A Grand Day Out in Chester: celebrating 100 years of the new Queens Park Suspension Bridge

This year we celebrate 100 years of one of the most significant landmarks in Chester. We have looked back through newspaper reports and records held at Cheshire Archives and Local Studies to relive the local anticipation and excitement that surrounded the opening of the new Queens Park suspension bridge.

There had been an older bridge in existence since 1852 and it was used as a private bridge that provided a connection between the Queens Park Estate and the city and avoided a longer route round via Handbridge. The decision was made to replace the structure with a new bridge and demolition of the old bridge began in August 1922.

On 18th April 1923, the new Queens Park suspension bridge was officially opened by the Mayor of Chester, the Sheriff and aldermen of the city. Crowds gathered along both banks of the river and the steamers on the river were crowded with people too. One of the headline articles of the Chester Chronicle on 21st April 1923 was ‘great crowd witness unusual event’ and the paper reported that ‘the scene on the bridge was one that made a great impression on all who witnessed it’.

All the City officials were present with the Mayor of Chester, Councillor SR Arthur Hall, presiding over the event. The Sheriff, Chief Constable, City Surveyor and aldermen of the city processed to the bridge from St John School dressed in their formal robes along with the official sword and mace bearers.

The Mayor gave a speech in which he thanked all the people who had contributed to the construction of the bridge. He thanked the City Engineer, Charles Greenwood, who had developed the design for the bridge. At Cheshire Archives we hold a fascinating photograph album belonging to the City Engineer showing improvements and developments in the city. It includes a number of photographs of the early construction of the bridge.

The firm of W H Brockelsby of Birkenhead held the contract for masonry and the groundwork foundations and a separate contractor, David Rowell & Co of London, was appointed to create the steelwork. After the tower foundations had been laid, the sections of steelwork were transported to the site and constructed in situ.

The design of the bridge had been previously reported in the Chester Chronicle on 14th April 1923 - it described the bridge as a ‘wire rope stiffened suspension bridge’. It revealed further statistics on the bridge - a total length of 277 feet (beating the old bridge by twelve feet) and a width of 12 feet (twice the width of the old bridge) and finally a load capacity of 160 tons. Further points of interest in the design were copper ball finials on the towers that were designed to weather to a light green colour over time.

The Mayor stated that the bridge had to have certain conditions of use and they are listed in the minutes of the City Improvement Committee on 13th April 1923 and show how things have changed over the last one hundred years:

• That no bicycles shall be ridden across the bridge
• That no barrows, handcarts, or other vehicles other than perambulators and bathchairs, shall be allowed on the bridge
• That no person shall run about, jump on the bridge, or use the bridge as a diving platform…. or use the bridge in such a manner as to cause unnecessary vibration.
• That no horses or cattle be allowed on the bridge

The Mayor drew attention in his speech to the heraldic shields fixed to the towers which were symbols of the early history of the city. The coats of arms depict the first seven Norman Earls of Chester along with the arms of the Palatinate of Chester. Cheshire Archives hold the original design drawings of the shields (ref: ZCR 715/1-10) and you may have read a recent blog by our Conservator where she talks about the process of conserving these drawings for future generations to enjoy.

The Sheriff gave a vote of thanks too and said that ‘he hoped it would be appreciated as one of the beauty spots of their wonderful old city of Chester' and ‘would be a credit and source of pride to the citizens of Chester.’

When the speeches had concluded, the Mayor moved forward and ‘formally removed the rope obstruction which crossed the bridge and released the union jack which fluttered from the tower above the ancient heraldic symbols’ and announced, ‘it is my pleasure and honour, and I do hereby declare the bridge open.’

The Mayor and company then walked across the bridge and retraced their steps. Then it was the turn of the public and ‘there was a tremendous rush on to the bridge when the barriers were finally removed and there was great competition as to who should be the first across.’ 

Finally we can leave you with some contemporary sound recordings taken from our Chester Talking Tour which recount the opening of the bridge and the competition to be first across the bridge: Queen's Park Bridge in Living Memory: A Talking Tour of Chester and Stream Queen's Park Bridge - the Grand Opening by Cheshire Archives & Local Studies 

Chester's Iconic Leadworks

With the Record Office currently closed to the public, the staff have been finding ways of bring our collections to you. 

One of these ways is Flickr. This website allows us to create albums of photographs and images of  documents for you to view and enjoy. One of our recent additions is an album relating to the old Chester leadworks. You can see the album here.

