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October Lecture: Chester’s Other Architect

Paul Fielding of Lovelock Mitchell will speak on Wednesday, October 8th, on ‘Chester’s other architect;  T M Lockwood and Sons and their ongoing architectural legacy. 

Thomas Lockwood, Chester’s other architect, had a prolific influence on the architecture of the city, and whose ongoing legacy had a surprising impact on global Modernism in the 20th century. Find out how and why, and marvel at the buildings the practice famously created.

The lecture will take place at the Grosvenor Museum Lecture Theatre at 7.30pm.

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

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Eastham Gardens & Ferry Terminal

The sun shone on the Chester Civic Trust walk, guided by David Mottram, exploring the Old Ferry Terminal and Victorian Pleasure Gardens of Eastham.

David brought back to life the wonders that must have greeted the visitors when they entered The Gardens through an arch constructed to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

The gardens contained colourful raised flower beds with exotic trees and shrubs, five fountains , a boating lake and a performance area where the famous tightrope walker Chevalier Blondin performed in 1883.

In addition from 1860 to 1890 a zoo including lions, bears , seals and monkeys existed.

Later additions included a water shoot, think steam-powered log flume and even a loop-the-loop railway, an early ‘Alton Towers type’ corkscrew.
It is hard to imagine now in this beautiful and tranquil park the excitement that lay within.

Thank you to David for this fascinating insight into the Park’s past.

 

   

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August Lecture: Treasures in the Attic

Have you ever walked down Water Street and wondered about the history of the façades on some of the amazing buildings? The façade of probably the most interesting of all these buildings, Bishop Lloyd’s Palace, was the subject of a talk at Chester Civic Trust by Karen Mc Kay on Friday 22 August.

In a talk that Karen made both entertaining and interesting, we learned about the earliest carvings on the façade of this Grade one listed building. The carvings cannot be seen clearly from street level but with the help of drone photography from Skysnapper Aerial Photography these early 17th carvings, influenced by the Merchant Adventurers who occupied this site at the time, can be seen clearly despite hundreds of years of exposure to the elements.

Karen explained the differing architectural styles and the influence of the interest in travel and fantastical creatures prevalent at that time. She brought these wonderful carvings to life.

More information on these carvings can be found here.

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Chester Civic Trust’s 65th Anniversary Dinner

Chester Civic Trust hosted a special Anniversary dinner at Chez Jules in Northgate Street for 65 members, to celebrate 65 years of the Chester Civic Trust, its activities and achievements.

Chair Christine Russell recapped some of the major milestones for the Trust over the years and thanked many people in the room and others for their considerable contributions over the years. Tony Barton of Donald Insall Associates followed with his experiences and expertise. He particularly mentioned the involvement of Chester and the Trust with European Architectural Heritage Year in 1975 and achievements since, up to its current 50th anniversary celebrations in the city.

During the celebrations we were treated to a special ‘congratulations’ from Sir Donald Insall who, with Cyril Morris, was one of the preeminent forces in the transformation of Chester and the conservation movement in the UK and Europe.

Historic photos and films of Chester from the Victorian era, 1931 and 1960s curated by David Evans entertained diners between courses and the event was expertly brought to a close by Chester’s Town Crier, David Mitchell.

Our thanks to Chez Jules for a splendid evening, an excellent menu, food and service, and for use of the facilities there.

Here is a link to the 1931 film of Chester

And a link to ‘The Conservation Game’ a 1975 Programme featuring Chester then.

 

 

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June Visit: World of Glass & Astley Hall

The World of Glass at St Helens is built around the 1877 Tank House where William Windle Pilkington perfected the regenerative process of continuous glass making. As well as a view of how glass was made, there is a museum of glass from its origins to contemporary glass making.

The private guided tour included glass blowing, the museum galleries, the tank house and the tunnels. Refreshments on arrival and the sandwich and quiche lunch were excellent.

Astley Hall in Chorley dates from 1570, with improvements throughout its history. It is Grade 1 Listed, with huge mullioned and transomed external bay windows and an intriguing collection of painted notables on panels in the Hall. Its real delight is its exquisite plaster-work ceilings, which are truly astounding. The private guided tour allowed time to walk in the grounds and visit Café Ambio in the stables.

Report and photos thanks to Karen McKay.

Photos LtoR: 1960 chandelier previously in Manchester airport, Exhibits including an Emile Galle vase, and the Merchant Adventurers coat of arms in stained glass.

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June Lecture: An update on Local Archaeology

Michael Emery gave an excellent talk on local archaeology so we are fully up to date.

Mike has worked at over 150 archaeological sites in the UK on a wide variety of community, research and commercial projects. He was instrumental in setting up the Poulton Research Project which he led for 21 years.

