Chester memories
Here are memories of Chester and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Chester or a Chester photo.
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)
Pub Regulars
My grandfather Frederick Burghall and his wife used to have a drink in this pub once a week. They lived in nearby Handbridge. Their sons Frederick and Ernie used to have a pint also in the 70s and 80s.
Whilst doing my mother's family tree we visited the pub to see what it looked like. We had a good look around and surprised the chef by visiting the top floor. I loved the atmosphere. Hadn't really changed much I suppose even though it had been modernised.
Lynn Mace (Burghall)
Thomas Ledsham Wilkinson
My wife Joan's grandfather Thomas Ledsham Wilkinson owned various fish and poultry shops in Chester on and around Eastgate Street and Watergate Street. We recently visited Chester to try and trace the one shop we thought he had owned to discover that he actually owned several in the area and an ice factory. We were also able to find his grave from an old photograph of his first wife Elizabeth's headstone. We believe his first shop was at 21 Watergate Street. If anyone has any further information or photographs of any of the above we can be contacted at Derekaynsley@yahoo.co.uk.
Greenway Street...
I was born in this street in 1965 , my mum and her sister both with their own families lived next door to one another in numbers 34/36 ....Though I'm living in America right now my family all still live in and around the Handbridge area .....
Huitts or Fluitts Buildings
In the 1901 census my Great Grandparents the Burghall's were living here.They lived in Upper Northgate Street the census says.
I can trace the Burghall family back to Tattenhall in 1841. My mother has fond memories born in 1926, Mary Burghall, of diving and swimming the Dee, and attending Hunter Street School and St John's School.
J. G. Shaw And Sons C 1850 on Into The 1920s
This photo shows the home and business of John Gill Shaw my great great grandfather. He was born 23 November 1813. He had 12 children some of which continued his ironmonger business into at least the 1920s. His daughter, Martha, married Henry Craven, my great grandfather, of Buckley, Wales, on 26 April 1870. They emigrated to Red Oak, Iowa, USA, in 1874. Sadly, she died in 1880 4 days after giving birth to their 5th child. If anyone would like more info on this family or business they can contact me at: wally@plaidpants.net
Salmon Fishing And Greenaway Street, Handbridge
I remember my Grandma telling me that our ancestors used to make garments for the salmon fishers of the Dee. My Grandfather was born at no 11 Handbridge in 187? and he and his sons and grandsons were and are Freemen of the City of Chester and belong to the Merchant Taylors' Guild. I believe that it is now possible for female children to become Freewomen
Student Days.
I went to Chester College as a mature student. Did a teaching course. Lived out at Hawarden and had to catch a bus into Bridge Street. From there I had to deposit my 2/3 yr old daughter at a private nursery near a church on the riverside, to then walk a mile up to the college past the Cathedral.
Loved the rows. Spent hours studying in the Library by the clock.
Studied Divinity and Music on the teacher training course. Remember seeing for the first time gravesones cemented into a pathway in that church on the riverside.
Gaining my certificate meant a worthwhile subsequent teaching career in Ely and elsewhere for twenty yrs.
Wooden Bridge
My uncle Bill Wright lived & worked in Chester from the war period to 1963. He was a widower and had a damp old ground floor of a rather grand house beside the wooden bridge across the Dee. My Aunts , his sisters would go up from London and stay with him and I would go every summer to stay a couple of weeks.He loved walking and would take me walking into Wales through lovely countryside.From my bedroom, through Bay windows ,I remember the mist and stillness in the early morning as swans glided along the Dee - it was magic and a memory I shall always treasure.While fishing for tadpoles I fell in the Dee and my uncle , in his sunday best, dived in and saved me !
Childhood Memories
What a wonderful place to explore and grow up in, particularly as a history loving child. Born in Southport to await my father's return from army service in 1945, we soon moved back to the family origins in Chester.
The Taylor family had lived in Chester, within the walls since the mid 1700's. In the late 1940's the family of George Allan Taylor comprising myself and three brothers, Allan, Colin and Ian initially moved from Southport to Blacon but subsequently lived over our father's Barber shop at 8 Grosvenor Street (now demolished I believe) to where he had moved from 23 Lower Bridge Street.
