Chester

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 ...read more here
Contributed by Patrick Hampson

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 ...read more here
Contributed by Sandra Brown

Boat Trip on The River Dee

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Chester. As a young child we would visit the City, and as I grew up and married we would visit with our daughters. We always loved taking the trip down the River Dee. The last time we did this was in 1989 while on vacation in England I now live in Canada.
Contributed by Brenda Vanderwert

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 ...read more here
Contributed by charles wright

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
Contributed by Wally Donoghue

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)
Contributed by Lynn Mace

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.

Contributed by Lynn Mace

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, ...read more here
Contributed by Linda Ashworth

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 ...read more here
Contributed by Stephen Owen

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 .....
Contributed by jill williams

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
Contributed by c mclennay

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.
Contributed by Lynn Mace

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 ...read more here
Contributed by Lynn Mace

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.
Contributed by DEREK AYNSLEY