Chester Leadworks from City Road. ZCR 245/7191/1. 

The site of the Chester leadworks in Boughton is currently being redeveloped, but the Shot Tower, a familiar sight on Chester's skyline, is still at the centre of the site. 

Shot towers were first designed in 1782 for the production of lead pellets. Molten lead was poured through a copper sieve at the top of the tower, and then fell through the tower before being cooled in a basin of water at the bottom. 

The Chester Shot Tower is believed to be the oldest of three still in existence in the UK, and was classed as a Grade II listed building by Historic England in 1981.

Plan of the Chester Leadworks, 1908. ZCR 245/7191/17.

 

The original leadworks site was developed by Samuel Walker in 1799 and was named Walkers, Parker & Co. One of the first uses of the Shot Tower was to make lead shots for muskets in the Napoleonic Wars.

Over the years the site grew and expanded its operations. Many products were produced on the site, from lead sheets, pipes and paint to Radium handling benches for local hospitals.

Sales leaflet c.1930s. ZCR 245/7191/1.

During World War II the Leadworks supplied the War Office with chemical lead piping and fittings, and it also received orders from the Royal Ordnance factory at Hooton, Wirral.

Correspondence with the War Office, 1939. ZCR 245/13.

The leadworks were renamed Associated Lead Manufacturers in the 1950s and then later became known as Calder Lead. 

Production at the Boughton site slowly reduced over the latter part of the 20th century, and finally closed in 2001 with Calder Lead moving across Chester.

Plan of Associated Lead Manufacturers Ltd., 1950. ZCR 245/7191/18.

We have a number of documents within our collection which chart the development and expansion of the site over the years. 

Collection ZCR 245 (Associated Lead Manufacturers Ltd, Chester) not only gives us an insight into the running and structure of the company but also details of the manufacturing process. The leadworks was a significant employer in the city, and the collection contains staff records from the 1850s onwards. 

Visit our catalogue to discover more about the Associated Lead Manufacturers Ltd. collection. We also hold a number of books and pamphlets documenting the history of the company in our local studies section. 

Foote's notes from history

Over a series of blog posts we will be sharing with you what we have been doing whilst working from home, and giving you an insight into some of the interesting collections and items we have come across whilst the Record Office has been closed.

As shown in our previous blog, one of the things we have been doing is updating our online catalogue, starting with our "D" paper lists. One of the interesting collections in the D listings is the Foote Gower Papers (D 4784).

This collection contains letters received by the Cheshire antiquarian Foote Gower (c.1726-1780) from his peers. The listings for these letters offer a fascinating insight into the development of his most famous work and its ultimate abandonment.

Gower made extensive collections of documents for a proposed history of Cheshire that “would be infinitely superior to any history yet existing of any county". He outlined this project in "A Sketch of Materials for a New History of Cheshire" which was published anonymously in 1771 (D 4784/1). 

The Sketch was re-issued in 1772 together with an Address to the Public (D 4784/3,4), resulting from the enthusiasm generated by the Sketch. It contained a more detailed plan of the proposed work and asked for subscribers to donate ten guineas towards the anticipated cost of 4,000 guineas.

Gower started work in 1775, and initially received much encouragement, as can been seen in a letter from fellow antiquary George Allan of Darlington asking to be added to the list of subscribers (D 4784/29).

Ultimately however, the required number of subscriptions were not forthcoming, and interest in the project dwindled.

By 1776 the project was all but abandoned. Indeed, the engraver James Calveley, who had been commissioned in 1773 to produce illustrations for the History, wrote in a letter to Gower dated 27 March 1776 (D 4784/28), that he was too busy to work much for him. He further remarked that “the people of this country have almost given up thoughts of your history, as so little has been said of it as late”.

It seems that the project suffered other setbacks too. A letter from Edward Harwood of Chester, dated 18th May 1776, commiserates over a fire at Gower’s house and the loss of papers of his History (D 4784/31).

Upon his death in 1780, Gower’s work passed to Dr. J. Wilkinson and then William Latham, who, in 1800, republished the Sketch with additions (D 4784/2). Unfortunately, Latham was unable to finish the project due to ill health. The manuscripts were passed back to Wilkinson and later disposed of by auction, some going to the British Museum and others to the Bodleian Library.

In the end only one volume of text for the History, dealing with Cheshire history from prehistoric to Norman times, was produced.

