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.