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Visit to Rochdale Town Hall and Smithills Hall

October 15th – guided tour of the recently restored Rochdale Town Hall and supported tour of Smithills Hall on the slopes of the West Pennine Moors.

NICHOLAS PEVSNER, the architectural historian, described Rochdale Town Hall as having ‘a rare, picturesque beauty’. The building, opened in 1871, has recently undergone a £20 million restoration programme, led by Donald Insall Associates.

Tea and coffee will be served on arrival followed by an overview of the restoration given by TONY BARTON, the former Chair of Donald Insall Associates and the Chair of Chester Civic Trust’s Heritage Committee. After a guided tour of the Town Hall, a full buffet lunch will be provided by the in-house renowned Martlet Kitchen. Jay Rayner, a food critic for the Financial Times and presenter of Radio 4’s Kitchen Cabinet, has commented that ‘ the Martlet is where civic pride meets glorious cooking’.

After lunch we will travel to SMITHILLS HALL on the slopes of the West Pennine Moors. Smithills Hall is an unknown Grade1 listed gem. It is one of the oldest and best preserved manor houses in the North West. Over the years the original Medieval Hall has been added to by Tudor and Victorian wings.
The building was purchased for £70,000 by Bolton Corporation in 1938. There will not be a formal guided tour of the building however members of staff and  volunteers from the Friends of Smithills Hall will be on hand to answer questions. Before we leave for our return journey to Chester the ‘Friends’ will provide refreshments.

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Visit: Northumberland

October 5 – 9th a 5 days / 4 nights visit to explore the castles, coast and history of Northumberland from 5th – 9th October 2026.

The visit will begin at Hadrian’s Wall, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site. Followed by Lindisfarne, a centre of Celtic Christianity, the Saxon Museum at Wooler, Norman castles at Alnwick and Bamburgh, a flamboyant Georgian home at Seaton Delaval and a pioneering Victorian mansion at Cragside. In addition we will see spectacular scenery, stunning coastlines and historic towns.

If you would like to express an interest in the visit please email christinerussell4@icloud.com or mckaykaren68@gmail.com. We will email you the itinerary and prices as soon as finalised.

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2026 DATES FOR THE DIARY

    • 2026

    October 5 – 9th
    A 5 days / 4 nights visit to explore the castles, coast and history of Northumberland from 5th – 9th October 2026.

    October 1st, 6pm.
    Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, evening.

    SEPTEMBER 23rd
    Wrexham’s Year of Wonder Day – A special day to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 1876 Wrexham Art Treasures Exhibition Industrial Annexe and Wrexham’s industrial heritage and workforce – past, present and future. 10.30am – 4.00pm at Xplore! Henblas Street, Wrexham, LL13 8AE

    SEPTEMBER 9th, 5pm.
    Reception for Corporate Members. Speaker is Nick Walkley, Interim CEO of the Cheshire and Warrington Combined Authority.

    JULY 8th
    Bridgewater Revisited

    JUNE 9th
    Visit: Hooton’s Belfast Hangars, Sudley House and St Michael-in-the-Hamlet

    JUNE 1st
    Summer Social, Chez Jules, Chester

    MAY 21st
    May Lecture: Hooton Hall and Park, 2pm. at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace

    APRIL 17th
    Working Class Housing, a talk from Elizabeth Davey, Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, 2pm.

    APRIL 15th
    Lecture Series: Andy Farrall’s update on the One City Plan, at the Grosvenor Museum Lecture Theatre at 7.30pm.

    MARCH 29 – 3 April
    Visit to Gdansk

    MARCH 18th – Grosvenor Museum Lecture Theatre at 7.30pm.
    Lecture Series: Dr Abigail Lloyd on Place-making with time-depth and connection: how to use historical place-names in modern developments

    MARCH 6th
    How to Research Your Area with the award winning Hough Green Local History Society, Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, 2pm.

