Chester Archive

Nice morning despite losing train ticket. Got to Chester early to have a look around a few favourite shops and then to the Cheshire Archive down by the River Dee. Very friendly and helpful bunch assisting the small group from VAC doing research into various topics. I choose Randolph Caldecott the Victorian children's book illustrator as I was keen to see his correspondence with drawings in the margins. Sadly they only had the one but lovely to look through his sketchbooks and other ephemera. Becky was my "archive buddy" and was very helpful at showing me round and keeping her distance when she could see I was engrossed in looking at pages and ephemera. Caldecott was very prolific and always had a sketchbook about his person to draw the back's of people's heads and bonnets etc. also lots of what looked like shopping lists! Yes, annoying to discover I had lost my return ticket so had to buy another - luckily just enough cash on me to do that but couldn't do more shopping as I'd hoped so back early for late lunch