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Chester
Chester maps
Historic maps of Chester and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Chester maps
Chester area books
Displaying 1 of 13 books about Chester and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Chester
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Chester.
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Chester in The 1960s And 1970s
Chester for me, in the 1960s, was, first, the Museum. It was a full day out. The C4 or C3 bus from Overpool or the C6 from Rivacre, small pack of sandwiches and some orange squash in my school haversack and I could spend the day with the Roman Army. Having a very eidetic imagination (I think in pictures) it was easy for me to see those Roman Soldiers marching along.
Later it was rowing with E Port Grammar School where I was a pupil and then the 70s arrived and we had left school and the ports of call then were The Kings Head in Lower Bridge Street, The Boathouse and Quaintways. I became an apprentice watchmaker with W Hyde and Co in Ellesmere Port and often had to go to Chester to collect and deliver engraving to Mr Shoebruck and jewellery repairs to Irwins.
In 1983 I set up a watch and clock repairs workshop above Irwin's Jewellers at the top of Northgate Street and stayed until 1984... Read more
English at Heart
I am an American who went to school in Chester in 1966/67. Rather, should I say, I was registered for school at Chester College. However, I can't say I was actually in the building very often. There just always seemed to be somewhere else to go, and something more interesting to see instead.
I arrived in Chester just as the hippies were raising their flowered heads back here in the beach areas of southern California where I came from, which had interested my new friends in Chester. I remember my new English friend Tristin wearing very, very long hair (for 1966) a burlap caftan and sandles, riding a donkey from the college across the Dee bridge to the Cathedral, while the rest of us followed chanting and waving branches that were supposed to resemble palm fronds of some sort. As I recall, we were the first hippies in Chester, but then I also seem to recall that the very next day we went right back to being Mods.... Read more
Holiday Delights....& Upsets!
It was probably 1947 when I was first introduced to Chester. My grandmother Minshall had many friends, most of them had one thing in common, their appearance....without being too unkind, they were all kind of 'odd looking'...well, certainly to a young child. Anyway I was introduced to this aged brother and sister who lived in Chester, they were regular visitors to Whitchurch and on one such visit it was suggested I should go back with them for a holiday. Seemingly they had a niece my age who was an only child. I didn't mind because it meant I didn't have to stay at Mill Street! So began a love affair with the beautiful city of Chester. My 'uncle', as I was told to call him, was gardener for the Bishop, who at that time was, I believe, Bishop Crick, forgive me if I have got it wrong. Living in the Cathedral Close was a lovely family called Jenkins, Mr. Jenkins used to ring the curfew bell every night and on one... Read more
Visit to Grans on The Number 9 Bus.
I remember the Town Hall Square exactly as it is in the picture.I used to go with my Mum to my Grandma's in Hoole. We used to get the number 9 bus which you can see in the picture! Happy Happy Days.
Wedding
We were married in 1961 and had our reception and evening "do" in the Bear and Billet which is still remembered by all.
Restaurant
Had a lovely meal in this place courtesy of a disabled aquaintance residing there. First time I had seen oysters ordered and eaten. Also cocktails shaken by the barman. I remember not knowing that the pot containing ginger was meant to be sprinkled on the half melon.
Walking to School Across The Dee
My Mother Mary Burghall (Married name Davies) used to walk to school everyday across this suspension bridge. She would would walk with her brother's and sisters and friends and she often says that this was the best time of her life.
Swimming In The Dee
My mother Mary Burghall (married name Davies) was born in Chester as were three other generations which I have traced back to 1700s.
My mother remembers well swimming in the Dee. She and her friends would walk across the medows near Allington Place and swim right across the river. One of the friends fixed a rope swing onto a branch of a tree, and my mother and her friends would spend hours swimming across to the other side. They had races and my mother remembers that she very often used to swim the fastest and nearly always beat all the others across, even the boys. She was a competent diver as well. She is now 82 years old. She still rides her bike 1 mile to get get her newspaper.
Lynn Mace (nee Davies)