    MARCH 3rd
    A ‘Green’ visit to Liverpool, with an exclusive private tour of St George’s Hall

    FEBRUARY 27th
    The Friday Afternoon Murder Club, Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, 2pm.

    FEBRUARY 13th
    The REOPENED Harris Museum, Preston, Lytham Hall with snowdrops and meal.

    JANUARY 10th  – Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, 7pm,
    New Year’s Quiz

        • 2025

    NOVEMBER 28th, – Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, 7.30pm.
    A talk from David Ebbsworth on ‘French Fun: We’ll Always Have Paris’.

    NOVEMBER 12th at the Grosvenor Museum Lecture Theatre at 7.30pm.
    Lecture Series: Rose McArthur, Director of Highways, Transport and Climate Change for Cheshire West and Chester Council on the Achievements, Forthcoming Plans and Challenges facing the Council.

    OCTOBER 30th 
    Bradford City of Culture

    OCTOBER 13 – 19 
    North Lincolnshire study visit for members. The 5 day visit includes Gainsborough, capital of the Vikings, Lincoln’s castle, home to an original 1215 Magna Carta, the Wolds, an area of outstanding National Beauty, Louth, Tealby, the Bomber Command Centre, Tattershall Castle, and the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield on the way back to Chester.

    OCTOBER 8th at the Grosvenor Museum Lecture Theatre at 7.30pm
    Lecture Series: Paul Fielding of Lovelock Mitchell on ‘Chester’s other architect – T M Lockwood and Sons and their ongoing architectural legacy’.

    OCTOBER 7th – Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, 7.30pm.
    Professor Martin Heale on the Abbot’s Residence in Chester Cathedral.

    OCTOBER 2nd – AGM – Cathedral Refectory, 7.30pm
    Our key speaker will be Lady Alexis Redmond MBE, the Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire and President of Chester Civic Trust.

    SEPTEMBER 25th –  A walk in Eastham Pleasure Gardens.
    Following on from the previous week’s talk from David Mottram we visit to see Eastham Pleasure Gardens in person. Limited places.

    SEPTEMBER 18th –  Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, 2pm.
    David Mottram gives a talk on the history and brilliance of Eastham Pleasure Gardens.

    SEPTEMBER 13th, Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, 10am – 4pm.
    ‘Tea at the Palace’ part of the UK’s Heritage Open Day celebrations September 13-21, come along and bring friends and relatives.

    AUGUST 22nd at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace at 2.00pm.
    Treasures in the Attic. A talk by Karen McKay.

    JUNE 26th, Tuesday 7pm.
    Celebration Sapphire Jubilee (65th year) Dinner – more details tba.

    JUNE 12th
    Day visit to The World of Glass, St Helens and Astley Hall, Chorley.

    JUNE 10th at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace at 7.30pm.
    Keep up to date with local archaeology

    MAY 21st
    Special guided tour of Wrexham.

    MAY 16th 2pm. at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace at 2.00pm.
    The Arts and Crafts Movement in Manchester.

    APRIL 16th. at the Grosvenor Museum Lecture Theatre at 7.30pm
    Lecture Series: Peter Cocker will give a talk on Thomas Brassey: The World’s Greatest Railway Builder, celebrated at Chester Railway Station.

    APRIL 10th** 
    Day visit to Llangollen including a tour of Plas Newydd. lunch and talk on the Pontcysllte World Heritage Site.

    MARCH 31 – APRIL 4*
    Residential visit to the Surrey Hills including the Watts Gallery and Artists Village (details in the December Newsletter). Following from the lecture in November, a visit to the Watts Gallery and Village will be one of the highlights of the 5 day visit for members of the Trust. Other places of interest during the visit will include Hughenden Manor, the home of Benjamin Disraeli, the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham and a private viewing of the National Trust’s Polesden Lacey.

    MARCH 19th at the Grosvenor Museum Lecture Theatre at 7.30pm
    Lecture Series: Colin Potts, Programme Leader International Tourism Management, University of Chester.