He is co-director of Chapel Archaeology CIC (Community Interest Company) and will describe the company’s research over the last nine years, which has included a study of rural and urban
ecclesiastical landscapes in Chester and south-west Cheshire. Mike will be joined by local historian Carolyn Barnwell, also a co-director of Chapel Archaeology.

Heritage Lottery funding enabled an in-depth study of the village of Shocklach and its environs, including its isolated church, and led to the publication of two books.
A recent ongoing project at St. John’s Church, Chester, has included internal surveys, external geophysical investigations and analysis of the church archives and is producing fascinating
results.

Wine and nibbles were served after the talk on June 10th at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace at 7.30pm.

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Prince Richard visits Chester Civic Trust

His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester visited Chester Civic Trust at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace (BLP) in May.

Personnel from the Trust were on hand to guide the Duke through the displays, exhibits and discuss Chester Civic Trust’s work and role.

The discussions related to his previous visit to Chester in 1975 in European Architectural Heritage Year, 50 years ago, when Chester played such a significant role.

In a letter sent to BLP after the visit, His Royal Highness “enjoyed viewing the exhibition on the Trust’s sixty fifth anniversary and the European Architectural Heritage Year fiftieth anniversary and was pleased to meet so many enthusiastic and friendly trustees”. The letter added; “Warmest regards and wishes for the future.”

More information on the European Architectural Heritage Year celebrations is at https://cheshirehistoricbuildings.org/news/

Photos: (Top) Duke of Gloucester with David Evans Vice Chair & Christine Russell Chair of Chester Civic Trust.

     

The Duke of Gloucester reviewing European Architectural Heritage Year progress in 50 years, with John Herson Graham & Sarah Caitlin discussing waterways, with John Tweed and Christine Russell and arriving at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace. Photos: Marketing PRojects.

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May Visit: Wrexham Walking Tour

This green, guided tour of Wrexham followed the Trust’s literary excursion in November with David Ebsworth into 1884 Wrexham and Chester.

Green Badge Guide, Peter Evans (pictured below), revealed the history and highlights of the city including the tomb of Bishop Lloyd’s infamous great-grandson, Elihu Yale who founded the American College, in St Giles Churchyard (see below).

The walk started at the Vasco Da Gama Café in Lord Street for morning coffee and was green because we caught Bus 1 to Wrexham and walked the 1.5 miles, getting fitter too!

Thank you Karen McKay for this report and the photos of Wrexham street art and Peter below at the tomb.

   

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2025 Judges Special Award presented

The Chester Civic Trust has presented its 2025 ‘Good Bad and Ugly’ Special Award to Okells Hoole for their work restoring and bringing to life the former Co-op building in Walker Street.

The awards which this year celebrate the Chester Civic Trust’s 65th year, recognise the best changes to the Chester property and civic scene and encourage higher standards of design and maintenance in Chester’s public realm.

The Co-op in Walker Street opened in 1906 and included a grocer and butcher together with a shoe and clothing store on the upper floor. Latterly it became a convenience store and also accommodated Co-op Funeralcare. The store closed in July 2017 ending 110 years of the Co-op on this site. The empty building started to become dilapidated and run down.

The judges said; “It is great to see that Okells has refurbished the building to provide a new shop selling plants, homeware and gifts together with a café. This is a really good addition to the vibrant Hoole local shopping quarter.”

George Okell, Okells Director added;

“We’re really pleased to have received the Civic Trust award and we’re grateful to everyone who put their hard work into this renovation. With the building always having been there to serve the community around it, we wanted to do just that, bringing it back into use by offering our mix of home, garden and gift products along with fresh food and drink in a neighbourhood cafe. Having worked on the space over nearly two years, it’s amazing to see it being used and we look forward to seeing it evolve.”

Photo above: Christine Russell Chair of Chester Civic Trust presents the Judges Award for 2025 to Okells Hoole. LtoR: Fern Thomas, Operations, Mabli, Front of House, Christine Russell, Chair of Chester Civic Trust, Jordan, Retail Assistant and George Okell, General Manager at Okells Hoole.

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May Lecture: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Manchester

Barry Clarke gave a fascinating afternoon talk on The Arts and Crafts Movement in Manchester yesterday.

Barry has recently been involved in the publication of a lavishly illustrated book on this subject (see above).

The Northern Art Workers’ Guild in Manchester was organised in 1896, twelve years after its London predecessor. It involved many people with connections to visits which we have made. Edward Wood, whose work we saw in Middleton, was a luminary. Barry Parker was originally from Manchester, and we saw his work in Letchworth Garden City. The Clarion Guild of Handicraft organised a show in Chester in 1903 at which the Peasant Arts Movement exhibited. We saw their work in Haslemere, Surrey.

Even if you did not attend any of these visits Barry’s talk introduced you to these practitioners and many others.

Refreshments were served after the talk within Bishop Lloyds Palace.

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