Ryley’s Castle Parkgate
The home of actor Samuel Ryley (c1756 – 1837)
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Coming Soon
Home Town Heroes
The Stories of the Casualties of War of Neston and Burton
1914 – 1921
by
Ian L. Norris
New
Charles Roscoe of Neston – A Remarkable True Tale of Tragedy at Sea and Divided Love
by Anthony Annakin-Smith
There are many interesting gravestones in Neston churchyard but one that is particularly unusual is that of Charles Roscoe – it bears what is probably the most detailed image to mark any grave there. The image, cast from a mould, is of a ship and is still fine in every detail ...read more
Not in our Name: the Slave Ship ‘Neston’
by Anthony Annakin-Smith
Residents of Neston may be surprised to know that, of the many slave ships that sailed from Liverpool when it was at the forefront of the transatlantic slave trade, one was a vessel named after the town...read more
Commander John Monk, R.N. (1791-1880)
by Simon Brown
John Monks’s path in life took him across most of the seas of Europe, fighting Napoleon with the Royal Navy and then trading with Mediterranean ports as a merchant captain and ship owner…read more
Vizcachani, the Barber family and Neston’s South American Links.
by I. Bushell
Approaching Neston from the A540 down Hinderton Road, on the right-hand side where the road narrows lies a substantial Edwardian family house bearing the name Vizcachani at its gate. An unusual name, given by the house’s first owner John Lionel Barber in 1907...read more
The Anglican Smelting, Reduction and Coal Company
by Anthony Annakin-Smith.
The story of the Anglican Smelting, Reduction and Coal Company Ltd. offers an intriguing footnote to Neston’s industrial history and forms an unlikely link between the area and gold deposits 4,500 miles away...read more
Learning the Ropes: Parkgate, Rope-making and The Ropewalk
by Anthony Annakin-Smith
Many people wonder about the origins of The Ropewalk – the long straight footway in Parkgate .This article looks at the history of rope-making in the area and the background to the path…(read more)
A Few Memories of Thornton Hough
by Eric Richard Brassey
In 1908 Harry Brassey was born at number 4 Manor Road, Thornton Hough. He was the youngest of three brothers – Tom, Dick and Harry. Harry was my Father …read more
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Neston Parish Church
The postcard is dated 7th July 1913. The message was ” Visited this church with Mr R. Howick who played the organ for me”. It is addressed to Miss M Phizackerley, Chester. It was unposted and with an incomplete address so possibly it was her memento of the occasion. Richard George Howick, originally from Chester, was the organist at Neston Church for a few years, until 1918 when he left to take up another position (in London?). He was the son of Walter Howick who had a music shop in Chester and was organist at Backford church. Miss Phizackerley was probably Muriel Phizackerley, daughter of George Thompson Phizackerley, District Superintendent of railways. They lived at Fairfield, Kilmorey Park, Chester