However, Foote Gower's greatest legacy was arguably in documenting the sources of valuable extant manuscripts for Cheshire local history. His work was a key influence on the later work of George Ormerod, whose History of the County Palatine and City of Chester was first published in 1819 and remains a standard history of the county.

A final interesting tidbit from D 4784 comes from Richard Gough, the prominent antiquarian, who served as director of the Society of Antiquaries of London from 1771 to 1791. 

In a letter to Gower dated 16th December 1770, he spoke highly of Cheshire’s Archive, and was of the opinion that London’s record offices at that time compared "unfavourably with Cheshire" which “had a Castle and Archives of its own”.

Our collections have expanded greatly since then, and as they continue to do so, we’ll continue to undertake projects like the D listings which update and improve the catalogue for our users. I’m sure Messrs Gower and Gough would have approved!

D-lightful lists!

Whilst the Record Office has been closed to the public, staff have still been busy working on projects and finding new ways for people to discover our collections online.  One project has been to improve the online listing of our D collections.

As our regular visitors know, we have paper listings available in the search room which break down our collections into individual items that can be requested by archive users.

However, many collections in these lists aren’t yet fully described on the online catalogue.  

The "D" paper list is one such example. It contains collections ranging from family papers and private correspondence to plans and crime and punishment logs. A quick search of “D” on the catalogue brings up over 21,000 entries!

We have been transcribing the detailed paper lists onto spreadsheets ready to be transferred onto the online catalogue:

Our regular users will be familiar with the catalogue. It has a hierarchical “tree” structure, with each descending level describing smaller and smaller parts of the collection in increasing detail.

It starts with a description giving the researcher an overview of the entire collection, known as “Fonds”:

The next level down, Section (Sub-fonds) divides the fonds into groupings of related records:

The fonds are then subdivided into multiple Series, for example deeds, maps, or in some cases "miscellaneous"!

Finally, the narrowest level is “Item”. This contains information such as the title, date and extent of the item as well as a concise description of what is contained within it.

Putting the D list collections onto the online catalogue in this way serves several important purposes: 

• It makes detailed information about the collections more widely accessible to members of the public than before. 
• It allows archive users to find individual items in a collection using the keyword search and assists them in planning their visit and requesting the exact items they wish to look at. 
• Finally, it enables researchers to zoom in on the parts of a collection they are interested in without losing track of their relationship to the whole.

Whilst transcribing the paper lists we have come across many interesting collections and items. Over a series of blog posts we will be sharing with you some of these archives.

Absent Voters' Project—Katherine's rare and unusual ranks

After running for the past six years, with 1000's of hours of work put into it, we have finally completed an amazing project and are ready to share the results with you. The Cheshire First World War Servicemen's Index Spring 1919 Absent Voter's Lists online (or Absent Voter's Project for short) is now complete! The 1918 and 1919 Absent Voters' lists are an invaluable resource for anyone seeking ancestors serving in the First World War. Absent Voters' lists give names and addresses, details of individuals' service, service number, unit or ship. With the help of volunteers, these lists have been transcribed and are fully searchable.
You can find the site here and a walk through of how to use the site is on our YouTube channel here. These coming blogs are written by our volunteers who made this possible and give an insight into what they enjoyed about the project.

Working on the Absent Voters Lists for 1919 has immersed the volunteers in the world of the men and a few women, who were registered to vote during the First World War but who were not at home to do so. The database records names, addresses, ranks, regimental numbers and units for members of all the forces. This means that it should also be possible to search not just for the family member you are researching but other force members in their household at the time. Some families I transcribed sent three or four sons to war.

Three of the same family sent to war

Between the Cheshire Archive volunteers thousands of entries have been transcribed. Some of the most common ranks in Cheshire feature Private, Corporal, Lieutenant, Able Seaman, Air Mechanic and Gunner whilst the rarer ones are Artist, Writer and Bandsman. Some of the common units feature the Cheshire Regiment, Royal Engineers, Royal Field Artillery, Royal Garrison Artillery, Royal Army Medical Corps, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. The less common ones that I transcribed were the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, a camel corps and the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. The women, numbering less than five, that I transcribed, were nurses or matrons in the Royal Army Medical Corps. An overview of the Cheshire lists shows the enormous range of ranks and units from every corner, offering insight into the enormous contribution made by our county.  

A nurse's details are listed

Being part of the Absent Voters project has been fascinating. Hopefully the newly transcribed records will provide vital information for anyone interested in researching a family member who served a hundred years ago, in the Great War.   

