News

To find out more click here

Olivia Smedley , one of our members , gave a talk about Cath Jones.  Some of you may remember Cath.  She was the owner of the Music Shop on Congleton Road where Johnson’s Dry Cleaners is now located.  She was a talented musician, played in a band renowned for their old time music hall performances. She taught many Sandbachians to play the accordion.  She and her husband Wilf lived in the bungalow next to the shop.  Following Wilf’s death Cath performed on stage with Brian Elsby.

To finish the 2023/24 season, members of the Sandbach History Society, visited Acton Church for a very interesting visit and Tea at the Tower. A great end to a year of talks.

Reopens on Wednesday May 22nd

The end of this major relocation project is now in sight. The date of the reopening is Wednesday 22nd May, 2024. With the expectation of a very busy first few weeks – maybe even months! – the Archives strongly recommend booking in advance of your visit. The easiest way to do this is via e-mail at stoke.archives@stoke.gov.uk, but you can also call and leavea message on 01782 238420. We’ll then get back to you with our availability and get you booked in.

We’re looking forward to welcoming you into our brand new Reading Room at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery – not too long now!

Archives web-site

News for the Cheshire Records Office

The Record Office will now close to research visitors on Thursday 25 July, not 27 June as originally planned. There has been a small delay in getting the sites ready for our contractor to start work. We will be updating our website but wanted to let you know so that you can pass the message on via your networks.

All online services are unaffected, and we will continue to respond to research and digitisation requests. Please let me know if you or your members have any questions.

The 180^th anniversary of Crewe Works is coming up with exhibitions at Crewe Heritage Centre 1^st July till 10^th September at weekends and Bank Holidays.  The theme is “How locomotives were a catalyst for change in Crewe”. For more information go to the Crewe Town Council website

Sifta Table Salt was manufactured at the Ettiley Heath factory of Palmer Mann and Co. from 1919 until 1971 and Sifta Sam was the logo of the company. We have been donated two copies of the company’s staff magazine ‘Brine Works’ from 1938 and 1952. As well as company information the former provides some information about how the people in France viewed the inevitability of war with Germany a few weeks before the Munich agreement (“Peace in our time”) and the latter is a personal tribute to the founder of the company, John Mann, who had just died.

Great news! Cheshire Archives and Local Studies have announced their application for funding by the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the new archives centres at Crewe and Chester has been successful. The projects are now subject to planning approval being granted by Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester Councils respectively.  If these formalities are cleared satisfactorily, the next steps will be more detailed discussions between CALS and the Society regarding the collections and future working relationships at the new locations. For more information click on the link below for the press release.

https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/news/new-vision-for-cheshires-archives-takes-major-leap-forward-thanks-to-national-lottery-support

Hello. I’m writing to local history organisations in Cheshire on behalf of the Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum of Primitive Methodism nr Crewe (www.engleseabrook.org.uk). We are a small museum and, as such, need to make a little space in our office and have had a small clearout. We have five copies of a book for sale which may be of interest to local history societies in Cheshire. The book is “Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in Cheshire”, ISBN 1904931901. The book measures : L 29.5cm x W 23.3 x D 2.5cm

The book sells for £39.99 new on Ebay and Amazon, and for £20 (used) on Amazon. Our copies are new and we are selling them for £10. The only “catch” is that they have to be collected, either from the Museum or from our Museum Director’s home in Alsager.

If you are interested please reply to me at admin@englesabrook.org.uk.

Many thanks

Stephen Brown

Administrator

Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum