ere is part of the Chester stretch of the Shropshire Union Canal as it appeared around 1970.
It all looks rather scruffy and neglected but signs of the great changes to which this area was soon to be subject are also in evidence in the shape of the white strip crossing the canal in the distance- the newly constructed St. Oswald's Way section of the Inner Ring Road, which was completed in January 1971. The photograph was taken from Cow Lane Bridge, which was totally rebuilt when the ring road was constructed.

For unknown reasons, this stretch of the canal is still known to more senior Cestrians as Botany Bay (your suggestions are welcome!)

Just beyond it on the left is the Griffiths Brother's mill which was restored and converted into what is now the Mill Hotel (see below).
To its right, across the canal, the tall building is the Steam Mill, at this time the home of Miln's Seeds, which was also later superbly restored and today serves as a 'business centre', housing offices, studios and a bar / restaurant.

In the far distance may just be glimpsed the tall Water Tower belonging to the Chester Water Company in Boughton, situated close to the springs that served both the Roman fortress and medieval Abbey and town- and which continues to supply Chester with good water to this day. Go here to see a closer, contemporary photograph of it.

Nearer to us, the large building on the left was built in 1931 as a cinema- the Gaumont Palace- but today serves as a popular bingo club. The road along the left-hand side of the canal is Union Terrace, which led to the businesslike-sounding Cement Place and Leadworks Lane.

This photograph of Canalside- the road along the right-hand side of the canal as we view it- was taken around the same time as the one above, showing the Ring Road bridge during the course of construction.

The industrial buildings around Queen Street on the right have since been replaced with new houses and the bulk of Griffiths Brothers Mill, "Provender Millers and Merchants", dominates the background.

Beyond that, the chapel on Queen's Avenue- the Methodist Central Hall- was demolished in the 1970s and the site is now occupied by a car park next to two modern blocks of flats, and behind that again may be seen the tall chimneys of the Chester Leadworks. Of these, only the listed Shot Tower of 1799 survives today. This was one of only three such towers built to manufacture musket shot for the Napoleonic Wars and might, therefore, have been instrumental in the deaths of many French soldiers.

The old buildings around it are due to disappear in the near future to make way for a large housing development. Here is the same location as viewed from the other direction, and also a photograph from a decade or so earlier, showing how the canal appeared from the top of the Water Tower...

Finally, here is a view taken from the St. Oswald's Way bridge in July 1999, showing how very much things have changed in the environment of Chester's canal over the last few decades...

The Mill Hotel and its 'floating restaurant' may be seen on the left, together with its first extension- a further extension has recently been completed on the other side of the canal, connected to the old building by a footbridge.

Beyond the hotel is the bridge connecting Seller Sttreet with Egerton Street. The ironwork of this bridge is deeply worn by the tow ropes of the great horses that pulled barges along the canal in former days.

The towpath stayed in much the same appalling condition as it was in the top photograph until just a couple of years ago, when- after many complaints- it was finally restored with the aid of 'Landfill Tax' money and now provides Chester's citizens with an excellent, car-free cycle / footpath into the city centre and beyond. You can see a couple of 'before and after' pictures of it here...


A large area of currently-derelict land facing Seller Street- just out of shot on the right- is shortly to become another new housing development. All the buildings on the left of this photograph- the former premises of Witter's Towbars and, beyond them, Earl's Villas- are also due to vanish soon.

It is difficult to believe, looking at the photograph above that this area was formerly densely covered by houses and industrial premises, as may be seen in this detail from the 1898 Chester OS map.

It was not until the 18th century that these backlands began to be built upon. The opening of the canal in 1779 accelerated the process and Seller Street (left-hand border) was lined with buildings by 1833. In the sixty years between then and the publishing of this map, the entire area had been filled up.

On the right, we see an artist's impression of the enormous new, £11.5 million development of 'luxury' apartments currently under construction on the site. It will consist of six, three- and four-storey blocks in addition to a number of commercial units for restaurant and retail use, totalling around 100,000 sq feet.

Now go on to the third part of our exploration of this interesting part of Chester...