Cheshire Life Digitisation Project
Despite its significance as one of the longest-running regional magazines, very few complete editions of Cheshire Life, from its launch in May 1934 onwards to today, exist in one place, and there are no digitised collections of the early decades.
Thanks to a grant from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Chester to purchase some hi-spec digital imaging equipment, we have started to make high-resolution copies of early editions of the magazine. They provide a fascinating historical snapshot, not only of county life but also national and international trends – such as the relationships between industry and agriculture, the development of various technologies, and the evolution of many of the leisure activities that are still covered in the magazine today.
The positive response to our Cheshire library and museum exhibitions celebrating the 90th anniversary of Cheshire Life in 2024 – curated by Dr Matt Davies, Cheshire Life expert Dr Andrew Hobbs, and Open University lecturer Dr Naomi Walker - has strengthened our commitment to making these digitised images available online. The long-term aim of the project is to create a searchable database of significant sections of the magazine, which would act as a valuable online resource for anybody interested in exploring changing representations of the county over the 90 years of Cheshire Life.
Some of the digitised images have already been used in each of the 12 monthly feature articles written by the project team, published in 2024. See here for samples of these features. [These images are forthcoming].
Central to the success of the project so far has been the cooperation of the teams at Cheshire Archives & Local Studies and the Chester Storyhouse library to whom the project organisers are very grateful. And we are especially grateful to Cheshire Life editor Joanne Goodwin, who has been incredibly supportive and on board with the project from the start.
Thanks also to the University of Chester’s Breaking Boundaries initiative, Cheshire Life and the University of Central Lancashire for grants to help fund the exhibitions.
Please take some time to visit the image galleries to view a variety of samples from early editions of Cheshire Life. Your feedback would be very welcome.
