The river...

Sunday morning walking along the river to the old Overleigh graveyard....

[For some reason pics won't download...to follow...]

Sunday afternoon along the walls...

Lovely balmy afternoon in Chester so we walk along the walls just mooching...along here you can get down onto the canal and wander along to Telford's Warehouse in the canal basin.

Saturday afternoon....

When you want to catch up with friends, over coffee or a glass of wine, forget Patisserie Valerie (it's for tourists) and Carluccio's (lovely but jam-packed at weekend) and wander up Northgate Street to Rufus Court & Ovo.home...yummy coffee, delicious Spanish wine and gentle background music so you can have a conversation without having to shout!

On the street...

On the street this weekend...

              Both bands new to Chester and drawing crowds!

There have been lots of changes in town over the past few weeks, with a number of well established shops closing...Habitat, Olio & Farina, and India Jane, to name a few...however Patisserie Valerie has  now opened, selling the most scrumptious cakes! The window is amazing and well worth a look.

In Rufus Court at the top of Northgate Street a new home wares shop/cafe/bar 'OVO home' has recently opened. The coffee is very good, the atmosphere friendly and Ovo is the sole stockist in Chester of Nathan furniture...overall feel; 'super-cool 70's with a Swedish -Danish edge'. They open til late and you can have very good Illy coffee or wine with your cake. www.ovohome.com

New in, colourful Orla Keily mugs, Rob Ryan plates and amazing
glassware in vibrant colours!

Sunny Sunday, Bridge Street Row...

A beautifully warm, sunny day with a hint of breeze and everyone  out enjoying the sunshine.

New to Bridge Street Row, Mad Hatter's Tea Room...

Early days perhaps as it has only just opened, and seems a bit empty inside, however the window is lovely and it seems like a friendly place.

A bit further long the same Row, Nichols lovely clothes shop...

Unfortunately closed on Sundays, or I would have photographed inside...a lovely light upstairs room full of subtly styled labels in soft sludgy colours.

A bit further along, in the opposite direction, the utterly beautiful St Michael's Arcade...an interesting old Atrium-styled building filled with natural light and a multitude of lovely shops, including Jo Malone and L K Bennett...

...back out on the row the relatively new Whisky Specialist offers an array of delicious tipples.

And on the street,  plenty of performers this weekend, this chap is just one of them...

Well, not quite the Left Bank...!

Along The River, Easter Bank Holiday weekend...busy, busy, with visitors enjoying the super-warm weather and local 'Ice Cream Farm' ices...

and on the street in town....

...huge crowds watch the buskers in the sunshine.

Coming to Chester soon...

HURRAH!!!

The sun is shining and Patisserie Valerie is coming to Bridge Street very soon!

There is already (at least) one in London, near Dover Street and another in Oxford town centre...really pleased to have a Patisserie Valerie coming  here to Chester town centre.

They sell the most wonderfully created and delicious cakes and huge plates of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon Will post pics as soon as it opens...

On the street...

On the street at weekend; they made the most incredible sound and gathered a HUGE crowd...

Cafes, part ll...

I've been meaning to write about Oddfellows for some time. Situated on Lower Bridge Street on the way to the River, Oddfellows is housed in an old hall, where the group used to meet (I'm sure j will post about it's historical background soon) and it retains many of the original Georgian features, including beautiful stairways and floors.

The place has been very sensitively restored but not without introducing slightly avant-garde furnishings along the way, which only add to its appeal.

These images are just of the downstairs cafe, known as The Pantry, with its amazing floor of patchwork Spanish tiles; funky ceiling lights and super-sized chairs.

They do a delicious Pea & Ham soup, but don't have that if you are VERY hungry, rather go for the Market Menu, which is very reasonably priced and also rather good!

More to follow about upstairs and the beautiful rooms they have available for overnight stays, the garden and the bar upstairs. pw

Charity Shopping...

Chester is actually pretty good if you like Charity Shopping; all the four main streets emerging from The Cross are good sources of cheap stuff!

Watergate Street has Cancer Research and Age Concern; Northgate Street The Red Cross and The Hospice Shop; if you go down Bridge Street to the traffic lights and turn right, on the way to the Grosvenor Museum is Save the Children; up Foregate street you can find Frodsham street, where loads of charity shops live, including Oxfam (if you like M & S!!!).

Val and John charity shopping in Frodsham street today...

...and on the street, literally, some poor baby's lost blankie.

Sunny Chester mid-week...

On the street today, cafe society was booming, people enjoying the warm spring sunshine drinking their coffee at tables on the pavements...inside Carluccio's, shoppers buying their brilliant pasta and parmesan.

The scaffolding has disappeared from The Cross, so at last you can see it again...

Just before lunchtime, it looks a bit quiet...walking home along the Medieval Bridge Street Row, as usual very quiet as there are few shops here now; Interior Designers & Art Gallery Jamandic are along here but they are moving soon. The building is beautiful inside, with a tiny hidden garden at the back....will try to get some pics.                    



On the street, amazing bikes...

...and

... friendly Big Issue vendor Miroslav Juliny, Miro for short.