The day began with four people giving instructions on parking at an angle close to a wall. Joan has a car that beeps when the car is reversed too close to an obstacle and it was beeping furiously. After excellent parking we walked down to the coach, the weather was great and we talked non-stop all the way to Chester. Talking is thirsty work and the first stop was for a coffee in a crypt.

The crypt was built around 1290 for the storage of wines and provisions and is one of only three, dating from the time of Richard the Lionheart in 1198. Leaving the crypt and going up to the main street there were shops on two levels on both sides of the road called “Ye Roes.” In the past the shops offered goods from the main ports of London and Bristol. Five ladies together guess what we did? Yes we went shopping and then looked for somewhere for lunch. It was a world Heritage day and the Oddfellows Hall was open for us to look round, (Odd by name and Odd by nature) the first room we looked in had a beautiful gold painted safe with Hennessy on the front, it must be very expensive brandy if it needed to be kept in a safe.

There was also a life size statue of a pig with a table on its back. Pauline would have liked it and there was a picture of pigs that Joan thought had personality. The second room we looked at was set up as a dining room on the floor and also on the ceiling! It really was odd to look at, as the table was set ready for a meal, chairs around the table and there was a standard lamp, all hanging down. We hadn’t had any alcohol to drink, honest! Leaving the Oddfellows we then chose to have our lunch in the Tudor House. It was built in 1503 in the reign of Henry V11. It now has signs saying, “Mind the beams”. People were very small in those days! A good walk was now called for and we went up to the city wall. Joan and Margaret R stayed to enjoy the view while Margaret T, Joyce and I walked on further. We saw the reconstruction of Roman baths and a Roman garden. There was a Roman Amphitheatre but no Romans to be seen anywhere!

It was time to walk back to the coach which took us to the Roman High Tea Cruise, hosted by a Roman soldier. The journey began at the Mill Hotel & Spa, a converted 1830s corn mill built in the traditional style using oak beams and pitch pine.  High tea was sandwiches, cream scones and cakes with lots of tea to drink, brilliant! Our Roman soldier was called Gnaius Vitellius, I know that the spelling is correct because he wrote it down for me!!! There was a video playing throughout the journey telling us about the history and giving us a birds-eye view as we travelled along. The boat stopped and we got off to look at the three locks which were needed to traverse the fifty foot drop in the canal; it was called a staircase lock. We were shown how the process worked and how things can go wrong if you make a mistake, scary! Pius posed for a photograph with the Roman soldier and we’re looking forward to seeing the image. Back on the boat we held a piece of roman roof tile it showed the marks of the makers, the legion and the number 100 AD.

Looking closely you could see a thumb print where it had been touched to place it on the floor to dry out. Some tiles have animal prints and even a child’s footprint. It must have been hard to resist walking on them when the tiles were all laying out to dry. Gnaius Vitellius walked around the boat explaining his attire. People who wore skirts above the knee were either soldiers or slaves as Togas didn’t give enough freedom to work in. The sword had a bone handle and a blade made of an iron mixture. The chain mail became heavy to wear after a while but it had good ventilation. See Pius for a photograph of the uniform as there was a helmet, socks, sandals, dress, and belt. The final question asked was what is a Mediterranean sponge on the end of a stick used for? No one knew and Gnaius explained that it was the equivalent of Roman toilet paper. Going to the toilet meant up to sixteen people at a time sitting on a stone bench. The bench had holes in the top to sit on, holes in the front, there was a channel of water by your feet and pots of vinegar with the sponge sticks in.  After you have finished on the toilet you push the sponge through the hole in the front of the bench to wash yourself. The sponge is washed in the channel of water and put back in the pot of vinegar. Does this answer the question what did the Romans ever do for us?

Thank you Anita for organising the day it was brilliant. 

Hilary