This project was funded by Cheshire East Reflects.

Absent Voters' Project— Mike and Military History

After running for the past six years, with 1000's of hours of work put into it, we have finally completed an amazing project and are ready to share the results with you. The Cheshire First World War Servicemen's Index Spring 1919 Absent Voter's Lists online (or Absent Voter's Project for short) is now complete! The 1918 and 1919 Absent Voters' lists are an invaluable resource for anyone seeking ancestors serving in the First World War. Absent Voters' lists give names and addresses, details of individuals' service, service number, unit or ship. With the help of volunteers, these lists have been transcribed and are fully searchable.
You can find the site here and a walk through of how to use the site is on our YouTube channel here. These coming blogs are written by our volunteers who made this possible and give an insight into what they enjoyed about the project.

LOOKING FOR A FIRST WORLD WAR SERVICEMAN'S RECORD?

When you first start to researching your ancestors military history during WWI, why is it so difficult to obtain their official service records? The conflict took place just over one hundred years ago; so surely these documents would be the most detailed set of records of an individual that you will find anywhere! Unfortunately even the resources of the modern internet do not provide this facility. The truth is that most soldiers’ service records dating from the First World War were sadly destroyed by Luftwaffe raids on the old Public Record Office during the London blitz. Only a few records survived the bombing and fire damage caused to the record office. Consequently information on ordinary servicemen’s files is very limited.

A sample of the extra information you can find in the lists

 

My Grandfather served as a soldier during the Great War of 1914 - 1918, but I had no information to start with; apart from his known address. I began my search with the Absent Voters List (AVL) at the Cheshire Record Office, and this document provided me with his rank, service number, unit and division in which he served. Eureka! This was the start of an unimaginable story of a hero. That is why I volunteered to help with transcribing the Absent Voters List.

Teaming up with other distance transcribers working on this project unlocks priceless data for both amateur and professionals alike. In the pursuit of military, family, and local history studies it has become a valuable asset as an online research tool.

Mike

Mike

Distance Transcriber.

This project was funded by Cheshire East Reflects.

Absent Voters' Project— Tina's Experience

After running for the past six years, with 1000's of hours of work put into it, we have finally completed an amazing project and are ready to share the results with you. The Cheshire First World War Servicemen's Index Spring 1919 Absent Voter's Lists online (or Absent Voter's Project for short) is now complete! The 1918 and 1919 Absent Voters' lists are an invaluable resource for anyone seeking ancestors serving in the First World War. Absent Voters' lists give names and addresses, details of individuals' service, service number, unit or ship. With the help of volunteers, these lists have been transcribed and are fully searchable.
You can find the site here and a walk through of how to use the site is on our YouTube channel here. These coming blogs are written by our volunteers who made this possible and give an insight into what they enjoyed about the project.

My name is Tina and I have been volunteering on the Absent Voters project for 2 years. As a qualified archivist I always get involved in as many projects as I can but I also have a keen interest in history of the World Wars and have volunteered on projects such as the Merchant Navy Crew List transcription project and Operation War Diaries, so this project really appealed to me.

Tina

I have submitted entries for mostly the Wirral parishes, starting with Irby, where I live. I was struck by the socio-economic information the pages offer for their parish. For example, Thurstaston had very few entries and there were several Officers, compared with larger towns where there many more entries with a wide variety of ranks, but a lot of Privates and Labourers

It was interesting spotting a few women included in the list serving in nursing roles such as Laura Ellen Tuson of Silverdale Road, Lower Bebington who was serving in an auxiliary hospital in Myrtle Street Liverpool, and Violet Baxter of Thornburn Road, New Ferry, who was serving at 1^st Southern General Hospital, Birmingham.

I've enjoyed learning all of the units and regiments and ranks/roles in the British Armed Forces and seeing the wide variety of units Wirral and Cheshire men entered.

Cecil Arbuthnot St. George Moore

There were also some fantastic names. Cecil Arbuthnot St. George Moore, a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, was just one that I couldn't help researching further.

This project was funded by Cheshire East Reflects.

A Week in the Archives - Work Experience

This blog post was written by work experience students Ben and Laura from Christleton High School. 

Repackaged Hartford Parish Council records. 

"On our first day at the Cheshire Archives and Local Studies office, we learnt how to properly package, catalogue and conserve documents of varying types and ages; for example, using linen wraps and non-acidic boxes to stop them from decaying so they will keep for longer, or how to properly handle old photographs. We spent most of the day cataloguing Hartford Parish Council records from 1833 to 1982, including minutes from a meeting discussing triangular fields and trees.

