Streets of Hoole & Newton: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

[[File:8SHC6 The Faulkner.jpg|thumb|''<small>The Faulkner Public House, Hoole</small>'']]

The first pub to open was the Faulkner Arms an advertisement for a pigeon shooting there appearing in the Chester Chronicle on the 16th August 1851.

As a result of reading these articles, John Walker, a member of the Society, has written his reminiscences as a boy growing up in Faulkner Street in the post-World War 2 years ([[John Walker Reminiscences|'''John Walker Reminiscences''']]).

 

Current information held by the Society on Fieldway & Sandileigh is available in the article on [[Hoole Road|'''Hoole Road''']] - Folly House.

 

One of the [[Lost Streets of Hoole|'''Lost Streets of Hoole''']].

 

[[File:8SHE1 Hamilton St.jpg|left|thumb|''<small>Hamilton Street, Hoole</small>'']]

 

The street name comes from the Hamilton family who, in the late 1700s and the early 1800s, acquired a large part of the land on which urban Hoole was developed after the railways arrived in Chester. They built Hoole House in 1760 and acquired Hoole Old Hall (not the present Hoole Hall) in 1800. Charles Hamilton lived at Hoole Lodge (the manor house which was on the west corner of what is now Park Drive and Hoole Road) which they leased from the Earl of Shrewsbury who was Lord of the Manor.

[[File:8SHE2 Hamilton St.jpg|thumb|''<small>Hamilton Street, Hoole</small>'']]

 

* John J Clark, Assistant Overseer and Rate Collector living at “The Hermitage”

 

The Offices of the Hoole Local Board set up in 1864 (forerunner of Hoole Urban District Council) were at No.21, and a 1902 Directory even records a purpose-built laundry operating from No.43. An 1874 map also shows that several of the houses had wells on their premises.

Some older readers will recall that Crosville's Piper's Ash/Guilden Sutton bus to and from Chester went via Hamilton Street (impossible to imagine today with cars parked along the length of it!).

 

The [[Hoole Road|'''Hoole Road''']] is a major artery through Hoole and several articles have been written about the history of separate sections. These include: Hoole Bridge to Lightfoot Street; Lightfoot Street to the 'Shell' Garage; the 'Shell' Garage itself; and Folly House. Further articles will describe other sections in due course.

 

One of the [[Lost Streets of Hoole|'''Lost Streets of Hoole''']].

 

 

[[File:8SHK1 Lightfoot St Aerial Photo 1931.jpg|thumb|''<small>Aerial view 1931 showing the continuous row of terraced houses</small>'']]

If you pass by quickly, the eastern side of Lightfoot Street appears to be a continuous row of terraced houses. Look closely and you will see differences in style which came about with the development of that side of the street.

For the history of the site at the junction with Westminster Road see [[Westminster Road|'''Westminster Road''']] article.

 

[[File:8SHK3 Lightfoot St Railway Plan 1860.jpg|thumb|''<small>Lightfoot Street and the Railway Plan 1860</small>'']]

The western side of Lightfoot Street has been railway property since the arrival of the line from Crewe which opened in 1840. By the time Chester General Railway Station was built in 1848 the Railway Company had purchased lands in Hoole from Macclesfield School and the estate of John Lightfoot which included the stream known as Flookers Brook, which was diverted and eventually piped. The Station and the many lines that enter it were actually built on the boggy flood plain of Flookers Brook, which was the original boundary of the townships of Hoole and Newton with Chester, and early OS maps show how it meandered across the Station site as far as Lower Brook Street.

 

 

 

[[File:8SHK5 Lightfoot St.jpg|thumb|''<small>Lightfoot Street looking East</small>'']]

Because of its origins, the road was often in a bad state of repair, cab drivers refused to deliver there, and the council received a lot of criticism. It could never have been envisaged that the street along which cattle were driven would eventually contain so many parked cars and require speed humps.

On 22nd June 1893, the Cheshire Observer printed an irate letter (from the resident whom the Local Board agreed, according to their minutes, to treat with contempt?). This complained that “…''the working of the plan has caused universal irritation and execration''…” and that “…''repeated remonstrances … have been met with an autocratic consideration worthy of the Czar of Russia''”.

