Time travel
Unusual, eye-catching and unique to Chester, the
Rows are the open walkways cutting through the first floor of the buildings on four of the main city streets.
Reached by steps, the continuous half-timbered galleries forming a second row of shops can be found above Watergate Street, Northgate Street, Eastgate Street and Bridge Street.
Nobody is quite certain why the Rows exist, how they were organised and who lived and traded in them.
Some say they were built on top of Roman rubble, others believe the medieval Cestrians (Chester locals) built upwards within the city walls to maximise trading spaces. Alternative theories point to the Rows being a defence against Welsh raiders, or that the fire of 1278 contributed to their emergence.
Touched by every architectural style of the past 800 years, some original
13th century buildings, including the Three Arches in Bridge Street, have survived the ravages of time. But many of the impressive facades are Victorian copies.
Down the centuries, notable visitors have remarked on them – the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, said how they kept him clean and dry in any weather.
That’s a benefit still appreciated by locals and visitors to this day, who continue to enjoy the Rows as a place to shop in independent boutiques and high-street stores.
To celebrate the history of the city’s much-loved attraction, Visit Cheshire has launched a brand new free audio trail.
The tour (also available to read online) takes visitors around the Rows, street by street, pointing out some of the highlights along the way.
These include the cluster of jewellers that reveals Chester’s history of silversmithing, England’s first shopfront, and an example of Tudor plasterwork that is believed to reveal a secret visit to the city by Catherine of Aragon.
This year there will also be costumed medieval soldiers on hand to meet and greet people there and share the structures’ stories. And they’ll be happy to pose for selfies! Plus, summer is set to see a new boutique hotel, Wildes Chester. wildeschester.com
Jet2 is boosting its spring and Easter flights
to sunshine favourites in mainland Spain, the Balearics, Canaries and Portugal’s Algarve. More than 15,000 additional seats
are now on sale from Belfast International, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted.
jet2.com