On the second day, we catalogued photographs from a man named George Haswell’s album, dating from around 1900-1909. This involved transferring them to protective sheets and trying to work out where the pictures had been taken. While the majority of photos included villages, churches and his family, others were more unusual, such as a shrunken head and melted metal statue. 

Items from the George Haswell collection. 

Donald Insall photograph. 

We also began transferring architectural photo slides to more protective plastic wallets so they would not be damaged. These photo slides were taken by Donald Insall when Chester was under refurbishment, and give a glimpse of what the city was like during the 1960s and 1970s.

On the third day, we finished transferring the slides to their new sleeves, and then began work on cataloguing duties on land values from Macclesfield and Sutton. We finished two of 32 folders in two and a half hours. Over the final two days of our placement, we finished cataloguing these documents, and transferred maps to more conservation friendly housing for use in another project.

In our final afternoon, we did some back ground research into William George Haswell, in order to understand who he was. We found out that he was one of many masons in his family that worked on the Chester Cathedral, and was a master mason. George was a member of the United Grand Lodge of England Freemasons, becoming initiated on 1^st October 1891. 

Advert for William Haswell, Mason. 

He spent his life working on different architectural projects around the country, but stayed living in Chester, running his family’s business. George was also an active member of the community, serving on the Chester Town Council between 1900 and 1903 in Trinity Ward. 

As the head of “Haswell and Son architectural ecclesiastical craftsmen”, he assisted in the refurbishment of the Chester Cathedral in 1918-1932, and the Birkenhead Priory in 1897-98. 

He was born in 1862, and died in September 1938, after retiring in 1934. He married his wife Mary Elizabeth Haswell in 1888 and had a son called Frank Terrey Haswell in 1889. Frank was a sculptor and served in the Royal Navy Reserve during the First World War."

1911 census entry for William Haswell, his wife Mary Elizabeth and his son Frank.

The Month of May 1919 in the Sailors and Soldiers Rest

Crewe: Soldiers' Sailors' Rest, Nantwich Road (ref. c00801)

The signing of the Armistice in November 1918 ended the major part of the hostilities of the First World War. However, it took many more months to organise the return of the vast numbers of men scattered across the globe. 

One of our previous blog posts, “Crewe Station - the Heart of Britain’s Railways in World War I”, focuses on the Sailors and Soldiers Rest at Crewe Station and the two Rest visitors’ books held at Cheshire Archives.

These books give a fascinating glimpse into the experiences of the men that stayed at the Rest. Many called in at the Rest for a cup of tea, a meal, or a bed for the night, while others killed time between trains. 

Their comments often included grateful remarks about the hospitality, their relief at being demobilized, or regret at having more time to serve after a spell of leave.

A copy of a local news magazine published in March 1916 by Eardleys, the major printing company in Crewe, is pasted into one of the visitor books and states:

“The crude verses the men have written, the sometimes misapplied quotations, and the slang methods of expression, form an interesting study and throw a curious light upon the varied personality of the visitors.”

Battles were said to be fought over again, trench incidents recounted, and, according to Eardley, “…one has an excellent opportunity of studying the tranquil humanity which makes Tommy and Jack conspicuous among the fighting units of the world”.

In the month of May 1919 over 2,000 men passing through Crewe signed the book, well illustrating the world-wide nature of the Great War. Destinations included Cape Town, New York, Miami, Victoria BC, Adelaide, Nicaragua, Johannesburg, Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, and Arkinsaw, and of course many places in Britain including Chester. 

Journeys had started in Germany, Italy, Palestine, France, Bulgaria, Malta, naval bases from Scapa Flow to Plymouth, and  RAF airfields including Shotwick, (a few miles from Chester), and RAF Shawbury in Shropshire.  Many were travelling to and from Prees Heath, a massive army camp near Whitchurch.

A number of the troops, including many from the Royal Field Artillery, were heading for North Russia, via Crewe, as part of the Russian Relief Force. This was partly to keep the Bolsheviks back whilst the allies were evacuated and also for other plans that Winston Churchill was said to have devised.

Some other messages from the troops included:

“Fed up waiting at Crewe 5 ½ hours”

"Is the bacon still rationed? Once more unto the breach”

"Treated extremely well at Crewe”

“Always open when others are closed”

"Waiting for an airship”

“Cymry am byth”

“Tray Bon”

“Puggled to the wide” (said more than once!)

