Nostalgic memories of Chester's local history
Share your own memories of Chester and read what others have said
For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our web site to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was when the photographs in our archive were taken. From brief one-liners explaining a little bit more about the image depicted, to great, in-depth accounts of a childhood when things were rather different than today (and everything inbetween!). We've had many contributors recognising themselves or loved ones in our photographs.
Why not add your memory today and become part of our Memories Community to help others in the future delve back into their past.
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Displaying Memories 21 - 29 of 29 in total
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 ...see more
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 .....
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.
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 ...see more
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 ...see more
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 ...see more
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 ...see more
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
I think this photograph no. C82013, is of Bridge Street, not Eastgate Street and is taken from the southern end of Bridge Street towards St Peter's Church? The church appears to be the same as photo no 28876 of Bridge Street 1891, and also taken from the same position.
Thank you for this - it prompted us to do a check, however our Archivist has double checked and it is actually Eastgate Street, so we have not changed our title on this occasion.
