Chester Amphitheatre Mural Takes Shape
Work is underway on the mural that will decorate the wall crossing Chester's roman Amphitheatre. Mural artist Gary Drostle from Woowich, London has completed murals of Roman Britain before when he created a vision of the now largely lost Roman Wall of London in the branch of Starbucks on London Wall. The intention is to depict what the amphitheatres currently hidden half would have looked like and how the building as a whole would have been through the ages up to the present day.
Chester Mystery Plays-Noah's Flood
A 30 minute musical version of Noah's Flood from the Chester Mystery Plays. Last performed in 2008. The 1997 performance was performed by 200 people. Taking place in the newly refurbished amphitheatre it was a fitting, if not a little dusty, place for the production to take place. The Mystery plays are a melting pot of religion and everyday life. Originating in the Middle Ages they were street plays full of humour.
Taylor's Boatyard, Chester
Located on Tower Wharf, Chester, at the opposite end to popular dinking establishment, Telford's Wharehouse, is the grade 2 listed Taylors Boatyard. A curiosity, seen from the opposite bank of the Shropshire Union Canal. Beneath it's girdered canopy is a cornucopia of boats and boating bits and pieces. For some time now this complex of buildings has been up for lease and Britsh Waterways have decided to renovate the buildings using sympathetic materials where appropriate. The proposed work is to take place over the next few years. This follows an attempt in 2008 to preserve the boatyard.
Abode Hotel and HQ Chester
Abode have opened the latest in their chain of designer hotels in the prestigious HQ Building.
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Tags: Chester Buildings, Chester Racecourse, Places to stay, Things to see
Cathedral Archeology
Oxford Archeology North are currntly undertaking an investigative archeological dig around the southern side of Chester Cathedral. In the area covered by the proposed Cathedral Quarter developments. The work is being carried out on behalf of Cheshire West and Chester Council, Chester Renaissance and Chester Cathedral before the development of the site as a new "City Square" proceeds.
The Anchorite Cell
With the removal of the dense tree and shrub growth along the river and around St John's church. Views that have become hidden are now opened up. One such site, hidden for the past few years from passers by along the Groves has been what is probably one of the most curious buildings in Chester.
Bridge Street back to normal
Bridge Street in Chester gets back to normal with the removal of the scaffolding that has supported the emergency repair work to number 15 Bridge Street over the last few weeks. The cracks that were evident on the wall above the rows gone with new decoration.
St Johns Church Restoration
St Johns Church situated on top of a sandstone cliff that overlooks the River Dee and The Groves in Chester is undergoing renovation.
It is the oldest Christian site in Chester and one of the oldest in the country. It has had a chequered history from being briefly the cathedral of Mercians to housing a parliamentarian gun emplacement in it's grounds during the seige of Chester in the Civil War.
Bridge Street reopened
Bridge Street recently closed to traffic and pedestrians at street level and on the eastern row level has now been reopened. A substantial construction of scoffolding and steel girders now support the vulnerable upper story wall of number 15. Businesses operating within the restricted area have now reopened although those within the building itself remain closed. Work to remove the rotten timber beam that is bearing the weight of the brickwork above and replacement with steel is expected to take a month.
Stabilising 15 Bridge Street
Work continues on stabilising the front brick work of the building. The roadway beneath is still closed to traffic and pedestrians. Which means that walking down Bridge Street requires mounting the steps onto the row on the western side of the street. As you will see in these pictures the wall is being secured by the insertion of large steel girders.
New views of the City Walls
The removal of the vegetation that has covered the rock below the walls as they cross along the Shropshire Union canal has provided a clearer view of the walls structure. The combination of masonry from different periods can clearly be seen. Including a substantial Roman section along the bottom parts of the wall. The work was undertaken to prevent the trees. ivy and scrub from damaging the wall in light of recent sections of wall failure. Now in the process of being repaired.
15 Bridge Street, Chester
The road access along Bridge Street and along the eastern row level has been interrupted because of an unsafe building. Number 15 Bridge Street, Chester, occupied on the street level by Sayers, bakers and on the row level by Panasonic has been found to be structurally unsafe. The property of Grosvenor Estates the building was built in 1861. After a survey of the building on the 9th February a supporting beam on the second floor level was found to be rotten. The building was evacuated. These photographs show the closing of the street whilst scaffolding is erected and emergency repairs can be made to the building to make it safe for the public.
Chester in the Snow
After much of the east coast of Britain, the penines and Scotland had suffered snow before and during Christmas. Chester, apart from a brief dusting just before Christmas appeared to avoid the great down pourings. Until Tuesday the 5th of January when a steady downfall ciovered most of the city with about 4-5 inches. Still not as significant as the rest of the country but pretty non the less. Here are few pictures of a snowy Chester.
Lloyd's blog | Login to post comments | Tags: Chester Buildings, Chester in the snow, Chester shops, the Groves, the Rows
HQ Building, Chester
Chester's new HQ building is built on the site of the former Cheshire Police Headquarters, overlooking the Racecourse and dominating the approach to Chester over the Grosvenor Bridge from the west. It is an interesting, predominantly glass circular high rise building that brings a shock of the new to the normally conservative historic city.
Chester Town Hall Square
The Town Hall Square in Chester lies on Northge Street near to The Cross at the city centre. It is bordered on it's east side by the main entrance to the Cathedral and the gateway through to the Cathedral Square with it's cobbled streets and Georgian terraces. On the western side of the Square is the Victorian Town Hall built in 1869, the Forum Shopping Centre dating from the 1990's and the library housed in an impressive red brick building that was once home to the Westminster Coach and Motorcar works built in 1913 and converted into the city library in 1984.
