July 2009 Archives
A Hawarden man has travelled to Surrey in his search to trace the Welsh Royal family.
Steve Griffiths visited Tatsfield, where Prince Rhodri ap Gruffydd lived at the end of the 13th century.
Prince Rhodri was the solitary and direct heir to the vacant throne of Gwynedd and Northern Wales when he began a self-imposed exile in the village.
All three of his brothers had died and his nephews and nieces were incarcerated in different locations around the country.
During his visit Steve gave a lecture on the life of the prince, who became known as Sir Roderick de Fitz Griffin of Tatsfield, at St Mary's Church.
He presented the church with a framed history panel depicting the story of the family and a banner bearing the prince's personal coat of arms.
A MANSION near Nercwys is the latest location to be given the Spirit Quest UK treatment.
The bloody past of the 600-year-old Tower, a fortified border mansion, has attracted the attention of the Wrexham-based paranormal group, which claims to have seen and heard numerous spirits there.
The group, along with BBC cameramen, have filmed material for a documentary to be shown later this year, and now want to return, along with members of the public, to see what else they can find.
Howard Hughes, of Spirit Quest UK, said: "We will be going on August 7 and are inviting the public to join us.
"The group's mediums sensed the presence of 20 spirits in the Tower's ancient rooms, including a dog who sits on the staircase, an Edwardian man called John Edward, a jovial freemason, a plump nurse maid and lots of children.
BORN in 1947, Pearl Bradbury and her brother Steven were delivered in one of the Latham Avenue prefabs.
Both attended the Grange Infant School, which, Pearl notes, you can just see in this photograph.
She thinks another brother (John) could be on the photograph and she would dearly love to know who the children were in this little group.
The family name was Mayers and her parents subsequently moved to Boston Avenue where five more children were later born.
Pearl, who now lives in Churchill Mansions in old Runcorn, described the prefabs as little more than 'tin huts' built for returning wartime servicemen and their wives.
AS we near the end of the first decade of the 21st century, it's hard to imagine that Runcorn was an 'obscure' village.
Believed to be the oldest directory with detailed reference to Runcorn, the Pigot London and Provincial New Commercial Directory, published in 1822 contained details from 280 towns in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hereford, Lancashire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire, etc.
A copy of the Runcorn section was kindly supplied by Runcorn Historical Society archivist Alex Cowan and my thanks for other directories are also due to David Toft, of Moughland Lane, and Alan Andrews, a member of the history society, and now living in Northwich.
A FASCINATING book has been launched marking the 125th anniversary of Nantwich Town FC - that's a milestone worth celebrating because the club is older than the Real Madrid and Arsenal.
Called Proud To Be The Dabbers, it charts the fortunes of the UniBond Premier League club since it was founded in 1884.
Written by former club president Michael Chatwin, the 128-page, full-colour book is lavishly illustrated and pays tribute to its Victorian pioneers, the characters who have served it with such dedication over the years and the players who have proudly worn the club colours.
MOMENTUM is gathering in the £1m appeal to restore and renovate St Mary's Church, Nantwich.
The town centre church, which is a Grade One listed building, is Nantwich's most famous landmark, attracting around 50,000 visitors from all over the world every year. It is often referred to as the 'cathedral of South Cheshire'.
Work on restoring the main west entrance of the church is nearing completion.
But now a new target has been identified with the ambitious appeal - backed by the Chronicle - launched earlier this month at a special lunchtime concert which raised £600.
LOCK up your daughters... Tatton's Old Hall is bracing itself for a Viking invasion!
On Sunday, August 9, the Vikings of Middle England will be staging a dynamic and exciting battle re-enactment.
Hardened warriors will be showing off their fiercesome combat skills.
Renowned for their historical authenticity and realistically bloody battle scenes, they promise to 'shock, scare, amuse - but above all educate - an audience in a dramatic and entertaining fashion'.
But it's not all about battles. Around 30 re-enactors will be setting up an authentic Viking camp at the Old Hall, demonstrating the domestic side of Viking life with authentic cooking over open fires, wood-cutting, coin-minting, spinning, dyeing and weaving activities.
ROMAN Tours gave plenty of entertainment to Cestrians and visitors to Chester by hosting mock gladiatorial battles.
The Roman Arena Games in the Amphitheatre in Chester depicted what would have happened almost 2,000 years ago.
The event was planned by Chester's own Roman Army at Roman Tours UK and was completely free.
Visitors were able find out how the Romans lived nearly two millennia ago.
A ROMAN well has been unearthed on a Chester development site that will soon house a new Travelodge hotel.
An archaeological excavation on the junction of Upper Northgate Street and Delamere Street has already exposed a rock-cut Roman well and several large quarries - with at least one dating back to Roman times.
The quarries, once redundant, became a convenient place to dump rubbish, providing invaluable information about the lives of our forebears.
A NATIONAL conservation society has brought its golden jubilee exhibition to Chester.
The Victorian Society campaigns to save Victorian and Edwardian buildings and the photographic exhibition, selected by architectural historian and author Gavin Stamp, shows the best of those it has campaigned to save for the nation.
It includes work by noted Chester architect John Douglas.
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