Portal:Cheshire
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The Cheshire Portal
Welcome Cheshire Plain from the Mid Cheshire Ridge
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in the North West of England. Chester is the county town, and formerly gave its name to the county. The largest town is Warrington, and other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Northwich, Runcorn, Sandbach, Widnes, Wilmslow and Winsford. The county is administered as four unitary authorities. Cheshire occupies a boulder clay plain (pictured) which separates the hills of North Wales from the Peak District of Derbyshire. The county covers an area of 2,343 km2 (905 sq mi), with a high point of 559 m (1,834 ft) elevation. The estimated population is a little over one million, 19th highest in England, with a population density of around 450 people per km2. The county was created in around 920, but the area has a long history of human occupation dating back to before the last Ice Age. Deva was a major Roman fort, and Cheshire played an important part in the Civil War. Predominantly rural, the county is historically famous for the production of Cheshire cheese, salt and silk. During the 19th century, towns in the north of the county were pioneers of the chemical industry, while Crewe became a major railway junction and engineering facility. Selected article
Halton Castle is a ruined castle situated on the top of Halton Hill, a sandstone prominence overlooking the former village of Halton, now part of the town of Runcorn. It is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled ancient monument. The seat of the Barons of Halton from the 11th century until the 14th century, the castle passed to the Duchy of Lancaster when the 15th baron ascended the throne as King Henry IV. King Edward II visited in 1323. It was used as a prison, administrative centre and court of law during the Tudor period, but had already fallen into disrepair by the early 17th century. The castle was besieged twice during the Civil War, after which its structure deteriorated further. In the 18th century a new courthouse was built on the site of the previous gatehouse. The castle now lies in ruins apart from the courthouse which has been converted into a public house. Selected image
Salt-making by the open-pan method dates back to the Roman occupation, and was one of Cheshire's major industries. The Lion Salt Works was the last place in the county to use the method. It closed in 1986, when this picture was taken, and is now a museum. Credit: Chris Allen (8 June 1986) In this month
3 May 1938: Cheshire County Council granted a banner of arms, now the county flag. 8 May 1817: Early paper on Cheshire dialect read at Society of Antiquaries by Roger Wilbraham. 12 May 1278: Fire destroyed much of Chester. 13 May 1983: Lindow Woman bog body discovered. 14 May 1853: Novelist and playwright Hall Caine (pictured) born in Runcorn. 18 May 1980: Musician Ian Curtis committed suicide at Macclesfield. 21 May 1868: First train crossed Runcorn Railway Bridge. 21 May 1894: Manchester Ship Canal officially opened by Queen Victoria. 23 May 1911: Architect John Douglas died in Chester. 24 May 1847: Five people killed in the Dee bridge disaster. 27 May 1899: Eastgate Clock unveiled, marking the 80th birthday of Queen Victoria. 29 May 1905: Widnes–Runcorn Transporter Bridge officially opened by Sir John Brunner. 31 May 1807: Primitive Methodism originated in a prayer meeting at Mow Cop. 31 May 1939: Humanitarian Terry Waite born in Styal. Selected list
The output of Chester-based architect John Douglas (1830–1911) included 40 new churches, as well as work on existing churches and church furniture. The majority of his works were in Cheshire and North Wales. His architectural styles were eclectic, but as he worked during the Gothic Revival period much of his output incorporates elements of the English Gothic style. His new churches (St Wenefrede's, Bickley pictured) date from the early 1860s until his death. They are in a range of materials including sandstone and red and other coloured brick; a few examples use half-timbering. His church restorations were influenced by the Oxford Movement, which advocated a shift in emphasis from preaching to the sacrament of the Eucharist, and thus from the pulpit to the altar. Consequences of this included moving the pulpit from a more central position to the side of the church, replacing box pews with open pews, creating a central aisle to give a better view of the altar, and removing galleries; a larger chancel was also required for the associated ritual. One of the hallmarks of Douglas' designs is the attention to detail, especially in wooden articles, and his church furniture often incorporates highly detailed wood carving. GeographyTop: Map of modern Cheshire showing urban areas (grey) and the major road network. Chester (red) is the county town, and Warrington has the greatest population. Towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants in 2011 are highlighted; the size of dot gives a rough indication of the relative population. Wales and the adjacent English counties are shown in capitals. Bottom: Relief map showing the major hills. The Mid Cheshire Ridge is a discontinuous ridge of low hills running north–south from Beacon Hill (north of Helsby Hill) to Bickerton Hill. Most other high ground falls within the Peak District in the east of the county. Shining Tor (559 metres), on the boundary with Derbyshire, forms the county's high point.