“I wish the pubs were open, I am dry”

“Here all night without a pint” (the Rest was established by the Church of England Mens Society in a Temperance Union mission room...)

And from a member of the Field Survey Battalion, Royal Engineers:

“If on earth there is some bliss, It is this – It is this – It is this!”

It is interesting to attempt to trace the details of some of the men who stayed at the Rest using online resources. For instance, Acting Lance Corporal Walter Shard, formerly a joiner of Towers Cottages, Poynton, joined up in September 1914. 

He was a hospital orderly in the Royal Army Medical Corps for 3 ½ years and in August 1918 he contracted Trench Fever, resulting in pains around his heart and shortness of breath.

He left the following heartfelt phrase in the Visitors' Book: 

“Happiest day of my life viz:- FINAL DEMOB”

This blog was written and researched by one of our volunteers, Susan Chambers. Susan will be blogging more about the Sailors and Soldiers Rest in the coming months - check back soon to hear more stories from Crewe!

Crewe Station - the Heart of Britain’s Railways in World War I

Crewe Railway Station
(Cheshire Image Bank c10557)

Throughout the years of the Great War a vital role was played by Crewe Station in Britain’s battle to keep men and supplies moving to where they were needed, at home and abroad. The station was a scene of constant activity, bustling and busy, day and night.

Holyhead boat trains, Scottish expresses, the Irish Mail, the London, Plymouth and Dover trains, the Travelling Post Office, ambulance trains bringing the wounded to northern hospitals, all called at Crewe.  Navy men going north to the Fleet at Scapa Flow, Army men heading south towards the Front in France and Belgium, plus vast supplies of shells and armaments all went by rail. Around 300 trains a day used this vital link, being shunted, marshalled and watered, before they steamed out again.

Crewe: Soldiers' Sailors' Rest
(Cheshire Image Bank c00801)

At any one time hundreds of soldiers and sailors could be seen around the station, awaiting their connections, passing the time in ambling along the platforms, taking a nap in front of the waiting-room fires, and sometimes joining in a round of ‘Tipperary’ to an accordion accompaniment.

Book-stalls, telegraph offices and refreshment rooms were always open, and so, from spring 1915 was the famous Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Rest, next to the station, where a meal and a bed could be had anytime of the day or night. Later in the war a trolley service with urns was set up to visit the trains which were only stopping for a short time, and to provide the troops with a welcome mug of tea before they steamed off again to continue their vital journeys. The station rest and refreshment services for military personnel in transit were organised by CEMS, the Church of England Men’s Society.

Crewe: Soldiers' and; Sailors' Rest
(Cheshire Image Bank c00802)

In the photograph above, the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Rest visitors’ book can be seen on a stand in the centre of the image.  Twelve visitors’ registers were signed by 130,000 men since April 1915; the final two registers, covering 1919, are lodged with us at Cheshire Record Office (reference D 4998). These are a fascinating record of a brief spell in the lives of thousands of men a hundred years ago, some being demobilised, some going on leave, and some back to their regiments, many on long journeys to far distant parts.

A sample index of over 1000 men adding their names to the visitors’ book in March-April 1919 has been compiled by our volunteers. We will be posting extracts from the book on Twitter over the coming weeks – follow us @CheshireRO to keep updated!

Cheshire’s Only Island

Did anyone see a lovely little piece on Springwatch earlier this year where documentary cameraman James Bayliss-Smith took off to Hilbre Island as a homage to his grandfather who took many bird photographs there, especially of wading birds stopping off on their way to their breeding grounds?  It got me wondering what we might hold here in the Archives relating to “Cheshire’s only Island”.  A quick search of the catalogue actually reveals 155 items listed under “Hilbre”.

