Sir Thomas Egerton 24th November

Bernard Dennis certainly tells a good story. And what a story he had to tell. Sir Thomas Egerton, born a few miles from Tarporley in Doddleston, was the 'local boy made good'. Born in relatively humble circumstances, Thomas rose to some of the highest posts in the land. including Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and Lord Chancellor. He served both Queen Elizabeth and King James in a time of significant changes. A fascinating man.

Beeston Castle 27th October

Kate Potter is the manager for English Heritage with the responsibility for looking after Beeston Castle. Kate gave us a brief talk, not only on her job, but also on the history and life of the castle. The castle site has been occupied since prehistoric times and the buildings are an early example of castle architecture. But surprisingly, apart from the Civil War, it has had a very limited military 'career'. 

A Royal Visit to Crewe 24th September

David Cooke kicked off our new season by a talk on the visit by King George V and Queen Mary to Crewe and North Staffordshire in 1913. David described the visit of the royal couple and in particular the industries they visited. It is salutary to realise how nearly all of that local manufacturing, especially the major railway engine works at Crewe and the extensive factories in the Potteries, has disappeared in the last century or perhaps even in our lifetimes.

Welcome to new 2016/2017 season

We have just finalised next year's programme. Details can be found by clicking on the 'Programme 2016/2017 ' tab above. The first talk is on Thursday 22nd September.

Heritage Open Days and Chester Heritage Festival

Heritage Open Days are opportunities to visit places not normally open to the public.

There is a national scheme, which co-ordinates events over the country, and a local Chester festival.

The national scheme kicks off on September 8th with some 5000 events. Details can be found on https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/ You can search this site for local events. I noted some 65 places to visit within 10 miles of Tarporley.

CW&C and Chester Civic Trust have extended the Open Day theme by organising a Chester Heritage Festival (3rd - 11th September). This Festival includes a week of talks, film showings and tours. Please see http://historyandheritage.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk/ for more information.

Visit to Arley Hall 29th June

The weather wasn't kind for our summer outing. The rain was persistent and it was cold. However the 25 society members who came to Arley Hall are a tough lot. Maybe we spent rather too much time in the coffee shop in the morning, but we enjoyed an informal guided tour around the Hall after lunch. And there was a brief window of sunshine later when we could at least sample the gardens and admire the superb deep herbaceous borders.

 

AGM 18th May

The Society held its AGM on 18 May, attended by some 18 members.
Draft minutes can be found by clicking on minutes but the main points were:

• The Society had a successful year with 59 paid up members
• Funds had increased by £166 so fees were being kept the same
• Bob Welch was elected the new Chairman
• Paul Bujac (Secretary) and Anita Langford (Treasurer) were re-elected
• The committee members are:
  Neville Carr
  Doug Haynes
  Andrew Needham
  Marianne Young
  Trish Welch
  Tom Platt
  David Hallam
• A visit to Arley House had been arranged 

  The meeting finished with a quiz devised by Bob Welch.

The Lion Salt Works 28th April

Some 28 members and friends enjoyed a guided tour around the recently restored Lion Salt Works at Marston near Northwich. These works opened originally in 1894 and produced salt by the traditional open pan process until 1986.The site was then purchased by Vale Royal Borough Council and run as a working museum for some time but it deteriorated and became unsafe. In 1993, a charitable Trust was set up to restore the museum, and with help from local authorities and grants of £10M, the site has been transformed to show the history of both the Lion Salt Works and local salt making. It was a cold day, not a day for too much loitering, and a marked change from the hot sweaty smoke filled conditions endured by the workers. 

The members did however brave the heavy and cold April showers to make it to the Salt Barge pub across the road for an excellent lunch.

The history of the Bibby Line 24th March

The evening's speaker was Christina Spencer who gave us a personal insight into the Bibby Line, regarded as the oldest privately owned shipping line in the world. Christina has worked for the Company for many years and is now the archivist. Bibby Line was founded in 1807 and has been involved in all aspects of international shipping. The Company has now diversified and interests also include financial services and haulage.
The Bibby Line website gives more details of their history.

Visit to Lion Salt Works 28 April

We have booked a tour around this newly restored museum for the morning of 28 April.

The Lion Salt Works is a restored historic open-pan salt making site, in the village of Marston, close to Northwich. The site lies adjacent to the Trent and Mersey Canal, close to Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse, and the historic Anderton Boat Lift.
This £10.23 million project opened in June 2015 offering a fascinating journey through the life of the country’s last open-pan salt making site.

Follow Lion Salt Works link to see more details.
 
The museum opens at 10:30 so there is an opportunity for coffee before our tour at 11:00. The tour should take just over an hour and then there will be a chance to browse.

We could either have lunch in the Museum cafe or in the Salt Barge pub.

The cost will depend upon numbers but will be approximately £8.

