals then get there early, or be prepared for a long walk!

A warning

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So far I've been talking an awful lot about how wonderful the place is "it's gorgeous, it's stunning". This is true, but only for an irritatingly small region. If you wander beyond this area (the old city) then things go bad, and you really don't want spend your time visiting there! Here are some points that should keep you wandering around the touristy bits:

•Don't cross Rochester Bridge - the bridge itself is nice but on the other side is Strood which has no tourist value at all.

•The road that leads off the bridge is called Corporation Street - stay on the Cathedral/Castle side of it, the other side is entirely commercialised/industrialised.

•At the end of the High Street is a steep hill, there's a large field up there if you want to lie in the sun for a while, but other than that there's nothing to see.

Also you are likely to encounter a fair few "youths" in the High Street dressed entirely in black with chains etc (Goths, if you're familiar with the term!) - They're harmless and shouldn't cause you to worry.

*It's now 07:38, and I ought to start getting ready soon, so I really ought to start wrapping this up!*

Things to do if you couldn't care less about sight-seeing

Well like I said there are plenty of pubs and restaurants on the High Street but I'm afraid there really isn't that much to do if you want to go shopping or have fun. Basically if you like drinking then you'll be quite happy in Rochester at night! To give you an indication of what it's like at later than 22:00 approx, the "Casino Rooms" off the High Street featured on a Sky1 Programme about crime in the area. Even after this time (if you're still around) you shouldn't have too much cause for concern, it's the same as most town centres at this time of night.
If you want to go shopping you'll be better off walking to Chatham high street which is nearby.

Transport links

If driving from London, it's probably easiest to come down the A2 then the M2 and come of after you go over the bridge over the Medway, rather than going through Strood which takes forever. The journey from central London by car has ranged, for me, from one hour to three hours, so you just have to time it right and pray there are no roadworks. By train there are many trains that go from Victoria - there are plenty of trains that go fast from Victoria to Rochester, stopping only at Bromley South on the way.

Ok I think I've bored you for long enough trying to keep myself awake! If you're wondering why I've posted this so late even though I've written it now (just finishing at 07:42!!) then it's because I know that I'll get more reads if I do it now - and hey that's what I really want, I'm not that altruistic just yet!

Conclusion - go to Rochester, it's a lovely place, although I am ever so slightly biased!

Thanks for reading

Michael

http://www.medway.gov.uk/tourism
http://www.rocheste rcathedral.org/
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConProperty .211
http://www.medway.gov.uk/index/leisure/tourism/webcam.htm - I couldn't resist this one, it's a live webcam showing Rochester High Street, although none of the landmarks I mentioned are visible!

**This is the first review in which I've included pictures, so I hope they've come up. They're mostly taken from Wikipedia (which has a free license for such use of their photos) - I thought it would be easier to put them all here.** 

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