Streets of Hoole & Newton
A selection of articles describing the history of the streets of Hoole.
Bishop Street
One of the Lost Streets of Hoole.
Charles Street[1]
From the Bromfield Arms to Westminster Road
Charles Street was given its name to recognise Charles, the last of the Hamilton family to own this part of Hoole. When it was built in the 1850s it was mainly residential and remained so even 100 years later. Some shops were built, the earliest reference being the sale in 1854 of a “recently erected dwellinghouse with spacious shop, warehouse, yard and shippons (cattle sheds), situate on the north side in the occupation of Thomas Pemberton”. It is almost certain that this became No.24, occupied for many years by the Roberts family, cow keepers and butchers. It was then briefly occupied by George Stalker, dairyman, and William Wild, fishmonger, before continuing as a butcher's shop run by the Roberts family again.
Chatwins the bakers is the only shop still carrying out its original trade. The first baker and grocer there (in the 1857 Directory) was Henry Richards, a prominent member of Hoole Local Board from its founding in 1864. His son took over the business and for a number of years also ran Hoole Post Office from there which had transferred from Balshaw's shop (now Lewis's Ice Cream) in Peploe Street (now Westminster Rd). The bakery later became a branch of Charles Roberts of 19 Brook Street and, following the death in 1894 of Mr. Roberts who lived at No.1 Alexandra Terrace, it was run by Thomas Langford. The Post Office had meanwhile moved to the chemist's shop run by David Dickinson at No.2 Faulkner Street.
In 1914 Thomas Jones who had run a bakery in Peploe Street, also at Lewis's, took over the Charles Street premises and continued until the 1950s. P.A. Davies from Newtown then installed one of their branches there until it was recently taken over by Chatwins. Remarkably, for over 100 years a horse and cart delivery service was operated. An incident is recorded when a horse broke the shafts of Richards' delivery trap and bolted in Phillip Street!
The first advertisement for houses appeared in January 1855 when “seven substantially built and neatly finished dwellinghouses let to respectable tenants at the low rent of £83 p.a.” were put on sale. In 1873 the shop on the corner of Faulkner Street with two attached cottages in Charles Street was advertised. (This is now Sainsbury's but many readers will remember Peters Electrics which occupied the site from 1956 until 2011). In a subsequent sale in 1890 the shop and cottages were bought by William Stringer, licensee of the Faulkner Arms, for £600. The original shop was a grocery run by Charles Harrison in the 1890s and by William Holmes in the mid-20th century. In the 1860s Miss Carver's School occupied the premises before moving to Westminster Road School. On the other side of the entry, in 1871, No.8 was a butcher's shop which became Thomas Baldwin's greengrocery from 1891 to the late 1950s.
Occupants of some of the houses ran businesses from their premises. A shoemaker, dressmaker, milliner, commission agent (bookmaker) and a piano tuner are listed in early Directories, and in 1871 Hoole Local Board rented one as an office for its surveyor, William Grice. Front rooms were gradually converted into shops and some of the tenants within living memory included Magnus Clark the chemist at No.12, Miss Thacker's smallwares (haberdashery) shop at No.6, Mrs. Mutch's sweetshop No.9 and at No.18 Isaac Simpson the dairyman who sold his business to Deva Dairies.
Charles Street was to become the sartorial district of Hoole, if not Chester. Its tailors, drapers and outfitters included James Beck, Thomas Todd, J.S. Hornby, James Broadhurst and Alice Benyon. The well-dressed inhabitants of Hoole would no doubt have enjoyed using the bars, cafés and restaurants and the high-class hairdressers which have now replaced many of the retail shops.
Beyond Westminster Road
The last house on the south side of Charles Street was No.17; next door was the yard and storeroom for the off licence run for many years by Archibald Manley on the corner with Westminster Road which provided its entrance and address. Opposite, No.19 Charles Street (now a wine shop, formerly a cycle dealer) was the retirement home of Henry Richards the baker. Nos.21 and 23 (now carpet and trophy shops) appear from 1891 as furniture shops run by Clarissa Goldstraw. In 1897 she became insolvent and clearly took the law into her own hands, being charged with “feloniously stealing” some furniture which she had sold on the easy payment system to a Mrs. Saunders of Halkyn Road, turning up with a hand cart and two men claiming that the goods had not been paid for and taking them away.
From 1933 J.M. Baldwin, son of the greengrocer at No.8, ran a painting and decorating business at No.21, before it became a Laundromat. No.23 became a confectioners run by H.J. Brewster who was the contact for the Westminster Dance Band. In the 1940s Charles Ives continued the confectionery business there and his daughter Wendy became Hoole's Festival of Britain Queen in 1951. This was a national event but in the mid-20th century there was a Carnival every year on the Playing Field off Canadian Avenue, where marquees and flags were erected. There were dancing troupes, sporting events, and attractions such as motorcycle races. The Carnival Queen and her retinue attended after processing through the District on floats.
On the other side of Charles Street, Robert Daniels was a newsagent on the corner at No.26 succeeded by James Beck, tailors. That block was occupied for many years by Thomas Norbury, plumber, glazier and gas fitter; his workshop and store were in Westminster Road next to the School and his family ran a restaurant in Chester which was alluded to in his advertisements. The row of three shops built in the garden of No.29 Hamilton Street in the 1920s was occupied by Charles Morris, grocers, and greengrocers at Nos.30 and 32; No.34 has always seemed to be a sweetshop. In very recent memory it was an acupuncture parlour and now it sells a different kind of bytes!
