I’m sure many of you will have enjoyed a delightful walk though the village this autumn. Despite some dreadful rainy days there have been one or two really beautiful autumn days and nights, clear enough for even more sightings of the aurora. Eagle eyed readers will have also seen several of the blue plaques the Parish Council have produced for many of our historic buildings. Councillor Sue Robson has been the driving force behind this scheme, and I have been advising on buildings to be considered, and writing the text. We have identified over twenty potential buildings and have spoken to the owners, but due to cost, we’ve only been able to finance and produce six this year.

Beryl and I walked around the village on a glorious afternoon recently and I’ve produced this photographic diary of the village this autumn. In this first section we walked from the Pit to Rowton Bridge, and I’ve taken a large number of photographs. Just like Reg Morgan before me, we have catalogued the Village as it was in the 1900’s, and is in 2024. This will join our archives as a resource for the future. There was so much light and colour that day, and I was able to photograph the new blue plaques in situ, the houses they are on, and even record the new building going on at the Christleton Hall site. They look to be extremely substantial and well built properties, and will have excellent surroundings, but it seemed a shame that the opportunity hasn’t been taken to include modern technology like solar panels. These buildings will always be very sunny, simply because they are built on the top of the small sandstone ridge around which the village is built.

Our walk took us from the Pit, which is full with the overflow already working, along Littleheath Road and back to the Village centre. Autumn happened so quickly that the very colourful change from summer to autumn took place over such a short time, that we missed seeing the intense colours of the trees. They were still colourful and worth recording as can be seen from the photographs. The first blue plaque was on the Manor House, followed shortly afterwards by The Parish Hall, Ivy House and Christleton Hall. After viewing the new buildings we headed along the canal from Trooper Bridge to Rowton Bridge. This is always a popular busy walkway, and a great place to meet up with old friends. It also has beautiful gardens and reflections, and a paradise for photographers. There is so much change happening at present, that it’s important to record these for the future. Richard very kindly allows me to use Christleton4 as an archive, and many of these latest images are now recorded on the website. I’m also a member of the Chester Photographic Survey, and my images of the houses and buildings of the village will also be held on the Chester Website.

Part 3 next month - Rowton Bridge to The Pit


All this route is also recorded with far more detail in the Christleton Coronation Heritage Trail, a booklet I published two years ago. If you would like a A4 size copy please let me know. 01244 332410