It's about a 30 min drive to the Works. I am sure members can 'car share' as appropriate.

We need to confirm numbers by 8 April. Please could people let me (paul.bujac@virgin.net) know if they will be joining us and whether they want lunch. Please indicate cafe or pub.

 

BALH Newsletter

The Society is a member of the British Association for Local History. Please click on newsletter to see the March issue.

David Starkey at the Crewe Lyceum 22nd May

Members might be interested to learn that David Starkey, the historian and broadcaster, will be giving a talk in Crewe. For more details please follow this link David Starkey Crewe

The Bibby Line 24th March

Our speaker will be Christina Spencer who has been the archivist for the Bibby Line group of companies. Sir Harold and Lady Bibby lived locally in Tilstone Lodge when Sir Harold was Chairman of this famous shipping line.

 As usual, the talk will be at 7:30 in Tiverton Village Hall and non-members are very welcome.

The Gentry of Cheshire 25 February

Our scheduled speaker was unfortunately indisposed so Doug Haynes kindly stepped in at the last minute.

Bob Welch writes:

The meeting went very well and as usual Doug gave a very good talk.

His Talk was about the leading Gentry in Cheshire and their family histories back to the Norman Conquest when Hugh Lupus became the first Earl of Chester along with his 10 Barons. The families included the Tollemaches/ Wilbrahams, Cholmondeleys, Grosvenors, Crewes and Delves-Broughtons. He explained how a number could trace their ancestry back to the Norman Barons, how they in effect ruled the county including providing supplying a large number of the County's MPs right up to the Great Reform Act of 1832.

He went on to talk about their homes, castles and estates most of which survive to this day.
It was interesting to hear what in influence these families had on the county over many, many generations. Apparently the "Cheshire Gentry" were well known throughout the whole country.

The whole talk was illustrated with many photos, maps and contemporary comments.

Chester Mint Thursday 25th February

Our Speaker for 25th Feb is Jonathan Morris. He lives in Bunbury and is a retired Chartered Surveyor with a long interest in Coins and Coin Collecting. He has spoken at a number "Coin" Events both in the UK and Europe. His Subject for our Talk is the Chester Mint.

As usual, the talk will be at 7:30 in Tiverton Village Hall and non-members are very welcome.

Cheshire on Film Grosvenor Museum 8 March

I've been asked by the North West Film Archive to publicise a meeting they are holding.

The North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University is pleased to announce ‘Cheshire on Film’, a part of its programme to make this fascinating collection available to the public of the North West region. The NWFA will present two public screenings of films from its collection at The Grosvenor Museum Chester. 

The screenings will take place on Tuesday 8th of March 2016 at 2pm and 7.30pm.

Further details can be found by clicking on Film meeting

Looks good.

Bunbury History

John Elsworth has kindly given us copies of articles he wrote for the Bunbury Journal.

The articles are on:

• The Bunbury Fire Brigade
• Early street lighting
• Local street names

I've uploaded these and you can find them by clicking on Bunbury articles. 

Chester's Canal Age 28 January

January's talk was given to a packed hall by Ray Buss from the Chester Canal Heritage Trust. Ray, who is a keen canal boat owner, described the birth and development of the canal system through Chester and Cheshire. Ray's talk gave us a rich insight into the local economy and businesses, the canal people, and the infrastructure of boat builders, warehouses, locks, cuttings, bridges etc necessary to make the canal system a commercial success. An excellent evening!

For more details of the Trust see http://www.chestercanalheritagetrust.co.uk/

Bunbury and Beeston documents

We have recently been given two old publications by a Mr George Nott who lived in Bunbury in the 50s and 60s. These are histories of Bunbury Church and of Beeston Castle. 
I have scanned both documents and you can now read them by clicking on Bunbury Documents
We will pass the originals onto the Cheshire Record Office.

1873 Ownership of Land

In 1872 the Government commissioned a survey of all significant landowners initially in England and Wales. See Wikipedia

The results of this survey were published in 1873. The survey lists land owners, their holdings and income.

Doug Haynes has a copy of this 'Modern Domesday Book' for Chester (Cheshire). Doug has scanned his copy and I've put this digital file on Google Drive. Click on 1873 Ownership to see the complete copy. Note each page is stored as a separate PDF. Gill Clough and Doug have also produced a list of all local land owners. This can be accessed as 1873 local. 

These documents make fascinating reading, showing both the wealthy land owners and those with more humble holdings.

Please let me know if you have any problems accessing these data.

Our Christmas Special 17th December

Just for the record, I note that the Society held its Christmas meeting on 17th December. It was an informal affair with mince pies and stollen, preceded by talks by committee members.
The main speaker was Doug Haynes who described how farming had changed over the past few decades. And oh, what changes! Bob Welch gave a presentation of his collection of old post cards of the area, and Paul Bujac also talked briefly about changes in the area and showed some of the local images available on line.