 The weir on the River Dee, Chester, England (2002)
The weir on the River Dee, Chester, England (2002)
A considerable amount of land in Chester is owned by Duke of Westminster who owns an estate at Eaton near the village of Eccleston. Grosvenor is the Duke's family name, which explains such features in the City such as the Grosvenor Hotel and Grosvenor Park. Much of Chester's architecture dates from the Victorian era, with many of the buildings that aren't modelled on the Jacobean half timbered style of the medieval times being designed by John Douglas, employed by the Duke as his principal architect. He had a trademark of twisted chimneystacks, many of which can be seen on the buildings in the City centre. Douglas designed amongst other buildings the Grosvenor Hotel and the City Baths. Another feature of all buildings belonging to the estate of Westminster is the 'Grey Diamonds'; a weaving pattern of grey bricks in the red brickwork, laid out in a diamond formation. By 1945 two problems needed attention, namely affordable housing and traffic congestion. As a result vast areas of Slums were cleared and an inner by-pass was driven through and around the City centre. Large areas of open fields on the outskirts of the City were turned into residential areas in the 1950s and early 1960s.
In the late 1960s the City authorities woke up to the fact that new developments were radically altering the look of the City centre. In 1968 Donald Inshall published a report in collaboration with the City authorities and Central Government. His report recommended preserving historic buildings and finding new uses for them, rather than tearing them down.
In 1969 the City Conservation Area was designated. Over the next 20 years the emphasis was placed on saving historic buildings, such as The Falcon Inn, Dutch Houses and Kings Buildings.
On January 13, 2002, Chester was granted Fairtrade City status. This status was renewed by the Fairtrade Foundation on August 20, 2003.
In August 2005 the council announced plans to demolish the police station, an unsightly edifice built in the 1960s. However, the replacement building, a cylindrical glass hotel/cafe, has sparked controversy, partly due to the large number of other glass structures planned within the city, especially the new council offices.
The Northgate development will demolish the old Council Offices, which will move into a new building on an old car-park. This structure was unpopular with many of the older citizens of Chester, leading the to the local papers to dub it the 'Glass Slug'.
Cestrians are often perceived (partly-jokingly) of being 'anti-Welsh'. This is exemplified by the fact that the Town Hall clock does not face west, towards Wales, and an archaic law which states any Cestrian may shoot a Welshman with a longbow if he loiters within the walls after sunset (although this law no-longer offers legal protection against prosecution for murder). However, many Cestrians work and shop in Wales, and Chester shares a radio station with Wrexham, Wales.
Chester is twinned with the Italy.
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