    FEBRUARY 28th** at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace at 7.30pm.
    Chester Witches Peter Elliott and Clare Dudman

    FEBRUARY 12th at the Grosvenor Museum Lecture Theatre at 7.30pm
    Lecture Series: Create Streets – a Think Tank currently supporting Cheshire West and Chester.

    THURSDAY JANUARY 30th** at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace at 2.00pm
    MICHAEL TREVOR BARNSTON, a Life Member of Chester Civic Trust, will give a talk about his family’s illustrious history followed by afternoon tea. Booking forms in the December Newsletter

    WEDNESDAY JANUARY 15th at the Grosvenor Museum Lecture Theatre at 7.30pm
    Lecture Series: DR JAMES WRIGHT will talk about his recent book ‘Historic Building Mythbusting’

    JANUARY 5th 7pm.*
    ‘Twelfth Night Quiz’ – Bishop Lloyds Palace – £10 including festive refreshments – booking forms in December mail out

     

    More dates and details to come!!

    Please note Civic Trust members have FREE admission to the lectures at the Grosvenor Museum. Guests are welcome £5 on the door.

    (Booking forms for events marked * were included in the September mail out. **were included in the December mail out. )

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Lecture: Chester’s Riverside Port 1740-1860

Tuesday 13th, October at 2.00pm at Bishop Lloyds Palace

By the end of the 1730s trading prospects were looking good for Chester and its port. It had a new fledgling port and a good navigation route to the sea. But what happened between 1740 and 1860? What were its constraints and successes?

The Civic Trust has a continuing interest in promoting the maritime history of our city and it is particularly pleasing when a member can contribute to our knowledge. Tom Welsh was a lecturer in Geography and Earth Sciences at the University of Northampton. He has an ongoing interest in interpreting the past through landscape. Tom’s research is always meticulous, based on primary evidence. His insights are fresh and original.

Refreshments will follow the talk. The cost is £7.00. You will only be notified if you do not have a place for this talk.

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Lecture: Women of Chester

Wednesday, September 23rd at 7.30pm at Bishop Lloyds Palace
Isabel Robertson is the manager of Chester Tourist Information Centre and a local guide.
She will tell truly inspiring stories about some of the amazing women that we can associate with the historic City of Chester. These women founded, defended, and helped shape the old City and contributed to the City’s rich history.

Refreshments of wine and snacks will follow the talk. The cost is £9.00

You will only be notified if you do not have a place for this talk.

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Wrexham’s Year of Wonder – Sept. 23

A special day to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 1876 Wrexham Art Treasures Exhibition Industrial Annexe and Wrexham’s industrial heritage and workforce – past, present and future.

Wednesday 23rd September, 10.30am – 4.00pm

At Xplore! Henblas Street, Wrexham, LL13 8AE

The great Wrexham Art Treasures Exhibition of 1876 included an astonishing Annexe, which showcased all the wonders of the town’s industries and commercial ventures. To commemorate the 150th anniversary, this one day event, entitled Wrexham Works Wonders is a celebration of our industrial heritage; of the part played by Wrexham’s workforce in that history; and of our ambition for the future.

There will be talks and displays throughout the day:

  • 10.30-11.30: The 1876 Industrial Annexe. The remarkable story of how the great Art Treasures Exhibition brought so much Wrexham enterprise to the notice of the world – its innovative industries, its Wrexham Wonder Quilt, its mysterious Wrexham Sauce, and much more.
  • 2.00-3.00pm: Wrexham At Work. The story of Wrexham’s industrial development and workers, from earliest times, during and after the Second World War, with a focus on future-looking Wrexham businesses.

FREE entry for visitors.