Administration The ceremonial county of Cheshire is administered by four unitary authorities (click on the map for details): 2 – Cheshire East 3 – Warrington 4 – Halton In the local government reorganisation of 1974, Cheshire gained an area formerly in Lancashire including Widnes and Warrington. The county lost Tintwistle to Derbyshire, part of the Wirral Peninsula to Merseyside, and a northern area including Stockport, Altrincham, Sale, Hyde, Dukinfield and Stalybridge to Greater Manchester. Selected biography
Nicholas Anthony "Nick" Robinson (born 5 October 1963) is a television and radio journalist and political editor. Born in Macclesfield, he was interested in politics from an early age. He studied philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Oxford, where he served as President of the university's Conservative Association. From his first broadcasting position at Manchester's Piccadilly Radio, he worked his way up as a producer to become deputy editor of Panorama, the world's longest-running current affairs programme. He has presented several television and radio programmes, including Westminster Live, Newsnight and, since 2015, the Today programme. Robinson was a political correspondent from 1996 to 2015, working for the BBC and ITN. He was the BBC's political editor from 2005 to 2015. Noted for his confrontational and provocative approach, he has sometimes caused a stir with his style of questioning, particularly of world leaders such as George W. Bush. Did you know...
Selected town or village
Northwich, the most northerly of Cheshire's wich towns, lies at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, near Winsford, in the heart of the Cheshire Plain. The population of the civil parish was nearly 20,000 in 2011. Northwich rests on Lower Keuper saliferous beds. The settlement – then called Condate, thought to mean "confluence" – has been known since the Roman era, when it was important as a river crossing and a source of salt, and the area has long been exploited for its salt pans. The town has had a market since at least 1535. From the 19th century, pumped water was used to extract salt as brine, leading to subsidence problems and the creation of flashes. Several buildings were designed to be lifted in the event of subsidence. Northwich has been involved in the chemical industry since 1874, when Brunner Mond, later part of ICI, started to manufacture soda ash in Winnington. The mines were stabilised in the early 2000s, and much of the industrial area has been reclaimed to form Northwich Woodlands. The Weaver Hall Museum documents the town's salt industry. In the news.JPG) Crewe Market Hall 29 October, 1 November: Warrington council and the mayor of Crewe each announce plans to bid for city status in 2022. 13–14 October: Prince Edward visits Chester and opens a Fire Service training centre in Winsford. 8 October: Castle Street shopping area in Macclesfield reopens after refurbishment. 4 October: Restoration of the grade-I-listed Bridgegate, part of Chester city walls, is completed. 25 September: A bronze frieze by the sculptor Tom Murphy is unveiled in Warrington, as a memorial to the band Viola Beach. 9 September: The fifth stage of the Tour of Britain cycle race takes place in Cheshire, starting at Alderley Park and finishing in Warrington. 24 July: The grade-II-listed Crewe Market Hall (pictured) formally reopens after refurbishment. 15 July: Crewe, Runcorn and Warrington are awarded potential funding under the "Town Deal" government scheme. QuotationBefore the advent of the London and North Western and the establishment of its works there was no Crewe. Let the London and North Western depart tomorrow, and Crewe would perish out of the list of living towns as completely as Nineveh or Pompeii. The grass would grow in its streets, its houses would stand in empty rows, its churches would become nesting places for the rooks and owls, its people would fly from it; and pasture fields for sheep and oxen, dotted with, perhaps, half a dozen peasant homesteads, would take the place of one of the most progressive and flourishing towns of modern England. From "The King of Crewe" in Crewe Chronicle (1902)
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