Treasure Trails & Walks
The Treasure Trails were launched at Easter 2021, and there tend to be new ones for each major Bank Holiday, but we don't guarantee it!
Go for a pleasant stroll (they are generally about 3 miles and circular), learning a little more about the history of Chester. Drag those grandchildren out to look for the hidden treasures around our beautiful city, or go with a friend. All trails are outdoors, so dress appropriately. Don't forget to say hello to any other U3A members that you might see along the way, and tell us how you got on. Happy walking & hunting!
Some comments from our members:
‘My daughter and her family came up on Boxing Day and we thought we'd give it a try. It surpassed expectations. We all learned a lot from it, and although we were just basically treating it as a change to go on a walk around the town instead of tramping through the mud elsewhere, we found the "treasure hunt" aspect gripping. Once my 12 year old granddaughter found the first thing, there was no holding her back.’
‘Just wanted to thank you very much for the Treasure Trail. We did it on Christmas Day and thoroughly enjoyed it, it was very easy to follow and gave us an excellent insight into Tudor Chester!’
‘Thank you so much for this very informative and entertaining Treasure Trail. It’s great to have all these facts in one place in a very readable format. We will attempt the route when it stops raining!’
‘It is an excellent walk and treasure trail and a lot of effort has been put into producing it, so thank you very much. We will look forward to trying some of the other walks in the future.'
On all of the Trails shown below if you struggle to get all of the correct answers there is a hints sheet, which can be emailed out to anyone who wants it. Click here to send a request for it > treasurehunt
On some of the Trails there is also a time warped video, referenced within the Trail itself.
Treasure Trail 6 - Mediaeval Chester
Chester was an important place in the Middle Ages, and there are many, many traces left, plenty of which are in this trail. The Trail covers the period 1215 to 1485, and has links that you can follow, including a digital reconstruction of the Water Tower as it was when water still lapped its walls. The whole route is about 2.6 miles and circular, with a wide variety of pubs and cafes to stop at on the way - some of them mediaeval!
You can download the file here: TT6 - Mediaeval Chester
Treasure Trail 5 - Tudor Chester
This 
walk, based on the evidence left of Tudor Chester (much was destroyed during the Siege), is around 3 miles, but there is one section that you can omit to shorten it. There are no Treasures in that section. We have added information which we hope will bring the Tudor city to life. Note: the Treasures themselves are mostly not Tudor in origin.
You can download the file here: TT5 - Tudor Chester
Treasure Trail 4 - Sustainable Chester
This is just over a 3 mile circular walk, beginning and ending at Chester bus station. One of the joys of creating this walk was in finding out what so many people in Chester are doing to create a more sustainable lifestyle, and, because of this, we hope the walk will need regular updating. You can either read the document, just go for for a walk, or have a full-on Treasure Trail experience.
Click here to download the file: TT4 - Sustainable Chester
Treasure Trail 3 - Siege of Chester
This 
is a 3 mile circular walk, beginning and ending at Chester Cross. Learn more about what life was like in Chester during the Civil War. Take friends and family with you. You can either read the document, just go for for a walk, or have a full-on Treasure Trail experience.
Click here to download the file: TT3 - Siege of Chester
Some of our participants comments:
"I have followed the previous treasure hunts and the walk which allowed me to gain familiarity and knowledge of Chester since moving to the area a couple of years ago. I also joined the zoom presentation given by Sam Chadwick which gave an excellent insight into the siege and its effect on the City. I undertook previous treasure hunts/walks with my grandsons and it was great fun spotting the items in the pictures, which I repeated with them once I had got the answer sheets"
"Thanks so much for organising the treasure hunt. We tried it with our family on Friday and enjoyed looking at familiar places with new eyes"
"What a wonderful piece of work. Instructions very clear and information extremely interesting. I love local history and this will be very useful when my grandchildren come to visit and want to learn about Chester. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to do it all in one go (struggling with mobility now in my 80's but will have a go"
"Set the grandchildren the Siege of Chester challenge. They enjoyed, so more of the same please"
Treasure Trail 2 - August Bank Holiday
Our second Treasure Trail arrived just in time for August Bank Holiday 2021, and follows a general theme. It starts by the old Shot Tower, on the canalside, and winds its way through the city centre and back through the Grosvenor Park.
Get the directions, tour commentary & treasures by clicking here> TT2 - August 2021.
Treasure Trail 1 - Easter 2021
For Easter 2021 we launched our inaugural Treasure Trail which can be followed as a Walk, Historical Tour or Treasure Hunt. You could do one, two, or all three at the same time, and if you can't get around the route in person you can even do it online, or just read through the tour and learn some interesting historical snippets.The whole 3 mile circular route is outdoors, and can be done in easy stages (or all at once if you get carried away).
You can view the file giving the directions, tour commentary & treasures in your browser by clicking here> TT1 - Easter 2021.