Chesters Roman Fort

Chesters near Chollerford in Northumberland is one of the forts on the Wall. It has extensive remains of a bath house (on the banks of the North Tyne outside the fort's wall) - see photo below - and a barrack block - see photo below. There is also a museum containing exhibits from the site and from others on the Wall.



We visited Chesters yesterday. It was the first time I had been there for about 30 years.



Though the gateways have been excavated (see example above) are large part of the site remains below ground, waiting to be revealed.



The adjacent stretch of the North Tyne River is very attractive and peaceful. It also appears to be popular with anglers - the village of Chollerford is only a stone's throw away and there were a number of people fishing there.



Roman re-enactments at Chesters appeared to go down well, especially with kids.

May Fayre at Whickham Chase Park

The May Fayre in Whickham's Chase Park is an annual event run by the Friends of the Park. The most recent one was just a couple of weeks ago. The video gives a flavour of the event: lots of stalls, events and music. The hen and chicks are mine!

Stairwayz Cafe in Low Fell

I visited this cafe recently, more by accident than design. I was helping a friend to be re-elected as the councillor for Low Fell in Gateshead and on polling day he got the whole of his delivery team to come to the Stairwayz, on Durham Road, for breakfast. A pleasant enough cafe on the first floor so it meant a flight of steps to get to it. The food was reasonable but I have no idea how much it cost. Someone else paid for mine!

Back to the Marquis

We recently made a return visit to the Marquis of Granby, on Gateshead Road near Streetgate, Sunniside, for a meal. It was about 6 months since I was last there. Again, meals were competitively priced. They are not meant to be the top cuisine but we were more than happy with our food.