 

When the Society was asked if there is any information about Queensway, it seemed unlikely that a residential road developed partially before and partially after the Second World War would have any detailed history, but research has established some facts which are of interest not only to Queensway but to the surrounding areas.

[[File:8SHL1 Hoole Road to Upton showing Newton Hollows 1931.jpg|thumb|''<small>Aerial photograph c.1931 showing Hoole Road to Upton and Newton Hollows</small>'']]

It has been suggested that Queensway and Kingsway were so named because of the support for the Monarchy following the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936. Unfortunately, part of Kingsway was already built and named by then.

 

[[File:8SHM1 Roberts Row.jpg|thumb|''<small>Roberts Row, Hoole Lane</small>'']]

The houses 189–203 Hoole Lane were built in the late 1920s on land which was a market garden run by H. S. Roberts called 'The Oaks'. Two of the properties appear in a 1927/8 Directory and all are listed in a 1929/30 Directory. An aerial view (“Britain from Above” website) shows them in 1931. Locally they were known as Roberts Row. Apparently, the Roberts family owned the land and were able to build on it, and in 1933/34 no fewer than three of the houses were actually occupied by families called Roberts.

This land on the north side was sold in 1852 – the sale details show that Hoole Lane was then called St. Anne's Lane. When the Workhouse was built in 1878 it was for a short time known as Workhouse Lane. Hoole Lane was a long-established route from Chester through Boughton to Guilden Sutton and remained a country lane for many years, the last farm “Batemans” not being developed for housing until the middle of the 20th century.

 

[[File:8SHN1 Walker St.jpg|left|frameless|183x183px]]

An exploration of the early history of this street which "dog-legs" from Faulkner Street to Lightfoot Street.

Walker Street was built in 1881 from an opening in Lightfoot Street (see article above). Initially it only went as far as Pickering Street, the dogleg, its link to Faulkner Street, known as New Walker Street, not being built until 1887 when All Saints School was erected. It was necessary to demolish houses in Faulkner Street by the Bromfield Arms to create the opening for Walker Street.

 

[[File:8SHN2 Walker St.jpg|thumb|''<small>Walker Street 'Corner Shop'</small>'']]

Unlike Faulkner Street and Charles Street where houses were turned into shops, Walker Street had shops on every corner. The range of shop provided all that one could need; grocers, bakers, butchers, newsagent, smallwares, boots and shoes, as well as a bicycle dealer. They changed hands and their type of trade frequently. Old “Hooligans” fondly recall Lowndes' fish & chip shop being there.

The plans were not proceeded with and today's terrace of houses with then a shop at either end was eventually built on the site. Hoole residents had to go to the pictures in Chester and a montage of the cinemas there is shown.

 

The area of land between Pickering Street and School Street has over the years seen some interesting activities. The Hoole Millennium Book incorrectly attributes the street’s name to George Pickering, an artist who lived at Brook Lodge and whose work included paintings of the gardens in Hoole House. Pickering Street was actually named after Thomas Walker's daughter, Elizabeth Pickering, who had married Charles William Harrison Pickering a merchant banker from Liverpool, who helped finance the second transatlantic cable.

[[File:8SHN5 Advertisment 1914.jpg|left|thumb|415x415px|''<small>Advertisment 1914</small>'']]

Isaac Temple was married twice. His first wife, Sarah Jane was born in 1797 in Endon, Staffordshire and died in the 1860s. His second wife, Anne, was local from Trafford. There were 5 children from his first marriage:

 

*Emily born 1831

*Lucy born 1834

[[Westminster Road|'''Westminster Road''']] is a main link running from Hoole Road in the North to Lightfoot Street in the South.

 

The [[Lost Streets of Hoole|'''Lost Streets of Hoole''']] include Bishop Street, Law Street, and Griffiths Terrace. These properties along with those in Faulkner Street, Charles Street, and the northern end of Peploe Street (Westminster Road) were the first streets of urban Hoole.