For further general information, or for businesses interested in booking stands and stalls, or for booking group visits, contact davemccall@davidebsworth.org (Wrexham Year of Wonder Steering Committee)

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RHS Bridgewater Visit

Day Visit: Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Once the site of the Egerton mansion, Worsley New Hall, the RHS  began developing this derelict land in 2017. W. A. Nesfield had been the garden designer for the Egertons, and the remnants of his work are still encompassed in the modern design. The landscape artist, Tom Stuart Smith was chosen by the RHS to mastermind the scheme. It was opened in 2021.

We visited shortly after its opening when it was a work in progress. We had a glorious sunny, hot day to see how it is developing and explore some of the new areas and exhibitions.

This included the community grow garden area, the Yangzhou Scholar’s Garden, near the Japanese garden, due for completion at the end of this year and a thought provoking photo exhibition near the tea rooms.

Photos from the day are available here.

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Summer Social and call for your views!

Monday, June 1st at 7pm. Chez Jules, Northgate St.
Following the 65th Celebration Dinner, we got together to once again focus on Chester’s Heritage. The Summer Social also gave us an insight on ‘Culture and Crowds’.

Both Sir Phil Redmond and Colin Potts spoke on how the two were linked.

Sir Phil discussed how important it was to involve communities of whatever make up of common interest, and the fact that over 70% of the time he spent on Capital of Culture was on involving Liverpool and its communities with the various initiatives to do this.

Colin spoke about Malta and his role there, and alerted us to the importance of getting involved in:

  1. The Chester Place Survey. This is part of the information gathering that will enable us to develop a place brand for Chester that will help give competitive edge to its investment, education and visitor work programmes. It will dictate how the city presents itself to the world. The deadline for taking part is Friday 12th June. 450 submissions were received in the first week!
  2. Chester Northgate 2. View are sought on the outline masterplan for the second phase of Northgate covering the old Forum shopping centre, Gateway Theatre and the area between there and the Crowne Plaza. The brief was that the plan should be mainly residential but thoughts are welcomed on the proposed layout, streetscape, access and particularly on a possible culture / heritage building that would front onto Town Hall Square. The scheme is working towards a planning application in Autumn this year but views on this stage are invited by 19th June.

Members and guests enjoyed the event over a splendid two course meal at Chez Jules.

Photos from the evening are below, Colin Potts speaking, left, and Sir Phil Redmond, right/below.
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May Lecture: Hooton Hall and Park

Thursday, May 21 2026, 2pm. at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace
Hooton Hall and Park – A Remarkable History – From Medieval Manor House to Vauxhall Motors
The Stanley family built manor houses at Hooton in 1488 and in 1788. By 1849, they had sold the Hall and estate to Richard Naylor, a Liverpool businessman. Naylor enjoyed horse racing and added a racecourse to the property. In 1914 the War Department requisitioned the Hall and Park. The Park was also turned into an airfield. It became a flourishing centre for aviation.

In the 1960s Shell Research used the runway for car fuel development and in 1962 Vauxhall Motors purchased the site. In recent years the Belfast Hangars have been restored and now host events run by the Hooton Park Trust.

David Mottram gave us a walk and talk last year on Eastham Ferry. He returned this year with a wonderful talk on the hall and park.

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Lecture: Working Class Housing

April 17th April at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, 2.00pm

We frequently visit mansions, built by the wealthy but in this lecture the emphasis was changed to look at the often neglected development of housing for workers.

Our speaker Elizabeth Davey has written extensively about the Wirral and Birkenhead. In her talk she used the Wirral as an example of how workers’ housing developed, equally applicable to the situation in Chester and Cheshire.

This talk was originally prepared as a tribute to the late Professor Tarn, who in his two books, Working-class Housing in 19th Century Britain (Architectural Association, 1971) and Five Per Cent Philanthropy: An Account of Housing in Urban Areas between 1840 and 1914 (CUP, 1974) went a long way to popularising the subject of artisan dwellings.

A retired teacher and lecturer, Elizabeth has a particular interest in the built environment and has written and lectured on numerous aspects of local history for many years.

Refreshments followed the talk. The cost was £7.50.

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