Chester in Cheshire (map of counties) is 193 miles northwest of London and 29 miles southeast of Liverpool.  It is an ancient, beautiful walled city, full of half-timbered houses in excellent condition.  It is on the River Dee and it has a canal.

 

The wall, was built by Romans to enclose what was the original Roman settlement.  Today there is a promenade atop the wall that encircles the city.  Part of it goes past a race track.  When we were there, Adelle was having trouble with her knees.  In England there is a wonderful organization called "Shop Mobility".  They have offices in many cities throughout Great Britain, usually in downtown areas and often in parking garages that serve the city center.  Their purpose is to loan motorized wheel chairs and scooters to people who need them, so that they can do their shopping.  In most cases the loan is free of charge, although in some there is a very nominal charge (from 2 British pounds to 5 pounds).  They show you how to use the scooters and you can keep them until about 4 PM in most cases.  We borrowed one that day to see the city from the top of the wall.  We ambled along, Ron walking and Adelle riding.  In one of the photos you can see the wall top we were walking on to the right, with the race track on the left.  Just past the race track, the walk went up three steps.  And looking ahead we could see that there were more steps.  There were no ramps for the scooter.  So we had to get off the wall and onto the street which at that point was just below a deep curb.  But how?   As we were standing there thinking about this, two young men came up behind us, said to Adelle, "Just a minute, Luv.  We'll have you down in a sec."  Then the two of them picked up the scooter, astonished Adelle and all, and placed her gently down on the street.  Then they continued on their way without looking back.  Problem effortlessly solved. 

 

We continued on through the very attractive streets (photos), now joined by many well-dressed people leaving the race course.  On race days, every one dresses up in Chester.  There are wide pedestrian-only streets, and half-timbered shops with interconnected galleries.  These are like second story porches that connect store to store.

 

The city web site lists many attractions including a Roman Garden, Roman ruins including a partially excavated ampitheater, canal rides, boat rides on the River Dee, a zoo, museums, an archeological museum over a Roman fortress that lies beneath the city, a cathedral, a shopping center and others.  And you also can take several interesting virtual tours of the city where you can see and read about many of those attractions.