British Isles: Liverpool, Chester, Uhtred and The Beatles
A bright sunny day docking in Liverpool, and we are facing the dock, which is fun for being able to watch people. We have a quick breakfast and depart with our group to find our bus in the parking lot. On our way to the bus we have an obstacle; a 45 degree incline to walk up, no steps, just a very long incline. We did fine, but I imagine people with walkers will find it challenging.
The drive to Chester was fun – I’ve read and re-read Bernard Cornwall’s Saxon series (about 21 books) featuring an uncouth but principled warrior named Uhtred, who is Lord of Bebbenburg but spends many books trying to take it back from the Danes who took it from his father, and raised him. It’s complicated. It’s a fascinating series, and it ends with the Battle of Brunanburh.
The Battle of Brunanburh is well documented, it happened, and it was definitive for uniting Britain under one monarch, but the records are ambiguous as to where the battle occurred. Recent archaeological finds indicate it may well be this area, near Chester, and we are passing right by this momentous battlefield.
Chester itself is just as Uhtred describes it, an old Roman City with two major cross streets and an obelisk where the major roads cross.
There is a significant cathedral, and a very old Church of Saint Olaf, the original church for the Danish community, once they arrived.
We found a woolen shop, and in the very back of the shop there is a display of pediments for an old Roman bath. Many shops in Chester have similar spaces, where for centuries, citizens have built over the original Roman structures. This is a city where you could spend months or years.
We walked outside the gates to look at the remains of the Roman Amphitheater, and the course of the river Dee, and how it changed so dramatically over the centuries, away from Chester, leaving Liverpool as the more convenient shipping depot, with the Mersey River.
We ate lunch was at an old pub, The King’s Head (after Charles I, who was beheaded) and our group had it all to ourselves. We sat in old leather booths, drank British beer (I had Ginger Beer) and they fed us fish and chips and mushy peas. Yes, that is a thing. Not a thing familiar or welcome to most Americans, but a thing.
After lunch, we toured the big historic cathedral, and then had a little time on our own, which we spent in the community library. We agreed we would move to Chester in a heartbeat, just for this library, so welcoming (restrooms tourists could use) with an arch way made of books at the entry. Inside was a large snack lobby, all the books, tables and chairs; it was full of young people having a great time and it had a number of cinema rooms upstairs running old movies during the day. It was a delightful public space.
On the way home, the guide played “Ferry Cross the Mersey” as we took the long underground tunnel under the Mersey. We love creative guides – playing this song provided us with a truly memorable moment.
We exited the bus and made a quick walk over to pay homage to the larger-than-life statues of the Beatles prominently on the Liverpool ship harbor. This picture is a miracle – there was a line of people waiting to have their photos taken with the statues – a favorite was holding hands with Paul McCartney – and there had to be a second or two of space while one walked away and the next approached. It took a while! I was lucky to have two seconds to shoot this shot before the next in line took her place.
Another fun, memorable day with so many impressions and images that it is impossible to absorb and integrate them all. I thank God I kept a journal to help me know which day I was in which city!
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