If you don’t know of Hilbre, it (and its two smaller companions Middle Eye – sometimes, confusingly, Little Hilbre - and Little Eye) is “an archipelago consisting of three islands at the mouth of the estuary of the River Dee, the border between England and Wales at this point.  The islands are administratively part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral." At low tide the islands can be reached on foot from West Kirby. An image from the Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 25 inch (Sheet XII-6) from 1871 shows Hilbre Island Telegraph Station and the ‘Submarine telegraph’ line to the mainland

1871 OS map

One of the earliest documents we hold that mentions Hilbre is  a copy (but an early one) of a seventeenth century Indenture (ref: EDD 13/5/1) 

EDD 13/5/1

There are also many Local Studies items.  These include a large range of articles in Cheshire Life, a full run of which is housed on open access in the searchroom.  Many of these are by Norman Ellison, who wrote A Naturalist’s Notebook in the magazine and was clearly a huge fan of Hilbre.  One of his pieces from Cheshire Life in April 1970 is an interesting article entitled “Storm over Hilbre” with an excellent and rather emotive image included.  Another book that interested me when I found it is Atgofion Ynyswr (roughly “Memoirs of an Islander”) by Lewis Jones, Hilbre gynt (formerly of Hilbre) published in Liverpool in Welsh, although there are some specific related pieces included in English (ref: 228560).  Mr Jones was the Telegraph Station Keeper on Hilbre (at the location on the map above) from 1888 until his retirement (back to Wales hence, I’m guessing, the language of the book) in 1923.  The book looks absolutely fascinating, but is rather lost on me due to its language of publication.  Thankfully I can see online that a Hugh Begley undertook a translation in 2003, although this has not, unfortunately, been published.  It is, however, available to consult at West Kirby Library.

Things then took a slightly unexpected turn when I found a fantastic book called Hilbre, The Cheshire Island: its history and natural history (ref: 016561) published in 1982.  This lovely 306pp volume is notable for a number of reasons.  Firstly, its cover and several internal illustrations were undertaken by a Guernsey born prize winning artist, Laurel Tucker who won many prizes and huge acclaim for her work, particularly with regard to her bird illustrations.  Very sadly she died in 1986, aged only 35.

In the same book, I then spotted a 17 page chapter entitled “A year on hilbre” which is written by an Ann Cleeves about her and her husband Tim’s first year on Hilbre (1977-78) where he was employed as the resident Warden.  In the list of Contributors printed on the dust jacket it states: “A. CLEEVES, wife of the Warden lived on Hilbre from 1977 to 1981, and holds a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work, University of Liverpool.”  This raised my eyebrows a little, and some judicious googling later revealed that this was indeed the well-known crime writer, best known for her Vera Stanhope and Shetland Island series of titles.  In several interviews Ann has alluded to this period, and indeed on her own biography she writes “Soon after they married, Tim was appointed as warden of Hilbre, a tiny tidal island nature reserve in the Dee Estuary. They were the only residents, there was no mains electricity or water and access to the mainland was at low tide across the shore. If a person's not heavily into birds - and Ann isn't - there's not much to do on Hilbre and that was when she started writing.”  However, to the best of my knowledge, Ann has not actively publicised this early work before.  As this actually appears to be her very first published work, it remains to be seen whether this now leads to a rush of collectors suddenly vying for what must be a somewhat limited number of copies.  Time will tell!

As always there appears to be something for everyone here at Cheshire Archives – from seventeenth century Indentures to the first tentative steps towards literary stardom.  All that is left (apart from the other 150-odd related items on the catalogue) is to actually visit the Islands themselves, something that a combination of the tide and the weather forecast has so far combined to stop me undertaking .  I shall have to remedy that.  Which brings me to my final, and very important, point to note if you are going to visit Hilbre – you really do need to plan your visit very carefully around the tide timetables.  An excellent guide with very precise instructions on when you can and cannot go, and on what route to take across the sands, can be found here http://www.deeestuary.co.uk/hilbre/plan.htm. The tide timetables themselves can be found in many places including on the BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/coast_and_sea/tide_tables/5/461#tide-details


(Addendum:  Since I wrote this, I’ve been doing some work on the population of Hilbre at census time which shows some fascinating glimpses into the history of the island in the second half of the nineteenth and first years of the twentieth centuries.  At times, it was home to a surprising number of people.  You’ll have to await a future blog to read about this in full.)

Protecting Cityscapes

This year we celebrate 50 years of the Civic Amenities Act 1967, and what it means for our historic places across England, Wales and Scotland. President of The Civic Trust and MP, Lord Duncan Sandys helped to bring this legislation into being. The Act was passed in 1967 but a number of events leading up to it pushed conservation to the forefront.

1945
After the war there was a need to rebuild war damaged areas across the country. Chester had been largely unaffected by the architectural damages of war but was in need of an overhaul to rectify some of its problems. A Plan for Redevelopment was written up by Charles Greenwood in 1945. It focused on controlling the city centre traffic and dealing with old housing with undesirable living conditions. About 2500 houses over 100 years old were condemned.

