Chester Lives in Cheshire Life

“As I am now at Chester, ‘tis proper to say something of it, being a city well worth describing: Chester has four things very remarkable in it. 1. Its walls which are very firm, beautiful and in good repair. 2. The castle, which is also kept up, and has a garrison always in it. 3. The Cathedral. 4. The River Dee, and 5. the bridge over it” (Daniel Defoe-  author of Robinson Crusoe - c1724, A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain).

“Chester has the most complete city walls, the oldest racecourse and the largest Roman Amphitheatre in Britain, plus a 1000 year old Cathedral with Europe's finest example of medieval carvings - and of course the one and only 700 year old Rows galleries where shopping is a double delight” (Visit Cheshire).

These celebrations of Cheshire’s historic cathedral city – 300 years apart - are symbolic of its central role in the county, and therefore apt that it has been given significant coverage in Cheshire Life, one of the UK’s longest running and most successful regional magazines. Launched in May 1934, back copies of Cheshire Life provide a unique snapshot of the evolution of modern Chester, from ‘Salmon Netting on the Dee: The centuries old industry centred at Handbridge’ (May 1935) through to ‘Chester Food Tour: The city that’s good enough to eat’ (November 2024).

As part of our Cheshire Life digitisation project, in partnership with Cheshire Archive and Local Studies, and Cheshire Life, here we preview a sample of pages depicting Chester scenes, feature articles and adverts since the 1930s. The tensions between old and new, Roman remains and modernity, rural and urban, city centre and suburbs, and wealth and hardship, are epitomised by the ways Chester has been represented in the magazine for the past nine decades.

To what extent the sense of place portrayed in these samples accords with your experiences of the city may depend on your relationship with Chester – as a tourist, student or born and bred Cestrian. We’d be interested to hear your views.