In the 1800's the Taylor family had lived in Victoria Buildings in Lower Bridge Street. Walter Taylor b.1863 had been a Tailor and had lived in Linen Hall Street with his family until his early demise at the age of 45yrs. His widow Catherine (nee Catherall) later re-married Thomas Lea. Amongst other siblings Walter left my grandfather George Arthur Taylor b. 1891, eventually... Read more
1947 to 1956
I was born in 1942 in Upton-by-Chester and my mother's family (Maddock) owned the butcher's shop that became Toycraft on Watergate Street, and one in the Market in the sixties. My parents emigrated to Canada with me in tow in 1956 and I get a lump in my throat, still, when I look at pictures or visit.
Such a lot of history in one small area and so much that is part of my heritage. Almost every picture I have seen so far evokes memories of things that I did or happend in specific areas. I shall write more another time.
I returned with my daughter in 2003 and my uncle took us for a walk around the Walls. I remember the Fire Brigade station on Northgate Street and the Brewery that used to make me gag when i walked past. I also remember the firefighters doing a demonstration on the Roodee I think. Their engines and pumps screaming as they shot hose streams at targets. They wore brass... Read more
Memories of Cheshire
REV. KENNETH V. (Kenny) POVEY C of E
I am trying to find Kenny Povey, his mother lived in Little Sutton, Kenny was in Neston area, then I was told he was in Blacon area and then moved down south, would anyone have any idea of where he would be?
Many thanks,
Valerie Waring
Christleton Pit
I remember walking up village road with my brother, and going fishing at Christleton pit. I have lots of memories of the village of when I was a young child and growing up as a teenager before joining the Army, a lot of them are of my school days at Christleton High School which was just across the road from where I lived in Woodfields.
Childhood in The Village!!
I was devastated in 1964 when my mother told me we were to leave the village so that my mother could pursue her dream of owning her own small business elsewhere. It was a dreadful culture shock, one that has remained with me ever since. For now it is my dream to one day move back into the village I grew up in to retire.
I have wonderful memories of halcyon days in the village. We lived in a small cottage on Well Lane and my grandmother Nana Caine lived in another small cottage just a bit further on from us in Willow Cottage. My father's parents, my other grandparents, originally lived in School Cottage on the corner of Gypsy Lane opposite the original old village school where I attended. Nana and Grandad Godwin had a small 'shippon' on the side of the cottage where he kept a few cows for milking and I believe he also worked as a wheelwright. Grandfather rented several fields off a lady in... Read more
Living in The Village
My family have lived in Eccleston for 45 years plus. My sister was born in the Manor House in the village itself some 39 years ago, she will kill me for that, at this point it was always said that her and Mr Wood were the only 2 living people to be born in the village and to this day she still holds on to this. The village was a fantastic place to grown up, we knew everyone and everyone knew us as kids. In the days without telephones, my mum would lean out of the window (once we had moved to the top of the village) and shout us in for tea, if we hadn't heard her we would find out as someone would let us know. We spent years walking down by the river, climbing the hollow oak tree down there, but I don't think once any of us went in to the river knowing the undercurrent and what had floated pasted in the years gone by. I... Read more
The Best Years
We moved to Dodleston in 1975 and left sadly in 1998. They were the happiest years. My children went to the villiage school and there were just 12 children then. The community feeling was great and the Whelmar estate hadn't been built. The community used to go to the field at the back of St. Mary's Road and we used to play cricket. In the winter my husband and Ken Davey (who were cowmen and worked for John Lloyd at Moat Farm) used to organise a disco in the old village hall and we used to bake scones and make baked potatoes to take down. Sometimes they used to organise a Junior Disco which all the village children thought was great. My husband also used to take the boys for football on a Wednesday afternoon with the Headmistress's permission, Mrs. Robinson. The community spirit was very strong and supportive. They were the best days and I really miss the village although things have... Read more
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