Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie and this is episode 245.

King Alfred, Infrastructure is sexy and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

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For the Viking Army fleeing Shoeberry, there wasn't much to look forward to in a winter holiday

at Chester. It would be wet, it would be cold, it would be creepy. The old Roman settlement

had been abandoned for quite some time and that probably didn't sit well with the superstitious

Danes. And besides being creepy, Chester also promised generally rough living. I mean

sure, it might sit next to farmland and a few small settlements, but this wasn't the

syvitas that it once been. The Danes weren't marching in and setting up in a nice little

manner. These were ruins, old ruins. This was going to be hardcore camping. And to

top it all off, just to the west of their refuge, set King Anorod of Gwyneth, and he was

now allied with King Alfred. And Elder Manathoret of Mercia was ruling over the territory to the

east. The only saving grace of Chester was that it was reasonably close to Northumbrian

territory, which was the lands of their allies. But that fact probably came as small comfort

considering how close they were to everyone else. And everyone else wanted them dead. But

as they approached the old fortress ruins, they must have realized that the only luck that

they had was that they made it their alive. Chester was even worse than they expected,

and it would need serious work if they were going to make it defensible. Though these

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