Saturday 1 February 2020

CHAIRMEN IN CHESTER ROAD, CHAIRMAN'S SUNDAY 1948

© Phillip Shales 2012 All Rights Reserved
With acknowledgments to Kerry Fletcher and Dave Thompson at Middlewich Town Council
Looking very much like they mean business, and don't expect  any nonsense from anyone, this group of Council Chairmen (and one lady) stride purposefully along Chester Road on Chairman's Sunday 1948.
Originally we thought that these people were all visiting dignitaries, but the gentleman on the left could well be the Chairman of Middlewich UDC wearing the original 1897 badge of office and the 1935 badge.
 It was (and is) the custom of neighbouring Council Chairmen/Mayors to visit each other's civic services, carnivals and other town events.
Can anyone identify any of the other worthies and tell us which towns they represent?
Note the stylish motor-coach, the rear end of which can be seen on the left in front of Middlewich Motors, and the alternative Chester Road entrance to Boosey's Nurseries in the background, above the right hand Chairman's head.
Chester Road then, and for quite a few years afterwards, had an almost semi-rural air about it which has now largely gone..
At the time of writing Boosey's Garden Centre and Middlewich Autos provide a tenuous link with the area's past but even this will disappear very soon as progress, in the shape of a Morrison's supermarket, severs that link during 2012.

SEE ALSO SCOUTS AND CUBS IN CHESTER ROAD 1948
                   MIDDLEWICH GUIDES IN CHESTER ROAD 1948
                   AND ASSOCIATED ENTRIES (FOLLOW THE LINKS)

Originally published 15th March 2012
Revised and republished 1st February 2020.    t1