Chester Memories: Life between the bombs

By Chester Chronicle on Dec 7, 09 10:06 AM in 1900-1945

JO HENWOOD speaks to the author of a new play which tells the story of Chester during the Second World War

FIREWORKS and street lamps are the only things that light up Chester's skies these days but back in the 1940s it was a different story.

According to playwright Helen Newall, Chester residents remember seeing a red glow in the sky when the Germans bombed Liverpool docks during the Second World War.

Helen's play, Home for Christmas, is based on living memories of life in Chester and Cheshire from 1939 - 45 and is presented by Theatre in the Quarter in various venues from now until December 20.

Helen said: "People from a wide range of areas in the North West told me about seeing the red glow in the sky as the Liverpool docks burned.

"I can't imagine the horror of seeing something like that. That their spirits weren't broken speaks volumes about people's bravery and fortitude.

"Three months of attacks every night in Liverpool must have had an impact on all of the region and people talked of the desolation and rubble afterwards.

"This was a war where, in the early years at least, more civilians than soldiers died. Chester suffered 232 alerts during which 44 high explosive bombs were dropped."

Chester people shared their memories with Helen and her team at information gathering sessions in Blacon and St Thomas of Canterbury Church.

Helen said: "The story tellers told us that they thought the bombs were aimed at the gas works but hit Crane Street instead. They were looking for the Vickers Armstrong factory as well, where Wellington bombers were constructed."

Other reports include people seeing military tents on the racecourse.

Helen says: "Some think that perhaps these were for Dunkirk evacuees but others remember it sown with crops, wheat perhaps, before becoming pasture again at the end of the war. I'd love to hear from anyone who knows more about this."

Another mystery revolves around Chester's Eastgate clock. "Someone heard Lord Haw Haw on the wireless claiming that Chester's Eastgate Clock would be hit that night - the irony being, according to our story teller, that the clock was manufactured by a relative of Lord Haw Haw."

The clock, of course, was not hit, but Sands the hat shop just a few streets away was.

Theatre in the Quarter, a professional and community theatre company, started life in Chester's Garden Quarter in 2005. Locals remember officials knocking on doors in Bouverie street looking for accommodation for children who had been evacuated to Chester.

Helen said: "We heard tales of the evacuees - especially the Potter Boys!

"Other people commented on how dark the blackout was. There was one report of a Home Guard soldier who shot a cow in the dark, mistaking it for an invader!

Some stories came from further afield.

"One woman consulted a fortune teller who told her that a son would be in the water within a week and he was! He was torpedoed, survived and returned home!

People even gave Helen a few food tips which may turn out to be helpful in today's credit crunch.

"People talked of using gravy browning to make the Christmas cake dark and adding grated potato to the Christmas pudding to make up for a lack of fruit!"

The above picture shows children, possibly evacuees, enjoying a party in Chester in 1941.

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
Performance dates and times
Tickets £10, £8 (concs)

Thursday December 3, 7.30pm, Bishops' Bluecoat CE High School, Boughton. Tickets 01244 313806
Friday December 4, 7.30pm, St Alban's Church, Tattenhall. Tickets 01829 770377
Saturday December 5, 7.30pm, Capenhurst and Ledsham Village Hall. Tickets 0151 339 3327
Tuesday December 8, 7.30pm, The Cheshire View, Plough Lane, Christleton. Tickets 01244 336405
Thursday December 10, 7.30pm, Blacon High School. Tickets 01244 402486
Friday December 11, 7.30pm, Helsby Hillside Primary School, Bates Lane. Tickets 01928 722991
Saturday December 12, 7.30pm, Bickerton Village Hall. Tickets 01829 782392
Monday December 14, 7.30pm, All Saints Church, Saughall. Tickets 01224 880606
Tuesday December 15, 7.30pm, Trinity Methodist Church, Ellesmere Port. Tickets 0151 355 1294
Thursday December 17, 1.30pm, Blacon Community Centre, Church Way. Tickets 01244 390344
Friday December 18 and Saturday December 19, 7.30pm, St Thomas of Canterbury Church, Parkgate Road, Chester. Tickets 01244 372084/399990
Sunday December 20, 7.30pm, Upton-by-Chester Village Hall, Heath Road. Tickets Bache Post Office 01244