Latest News

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 Staffordshire History Study day is an online event on Saturday May 4th, It is popular and does get sold out so you need to move quickly! To find out more click here

The next BALH online talks are on Wednesday April 17th and Tuesday April 23rd. Details are shown below. Members of Sandbach History Society can get a discount so the cost will be £3. Ask Aileen for the code by e-mailing her. Further details at https://www.balh.org.uk/events

January is the time when Nantwich remembers the English Civil War and especially the Battle of Nantwich which took place in January 1644, 380 years ago. Nantwich was a Parliamentarian stronghold and was besieged by the Royalists until the latter were defeated at the Battle of Nantwich and the siege was lifted. This is remembered on January 25th, Holly Holy Day.

For more information visit Nantwich Museum in person or online at https://nantwichmuseum.org.uk/permanent-exhibitions/english-civil-war-battle-of-nantwich/

On June 8th a group of 16 members of the Society visited Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum and had a very interesting talk and tour followed by a cup of tea and a piece of cake! This was the final meeting for the 2022/23 season. We will start again in the autumn with our first meeting on 2023/24 on Tuesday September 5th at 8pm in Sandbach Library when Graham Dodd of Nantwich Museum will talk about The Great Fire of Nantwich. We look forward to seeing you then.

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 [email protected].

Many thanks

Stephen Brown

Administrator

Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum

If you are interested in local history in Staffordshire, the council produces a regular newsletter. To obtain it go to https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKSTAFFORDSHIRECC/bulletins/329bb93