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.

Andrew Duggan photographer....

Carluccio's Andy Duggan is not just a waiter, he's also a photographer...check out his brilliant shots of Chester and Liverpool at his super blog;

shotaday365.blogspot.com

You can contact him at: andrew.duggan@me.com

What Chester could do with...

In Manchester today, supping coffee at the Bread & Butter cafe on Tib Street, couldn't help feeling that if this place were in Chester it would be immediately closed down by Health & Safety! But it's what Chester desperately needs.

The cafe owners apologise for the state of the loo, which floods regularly; there is no lock on the door and it is located down dangerously steep steps! You can always go to the loo at the Craft Centre, which is nearby... 

The colour scheme borders on kitsch, with it's odd mix of dark blue ceiling, blowsey flower pink wallpaper and institutional tiles, however the atmosphere is amazingly buzzy, the place constantly full and the food deliciously cheap and tasty.

A couple of doors away lives Northern Flower, a pretty flower shop with displays spilling out onto the pavement.

Chester needs a Northern Quarter, like Manchester's - Garden Lane is on the way, but not quite there yet...

1847 - Catastrophe on the Dee

 

Go a ten minute walk along the racecourse; towards the bridge that carries trains over the Dee and you can see the site of a terrible accident that happened on the Chester to Holyhead line.

On the 24th May 1847 the 6.15 train from Chester never reached its destination in Ruabon. As it was passing over the final span, the outer girder cracked and the carriages fell through the bridge.

Peter R Lewis Disaster on the Dee: Robert Stephenson's Nemesis said:

"The driver described how he felt the train sinking beneath him, so he put on full steam and just reached the far bank with the tender. However, all the carriages fell about 36 feet...killing four passengers and injuring many more. The stoker was killed when thrown off the tender, which was derailed."

The famed engineer Robert Stephenson designed the bridge, and ironically maintenance was carried out that very day to avoid the exposure of bare wood to sparks, which destroyed a bridge on the Great Western Railway.

However, the accident was caused by the overload of ballast. The extra dead load on one girder would have been nine tons.  jw

When you go to Joseph Benjamin.....

In Chester city centre everything starts at The Cross, both literally and figuratively!

Town is a 'Cross' of roads; Northgate Street, Watergate Street, Foregate Street and Bridge Street, that converge at The Cross at it's centre, which does make it relatively easy to find your way around.

We have mentioned cafe/restaurant Joseph Benjamin before, but when you pay them a visit for hot chocolate (Foaming hot milk with Belgian chocolate on a stick to twirl and melt in it...delicious!), be sure to take a peep at Rufus Court on the way. 

Turn into a little cobbled pathway, through an arch and you discover Alexander's Jazz Bar, beloved by locals for the Comedy nights, Open Mic night and Jazz. The Guardian weekend listings always include Alexander's events and it is definitely worth a visit.

In summer, the French doors are flung wide and bands play in the open air to customers enjoying a drink under the awnings...what could be nicer?

Climb the twisty spiral staircase, leading to the city walls and discover interesting views of the canal and immediately to your left, Bluecoat Books, a lovely independent bookseller.

Next door to Bluecoat Books is a litle vintage bookshop that's always worth a look as you never know quite what you will find there.

If, instead of turning through the arch, you carry straight ahead along the cobbled pathway, you reach the cricket field, lovely views of the Wall in the distance and round to the right, a very old terrace of shabby Georgian houses.

Rufus Court is also home to Hatties famous tea shop, Bollicini's bar/restaurant and lots of other little specialist shops.

Car parking is either at the top of Garden Lane, or at Gorse Stacks, a short walk from the top of Northgate Street.