Recently by Sarah Griffiths

The famous World War One poet, Wilfred Owen lived in Cheshire during his childhood and was said to have been inspired to write poetry during a childhood visit to Broxton.

Wilfred Owen was born in Oswestry in 1893 and his family moved to Birkenhead in 1900, where his father was stationmaster at Woodside. At the age of ten Wilfred made his life-changing foray to Broxton in 1904 and the views he saw of Cheshire, the Clwydians, the Wirral and Liverpool were reflected in one of his poems written in 1918:

Here is a selection of articles from the blog archives on the area's waterways and maritime history:

Connah's Quay Docks

Eastham Locks

Old Mill Brow Community in Runcorn and the Bridgewater Canal

Memories of Old Mill Brow Community in Runcorn and the Bridgewater Canal

Bidston Observatory

William Shaw of Runcorn: A man on a mission

Retirement of Chester mariner

Weston Point, Runcorn

Family tree request for details of Whitchurch and Chester boatmen

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and canal become a World Heritage site

Sir Aubrey Brocklebank and RMS Queen Mary reunion

The Sutton Weaver tunnel was constructed by the Birkenhead, Lancashire & Cheshire Junction Railway in the mid nineteenth century to accommodate trains between Chester and Manchester.

The tunnel is located between Frodsham and Runcorn East and regular services on the line commenced on 18 December 1850. In the following April, passengers travelling back from Chester Races were involved in an accident when an underpowered locomotive broke down in the tunnel. A further train tried to assist by pushing the original one forward but both came to a halt. Another train left from Frodsham and, unaware of the situation, ploughed into the stationary trains.

A total of five people were killed in the accident, between 30 and 40 were injured to varying degrees and around 1,600 people were stranded in the tunnel. A further train was due to enter the tunnel shortly afterwards, but was fortuitously stopped before it could add to the confusion.

As Wimbledon fortnight gets underway, it is probably worth remembering that this very English pursuit actually originated in North Wales.

Major Walter Wingfield was a resident of Nantclwyd Hall, which is about six miles south of Ruthin in Denbighshire (pictured). He invented the game of lawn tennis in his garden when he tried out a new type of India rubber ball which could be bounced on grass. The enjoyment he derived from this novel pastime led to the formulation of some standard rules which he published as The First Set of Lawn Tennis Rules in the same year.

He called the game sphairistaike and registered a patent for the combined equipment of net, posts, balls and racquets in 1874. He combined the necessary equipment as a kit and sold it along with the rulebook as a game suitable for Victorian gardens.

Sir Hugh Calveley was responsible for adapting the building of the current St Boniface's Church in Bunbury in the fourteenth century. He was born sometime between 1315 and 1333 and his family resided at the manor of Calveley, near Bunbury.

Hugh Calveley's impressive tomb in the church gives an indication of his unusual height (seven foot) and it was said that he could eat as much as two plain men and fight like ten. He came to prominence as a soldier in the Hundred Years' War, especially during the War of the Breton Succession and the Castilian Civil War. He was appointed as a commander for the Black Prince in the campaign against Pedro the Cruel and later played an important part in the French wars from 1369.

Duddon's unusual pub name is visible as you pass through the village on the A51.

The story surrounding The Headless Woman is believed to date from Civil War times when a maid at nearby Hockenhull Hall refused to give up jewellery owned by her employers to the Roundheads. For this act she was beheaded and the legend goes that she walked to Duddon with her head under her arm.

The pub is believed to be haunted and an owner in the 1930s installed a ship's figurehead in the garden of a headless woman to add colour to the story. This was subsequently stolen but the pub's sign depicting the maid's fate is still a reminder of more troubled times in Cheshire.

John Bradshaw was born in Marple in 1602 and his most notable appointment was as Lord President of the Parliamentary Commission which undertook the trial of Charles I.

John Bradshaw attended Cheshire and Lancashire schools in Stockport, Bunbury and Middleton. He then became a clerk to a Congleton attorney before moving to London to study law. He was a contemporary of John Milton and gained a reputation as a hardworking scholar. Having qualified, he returned to Congleton to practise, became mayor of the town in 1637 and High Recorder for the borough.

In the early 1640s he moved back to London and became judge for the Sheriff's Court in 1643. He undertook a number of high profile cases which resulted in his appointment as Chief Justice of Chester and North Wales in 1648 and Parliament made him a serjeant-at-law in 1649. However, it was in this latter year that he accepted the task of overseeing the trial of Charles I, only after other leading candidates had turned down the offer. He presided over the 53 Parliamentary independents left after Pride's Purge, despite opposition from Royalists and many Parliamentarians alike.

St Trillo's Chapel in Rhos on Sea is believed to be the smallest chapel in Britain.

It was founded by St Trillo, a monk from Brittany, who was born around AD 550.

He was also responsible for establishing churches at Llandrillo (near Corwen) and Llandrygarn (on Anglesey) but spent most of his time based at this chapel.

He was buried on Bardsey Island, just off the Lleyn peninsula, which was a popular burial place for holy men from Celtic times onwards.

Raphael (or Ralph) Holinshed was the main author of The Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande which was published in 1577 and was used heavily as a reference work by William Shakespeare for his historical plays.

Little is known of Holinshed's early life except that he is believed to have been born in Sutton Downes, near Macclesfield. Following a period of study, he moved to London in the 1550s and began work for the Queen's printer, Reginald Wolfe.

Wolfe had been involved in the compilation of a worldwide historical encyclopaedia for many years, and soon involved Holinshed in his enterprise. Wolfe died in 1573 and the enormity of the project meant that it was trimmed down to a history of the British Isles and Holinshed took control.

William Inman was born in 1825 in Leicester, but it was while as a Wirral resident that he made his fortune from transatlantic steam ships.

Inman was present at the launch of the first iron ship service to the United States in 1850, saw the business potential of this venture and decided to purchase the vessel. He adapted the ship in the same year and set up his own company, the Liverpool, New York and Philadelphia Steamship Company, with two other partners. However, these two Quaker businessmen would not condone the use of their ships for military transport and so the partnership was dissolved two years later. As a result, the company became known as the Inman Line and many of its transatlantic journeys were used for emigrants travelling to the New World.