The Trust’s series of Winter Talks moved to a new venue for the 2008-09 season - the Chester Home Guard on Canal Street in Chester. This change was generally welcomed by all those who came along, with improved facilities and easier car parking, as well as a very warm welcome. The talks themselves covered a varied and interesting range of topics and were well received by all those who attended. If you did not manage to get there, this is what you missed!
New life for 105 year old lady called Danny!
The Trust’s series of winter talks for 2008-09 started in November with an illustrated talk by Tony Hirst (former Director of the Boat Museum) entitled ‘The Rejuvenation of the Daniel Adamson’. Originally built in 1903 as a tug and passenger vessel for the Shropshire Union Railway and Canal Company, which had its Head Office in Chester, the boat was acquired by the Manchester Ship Canal Company in 1921 and continued to operate until the 1980s. Finally laid up at the Boat Museum in 1986, she languished there until 2004, when an intrepid band of enthusiasts took her over and began the painstaking task of restoring her to her former glory. Tony told those present all about the fascinating history of the “Danny” and also the fight to save her for future generations, illustrated with an amazing range of pictures, showing the vessel both in its heyday and in the process of restoration.
The Idea of Heritage, as it relates to canals
In December, Canal Historian and Author, Joseph Boughey, presented an idiosyncratic and challenging view of “Heritage”, on the one hand, arguing that the best of heritage perceives something history misses. On the other hand, using L.T.C.Rolt’s description of the Chester Rows in his Landscape trilogy, he gave examples of how history could be embellished to arrive at heritage. An academic at Liverpool John Moores University, Joseph’s interest in canals began as a boy on family boating holidays from which his enthusiasm developed so that he is now one of Britain’s leading canal historians. His research has been widely published and he is the author or co-author of a number of books, including British Canals, the Standard History, the 9th edition of which has just been released.
Canal and Castle: An armchair walk from Bunbury Locks to the top of Beeston Hill’
Those attending the February talk enjoyed a walk from Bunbury Locks on the Chester Canal all the way up to the top of Beeston Hill without having to leave the comfort of the bar at Chester Home Guard! The walk was led by David Hayns, who lives locally and worked for a number of years as the Field Officer for the British Association for Local History. Now retired, he has a wealth of knowledge about the area and has published many articles about the history of Cheshire. His talk dealt not only with the Chester Canal and the magnificent ruins of Beeston Castle but also with the interesting and historic landscape around this part of the County, including the sites of local Water Mills and the remains of Civil War fortifications. Those who heard David’s fascinating account went away with a much better understanding of what lies hidden under the fields and a resolve to go and look for themselves in warmer and sunnier weather!
The Archaeology of the Chester Canal Basin Area
In the last of the series of winter talks in March, Martin Cook spoke about his work as one of the professional archaeologists involved with excavations of the Tower Wharf site, which is currently being redeveloped. In 2000, Martin worked on the dig which uncovered the remains of a number of wide wooden boats, known as Mersey Flats, which had lain buried for many years in the North Basin. In his account of the excavations, Martin presented evidence not only of the old boats that had been uncovered but also the footprints of the various buildings that used to surround the North Basin. This created a lot of interest from all those present and provoked a well-informed discussion about the history of this important area of the City. In particular, the talk highlighted the scattered nature of much of the available information and the need for further work to bring all this together and create a more definitive record.