Chester's Walls, Bridges, River and Canal Circular

Philip Ingram

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There's more than enough of interest in this bustling place to keep a visitor busy for many days. This route shows you a range of sights from a Roman temple to Minerva to a bridge that Robert Stephenson got wrong. Although you will have plenty of tourists around you at the start and end of the walk, much of the middle section is visited only by local people using the paths as their 'green gym' or just getting from A to B.

Geography makes this an important place as it is the lowest point at which the River Dee can be forded or easily bridged. People certainly forded the Dee here before the Romans came. After they left, others made use of the site. Those interested in Chester's architecture might find it interesting to read up about John Douglas, the architect responsible for some of the most memorable streetscapes. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Douglas_(architect)

Systematic archaeology in Chester (and more widely) was enormously advanced by Professor Robert Newstead FRS, whose unusual career moved though working for a printer and being a gardener to becoming a Professor of Tropical Medicine. See http://www.chesterarchaeolsoc.org.uk/LRoyles-NewsteadLecture_05-12-09.pdf

Shoes are fine for this walk. An easily bypassed stretch would be better in walking-shoes (that's what I wore when photographing the route) but 'shopping shoes' should be fine unless the weather is really wet.

Route-finding is pretty easy but if you have a GPS, you can download the track of my own walk from the 'related downloads' tab. This includes the detours required to avoid the repairs to the walls.

England - North England - Cheshire - Town or city