We couldn’t visit this part of England without going to Chester of course. I have been a good few times but forgot how charming it is. Beautiful streetscapes….Wonderful cathedral….and the impressive walls….we started our walk of the two and a half mile circuit at the cathedral itself….and were soon enjoying unparalleled views…I suspect this was the Deanery with its beautiful gardens. It is now desirable but expensive apartments. What I wouldn’t give to live in a place like that!At times the walls soared on high. In this section you got a good idea of how formidable they would have been….And sometimes just occasionally it is nice to look at the backs of houses. Have you ever see a prettier back view than this?Everywhere we went was full of interest. Here, near Telford’s wharf is a sculpture of Captain Morgan’s cannon – he waste of the Royalist defenders of Chester during the Civil War.When walking West we had excellent views in the  distance of The North Welsh mountains…In comparison with even York, Exeter or Berwick these walls are momentous…and what you see from them is soul-lifting in this day and age….Plenty of handsome Georgian houses….and even the Victorian terraces were special…….as indeed most of the modern buildings we saw….The walk passes very close to the race course…who would pay to get in with views like these?and daffodils everywhere as at York..Here the castle…….rebuilt in stone in the twelfth century…and later used as the county hall and for courts, as at Lincoln….The River Dee made its presence felt for a good part of the way….and whilst we didn’t manage to see much of the Roman remains on this visit we did glimpse the Roman Gardens from the walls…..It wouldn’t be possible that this was the perfect small city would it? Not when we saw two monstrous concrete car parks agreed by the Planners in, what, the Sixties or Seventies….I could see at the time what disastrous results they were inflicting on our heritage. Honestly, I would line all these so-called planners up standing on one leg in the blazing sun to gaze for ever at their works…We finished our walk at the famous Eastgate clock, it being lunch time. It really is rather special.And whilst scouting out where to eat we had a good look at the famous Rows (sadly with one or two empty or run-down premises as is almost inevitable with first floor shoppingBut on the whole we certainly got the feeling that Chester was bucking the trend for city centres and was prospering. Good to see.We made our way then to Tarporley, a small town which we enjoyed very much and which would be second equal in our list of places to live. Again thriving, busy, beautiful buildings and shops you want to go to.We couldn’t resist going into the sixteenth century Swan Hotel for a quick cup of tea, splendid both inside and out.Then into deepest Cheshire where we saw the famous two castles the medieval  Beeston and Peckforton gazing at each other from their eminences…..Peckforton was a Victorian country house now turned into a hotel.on the way back we stopped at this very picturesque village with its lovely houses and pond complete with rare black swans..We were also held up for a long while by cows on their way to milking……but no bother!Home at last….