It’s mid September and we are off island. While on the Mainland we took the opportunity to visit family in the historic city of Chester. The present day city is the lastest development of the Roman fortress and town known as Deva Victrix.

With blue sky for most of our stay colours were especially vibrant. The Eastgate Clock on the city wall is a prominent landmark and it is said to be the most photographed clock in England after Big Ben.

The Eastgate and its clock were just as photogenic as the sun was setting.

The Shropshire Union Canal and the River Dee both flow through the centre of the city. Our walk to the family home took us along the bank of the canal at sunset. This was very much part of the Chester 'colour fest'.

As we made our way along the towpath the colours and reflections simply got better and better . . . and better.

The problem was knowing which photographs to include!

Leaving the canal-side we crossed over the railway and once again we were impressed with the view of the station and the backdrop of the evening sky.

The following day we caught the train for the short journey to Liverpool where our son is the artistic director of one of the city's theatres. Liverpool and Glasgow have much in common. Both stand on rivers, both have a proud maritime tradition, both are university cities, both have diverse populations but probably above everything else it is the people who make both cities.

The waters surrounding the Isle of Tiree where we live are crystal clear and often an azure blue. How different the River Mersey - it is a murky brown! However, the Mersey Ferry that sails between Liverpool and Birkenhead/Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula is certainly colourful, perhaps bizarrely so.

Once again the sun shone down us as we made our way towards the Royal Albert Dock at the vibrant heart of Liverpool's historic waterfront, The sky was so blue and the water in the remnant of one of the basins acted as a mirror for the renaissance skyline.

There is so much colour to the Albert Dock Area. Against this colourful backdrop a robust grey statue is erected in memory of Liverpool's Carters' horses.

Replica buses serve as markets for street food and they bring a real touch of colour to the fest.

In the very heart of the city, in Church Alley, two hundred colourful umbrellas are suspended over the street. The striking rainbow display is there to raise awareness of ADHD. Imagine our surprise, in an adjacent street, to meet someone, a student, from Tiree. We don't know who was more surprised them or us!

Chester is an attractive city that is a pleasure to walk around, especially on the its historic walls. However, on our final full day before starting our journey home to the Isle of Tiree, we chose to escape to the country. We took the train to two stations down the line to Delamere, the 'Forest Station'.

Delamere Station has the strap line - the forest station - from tracks to trails. The station and the cafe housed in the former station buildings are very colourful. What a marvellous introduction to the forest and its walks.

We were fascinated by the presence of butterflies appearing to tree hug. It was as if they were dancing round the tree. They were there as we began our walk and still there on the way back.

With us was the family pet, Columbo, a one eyed rescue dog. He was the first to sense the presence of a squirrel. It was not long before the squirrel sought refuge, lying out on a sturdy branch high up in a tree.

With it being mid to late September, many of the trees bore witness to nature's bounty. Hips, haws, and berries were present in abundance. Some brambles were ripe enough to pick and eat. Our walk, or climb, was up Old Pale Hill which rises to a height of 176 metres. It is situated to the south of the forest and forms the high point of the northern mass of the Mid Cheshire Ridge. The high point has many markers and standing stones which serve to point out the view spread out before you.

Views from the summit of Old Pale hill include the forest, the Cheshire Plain, Frodsham and Helsby Hills, the Jodrell Bank Observatory , the Shropshire hills of Long Mynd and Wrekin, the Derbyshire hills and the Liverpool skyline. On a clear day views of seven counties unfold and it is possible to see Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England, and Denbighshire and Flintshire in Wales.

The Isle of Tiree has very few trees so it was a real pleasure to be in the forest and to look down across a landscape populated with tree after tree.

There was a children's song that spoke of the railroad running through the middle of the house. Here at Delamere the railway runs through the middle of the forest. After our excursion or escape into the forest, we caught the train back to the city.

Our time in the colourful city of Chester was characterised by blue skies and warm weather. In a very real sense we saw the city at its best, whether walking its historic walls, wandering through its streets, or walking alongside its waterways.