Latest News from Cheshire Archives and Local Studies
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Cheshire’s archives: a story shared
Progress continues on our new centres in Chester and Crewe. If you’ve passed through Chester station recently, you might have spotted the new roof taking shape.
Over in Crewe, the steel frame is now fully in place, and work is underway on pouring the floors. The roof will be next, with installation planned for later this summer. Construction at both sites is on track, and it’s fantastic to see these new spaces coming to life.
Pop-up apothecary shop
At Chester Heritage Festival we created a Pop-up Apothecary where children could try a range of hands-on activities based on herbal remedies from Tudor times. The pop-up apothecary is going on tour! Join Cheshire Archives in libraries and travel back in time to explore how plants were used to treat horrible headaches and ferocious farts !
Archives in Action - Pop-up Apothecary
Mining for memories film premiere
We invited the people behind the voices to an event marking the launch of the Mining for Memories film at Cine-Window in Winsford Cross shopping centre on Thursday 17 July. The film is based on recorded conversations we had last autumn with workers of the mine past and present. We then worked with artists to produce a short film inspired by the recordings. You can view the film at Cine-Window for the next couple of weeks and on our YouTube channel.
Mining for Memories
Astbury bound
Also new to our YouTube channel is a joyous film celebrating the first event in our summer of creativity inspired by our collections. You can find out more about how the event came together and the heritage and collections that inspired it in our latest Archives in Action article.
Archives in Action – Astbury Bound
Supporting libraries with school visits
If you are interested in what our project's Learning Officer has been up to ... new education resource packs are in development for libraries hosting class visits. Read all about our Ellesmere Port resource pack, recently trialled at Little Sutton Library with pupils from St Mary of the Angels Primary School.
The Learning Story - Floating ideas for an Ellesmere Port library pack
Team news
In 2023 Claire and Claudia joined us for a year (that became 18 months) to support the work of the librarians and archivists at a very busy time for the service as we really got involved in project delivery.
Claire has been cataloguing and repackaging our prints, journals and slides collections as well as organising new digitisation and researching stories. Thanks to this work there are now over 2,500 images of our prints available to view online using our catalogue.
Claudia was kept busy processing new archive collection deposits and being the go-to archivist for adding collections information in the catalogue.
We'd like to say a huge thank you to them for all their hard work and wish them all the best for the future.
Searchroom news
Our amber-tinted Searchroom image indicates that in-person access to the collections is now closed.
Although the Record Office closed to the public on 8 August our online services are not affected, and you are still able to order copies of documents and request research services (until the image turns red at the start of 2026 to indicate full closure!). Libraries across Cheshire will continue to provide access to local history books and maps as well as providing free access to family history websites.
Visiting us