The need to protect consumers' rights is not new. Even in the 19th Century shoppers were safeguarded. In 1869 William Jones of Charles Street was summoned, his scales being 4 drams against the purchaser, and he was ordered to pay costs of 4s 6d. Records show that in 1891 George Stalker was also summonsed for refusing to sell milk for the purposes of analysis by Mr. Watts, Inspector of Weights & Measures. The bench imposed a fine of forty shillings (over £120 in today's money!) and costs, and ordered Stalker to pay the advocate's fee.
The local delivery of fresh produce was not confined to the bakery at No.3; Thomas Baldwin delivered fruit & veg, George Stalker and Isaac Simpson brought fresh milk to the doorstep, ladled out from churns; their successor, Deva Dairies continued providing milk in bottles – two choices, pasteurised with a cardboard top or gold foil top (Jersey milk). The Co-op also had milk rounds (tokens needed, bought at the Walker Street shop). Other horse drawn deliveries were made by various coalmen, and Patsy Dobbins, rag and bone merchants from Canalside were Chester's ‘Steptoe & Son’. In Hoole's leafy suburbs there was great rivalry to be the first with bucket and shovel to collect what the horses left behind to spread on prize roses or rhubarb!
Faulkner Street[2]
The first record of Faulkner Street, built on land belonging to the Faulkner family, appears in the 1851 Census showing 23 houses. The 1861 Census records the 60 premises we see today terminating where Griffiths Terrace used to be. The continuation of Faulkner Street was not built until the 1880’s on the field called Cowpastures (see Lightfoot Street article).
The name Faulkner is derived from 'falconer' which explains why until recently three black falcons appeared on the prominent corner pub sign of the Faulkner Arms.
Residential to Retail
Faulkner Street was initially virtually all housing, usually let on short term rentals. The 1861 Census shows 26 railway workers living there. Retail businesses started from front rooms which were eventually converted into shops joining the very few purpose-built ones.
An 1857 Directory lists two boot and shoemakers, a provision dealer, a tailor and also a school academy; the 1861 Census added to the range of outlets with a butcher, a cowkeeper (fresh milk), a baker, a grocer and a beer retailer.
In 1888 James Freeman Fletcher who owned Upton View (recently Natwest Bank) built a block of shops in his garden (now Boots etc.). One of the first occupants was David Dickinson, a chemist [whose prescription book Hoole History & Heritage Society has been able to study]; he also ran the Post Office which had transferred from No.2 Charles Street, and which continued until the 1950s under Goodman Roberts. The addition of these shops and the demolition of houses to allow the later built Walker Street access meant that Faulkner Street properties had to be re-numbered.
An extract and plan from the deeds for five houses at the original end of the street show the renumbering on that side. No.74 (originally No.66) was occupied by Leonard Riley from before 1871 until his death in 1892. He was a cowkeeper, using the yard and outbuildings there, and the field behind called Cowpastures, to raise his dairy cattle. His son, also named Leonard Riley, who continued to live there was appointed as the first park keeper of Alexandra Park in 1904. His daughter was married to Thomas Baldwin the greengrocer from Charles Street.
Like Goodman Roberts some family businesses thrived throughout the first part of the 20th century. Many readers will remember, among others, Dinwoodie the butcher, originally at No.2 but later at Nos.65 and 67, Tommy Lloyd the fishmonger at No.38, whose front window opened completely to display his wares, Dawson's newsagents whose business was in Faulkner Street for 102 years and Smith's (Pioneer) shoe sales and repairs, run by the father and grandfather of Bill Smith, Hoole’s well known participant in the Isle of Man TT Races.
Past members of the Boys' Brigade will recall Faichney's taxis and coaches at No.10 who provided transport for the Brigade on their outings.
Only four private houses now remain in the northern part of the street where takeaways, estate and travel agents, cafe, bar and restaurant are now a part of the vibrant street scene.
Licensed Premises
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.
In 1855 the landlord was a Mr. Brown who also worked at the Leadworks. A succession of landlords followed until the Stringer family took over in 1878, running the pub until at least 1906. The brewery was Wilderspool Ales from Warrington. The Faulkner Arms was often used to hold coroner's inquests sometimes with a jury present.
The Bromfield Arms is first mentioned in a licence transfer in 1864. The earliest innkeeper recorded in 1867 was Thomas Balshaw who had opened one of Hoole's first shops in Peploe Street (this shop later became Lewis's Ice Cream shop). He died in 1874 and there were then 6 other landlords to the turn of the century. A keystone over the door on the Walker Street corner shows that in 1900 the Bromfield doubled in size following the demolition of two adjoining cottages Nos.45 and 47. The Northgate Brewery were then the owners.
The Hamilton Arms appears to have been an earlier name for the Royal Oak whose first landlord was Edward Edwards in 1864. He was followed in 1871 by Philip Gorst, in 1878 by Rebecca Hughes and in 1899 by George Ryan who was also a taxi driver. The Gatehouse Brewery, Birkenhead which became the West Cheshire Brewery supplied the beer. Eventually the West Cheshire Brewery was taken over by Threlfalls of Liverpool.
There were also two other licensed premises in Faulkner Street at the end of the 19th century: Dickinson the Chemist for medical purposes and Denson the grocer at No.8 who was also a wine merchant.
More information on Faulkner Street can be found in the articles on Butchers' Shops and the Dinwoodie Family.
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).
Fieldway & Sandileigh
Griffiths Terrace
One of the Lost Streets of Hoole.
Hamilton Street
Hoole Road
Hoole Road - Hoole Bridge to Lightfoot Street
Hoole Road - Lightfoot Street to the 'Shell' Garage
Hoole Road - the 'Shell' Garage
Hoole Road - Folley House
Law Street
One of the Lost Streets of Hoole.
Lightfoot Street
Queensway
Roberts Row
Walker Street
Warrington Road - Mayfield House
Westminster Road
Lost Streets of Hoole
The 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.