Chester, Francis Street. Image Courtesy of Chester History & Heritage. Image Bank ch5860

Many recommendations in the report were used as the basis for future changes, but lack of funding meant that redevelopment was slow and ineffective in reaching the goals over the short term. But it was the beginning.

1960s
In the 1950-60s there was concern that the historical face of Chester was being slowly obliterated which sparked the creation of Chester Civic Trust in January 1960. After their formation, the Chester Civic Trust immediately had to step in regarding The Blue Bell. The Blue Bell in Northgate Street was in danger of being demolished, but the Chester Civic Trust put forward their case that it should be kept and restored. The council agreed to keep the building and to fund the restoration project themselves. This was one of the first major wins for the Trust.

Northgate Street, Chester : neglected and in danger of demolition (LHS)
Northgate Street, Chester : Restored and repaired with the adjoining Blue Bell. (RHS)
Taken from the Insall Collection at Cheshire Archives and Local Studies.

In 1964 a Central Area Plan was developed for the city by Grenfell Baines. The plan focused on traffic flow- using one-way streets to discourage traffic in inner city areas. It also suggested the pedestrianisation of Town Hall Square (which was undertaken) and St Werburgh Street.
Around this time, lots of new development projects were being proposed. This included small and larger tower blocks. Chester Civic Trust tried to fight to stop these going ahead. Those approved with only minor consideration for the views of the public included Commerce House (now demolished to make way for Storyhouse); The Police Headquarters (now demolished to make way for the ABode hotel and Chester West and Chester council HQ) and the replacement for Clemences restaurant on Northgate Street.
Chester Civic Trust did however make some headway and advised the council not to demolish a number of historically important houses on Queen Street and to acquire and renovate the Nine houses on Park Street, which still stand today. The idea of preserving and conserving buildings had been brought to the forefront of people’s minds.

Chester: Park Street View of the Nine Houses. Image Bank c10324 

1967
1967 brought the Civic Amenities Act. The Act required local authorities to start to recognise groups of buildings with historical value and designate them as conservation areas. Most of the centre of the city was designated. Previously, historical buildings were at risk of becoming derelict and demolished with little money or support to stop this. The aim of the Act was to conserve groups of buildings which made a town, city or village unique and ensure their value was not overshadowed by new developments.

In the new conservation areas, additions to properties such as extensions were regulated and trees within the areas were occasionally granted historical importance and not allowed to be felled. Also, any “proposed developments must preserve or enhance the special architectural or historic character of the conservation area. This does not specifically exclude innovative proposals but they must be sympathetic to their context.”
Out of this Act came four Historic Town Reports (one each for Bath, Chester, Chichester and York). Chester commissioned their Historic Town Report to be undertaken by Donald Insall Associates entitled ‘Chester, A study in Conservation’.

  Cover of Donald Insall’s report “Chester: A Study in Conservation.” Taken from the Insall Collection at Cheshire Archives and Local Studies.

Sir Donald Insall and his team identified key streets and areas in need of conservation efforts. Photographs were taken, voice recordings of initial impressions made and rough conservation costs drawn up of properties at risk. The photographs produced for this work are now held on-site at Cheshire Archives and Local Studies.
The report considered the most problematic area to be Bridgegate. A base of operations was set up in the area, and the need for swift restoration was highlighted when the office’s roof collapsed!
Gamul House and Gamul Place were some of the first chosen to be preserved and extensive work was carried out in this area and the rest of Bridgegate. A short film ‘The Conservation Game’ was produced and shown on television to highlight the considerations over this period and to follow the renovations of the buildings.

Gamul House, Lower Bridge Street, Chester : following restoration

Houses in Shipgate Street, Chester before restoration

Houses in Shipgate Street, Chester following restoration. Taken from the Insall Collection at Cheshire Archives and Local Studies.

More recently, conservation work was undertaken on the City Walls in 2013 and on Eastgate and Eastgate Clock in 2014. Modernisation and conservation of buildings around Chester Station has also been undertaken after some had fallen into disrepair. The Civic Amenities Act 1967 has made a difference to the cityscape of current Chester with the spirit of conservation continuing on.
More photographs from the Insall Collection will be shown on our Twitter page @CheshireRO for #civicday 17th June 2017. The whole collection of images taken for Chester’s Historic Town Report are held by Cheshire Archives and Local Studies and we are working to make them accessible to the public as soon as possible.