Arriving at the station we begin our walk.
Turning left from the main entrance/exit – old collides with new.
The open arches of the defunct platforms and One City Place.
RHWL Architects 2016
The station’s Italianate frontage of 1848 was designed by the architect Francis Thompson.
As the focal point of the Central Business Quarter, City Place is the most sought after address for businesses in the City.
Taking aspiration from its rich heritage and industrial foundations, City Place is located at the city’s gateway, adjacent to the recently refurbished Grade II listed Chester mainline Railway Station.
Crossing the wide open spaces of car parking we come to the currently tinned up Charterhall House.
A huge slab of half-hearted provincial Postmodernism.
Lloyds’ Chester staff relocated to Cawley House at Chester Business Park in 2019.
The site – offers potential for a new owner to refurbish or redevelop the properties for a variety of uses including residential and leisure, subject to planning, according to CBRE.
Backtracking we come to Hallmark Hotel The Queen.
Former North West Securities HQ. elegant 1960s tower of 7 storeys – brick clad, with curtain wall glazing panels in part. Short elevation to street frontage with strong vertical emphasis provided by full height continuous window slots, set in projected concrete frame, tiled panels below each window.
Complete with coloured aggregate panels and novelty entrance, incorporating a double thistle motif.
To the left an almost incongruous group of industrial buildings, one with a delightfully rounded corrugated iron roof.
A familiar sight on our streets the PFI Job Centre – Chantry House.
The private finance initiative PFI is a procurement method which uses private sector investment in order to deliver public sector infrastructure and/or services according to a specification defined by the public sector.
Around the corner to the Ebenzer Baptist Church
The church is adjacent to three eleven storey blocks containing one hundred and eighty dwellings –Thackery Towers, Rowlands Heights and Haygarth Heights.
Seen here in 1987 – building contractor: Shepherd 1961
Over the way now to St Oswald’s Court and St Anne’s Court Wimpey 1961.
Passing by Pacinos:
Over thirty years Pacino’s, Chester has been delighting customers with it’s intimate atmosphere, friendly service and consistently outstanding food.
Admirable ribbed concrete angled balconies.
Onward now to the Northgate Leisure Centre built in 1977 on the site of the former Chester Northgate railway station – which closed on October 6th 1969
Architects: Building Design Partnership
Much of the hard landscaping is still intact.
To the centre of the city and Centurion House.
Architect: Robin Clayton 1970.
Just down the way to the former Odeon Cinema opened on Saturday 3rd October 1936.
Architects: Robert Bullivant an associate of the Harry Weedon practice.
Extended and rebranded as Storyhouse cultural centre.
Architects: Bennetts Associates 2017 – Arch Daily
Around the corner and under through Trinity Street.
Council owned office block Hamilton House.
The Gateway Theatre was opened: Friday 22nd November 1968, closed: Saturday 22nd February 2020.
Architect: Martin Graden of Michael Lyell Associates.
Demolition pending.
Goldsmith House Register Office.
The Forum Shopping Centre in Chester will close for good on New Year’s Eve.
The site will shut its doors on December 31st having been open since 1967 and refurbished in 1995.
The closure is part of the regeneration of the Northgate area of the city, which saw the recent opening of the new market and associated car park. Cheshire West and Chester Council confirmed it would be ‘exploring potential development options’ for the site ‘in the context of the wider review of the One City Plan for Chester’.
Let’s take a look in the subways.
Onward to the Bus Interchange opened 30th May 2017.
The bus station has thirteen stances, and is designed to handle 156 buses per hour. It was designed by Jefferson Sheard Architects. It has been noted for its exceptional accessibility. Features include a Changing Places toilet, a tactile map endorsed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People, and a dual-height customer service desk.
Landscaping by HLM Architects.
A lost cinema with a historicist mock Tudor elevation and bulky brick behind – the former Gaumont.
Architect: William T Benslyn of Birmingham.
Opened – Monday 2nd March 1931.
Closed as a cinema, Saturday 9th December 1961, internally restructured, firstly to accommodate ten pin bowling/then a bingo hall.
Building now closed.
Further adventure in the subways with recent interventions to the landscaping.
We are planting real trees as part of the biodiversity relandscaping across the site. We hope the magnificent recycled steel structures will become an awe-inspiring beacon for transformation in the city of Chester. Educational interpretation and learning spaces around the site, supported by the visual impact of the SuperTrees, will educate visitors about the ecological crisis, and inspire them to make their own spaces biodiversity friendly.
The three murals have been made possible thanks to funding from the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire and the Safer Streets project and delivered by the team at Forest City Projects CIC in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council.
Back into the city centre to see the former ABC Regal cinema.
Architect: Willam R Glenn
Opened: Saturday 30th October 1937.
Closed: Sunday 16th December 10 with Ghost in screen one and Exorcist 3 in screen two.
Peter Davies writes – one of the most splendid ornate super cinemas in the city, the crown would be placed between the Gaumont or the Regal with locals arguing among themselves which was the most luxurious. Remembering them both well and working at the ABC Regal I would say without doubt that the latter was worthy of the crown.The wide auditorium and magnificent proscenium out shone the likes of the Odeon Leicester Square with ease. Everything within this cinema was of the finest quality and in the best of taste. It was one of the few triple A rated ABC cinemas.
Gutted.
Up around the bend to the Pepper Street car park.
The figure of a lion at its highest point, this site was originally occupied by the 19th-century Lion Brewery, and following its demolition a home was sought for its lion sculpture.
Modern Mooch 
An enjoyable and informative read , thanks.
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Y’welcome.
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