The Collections Story – Best Laid Plans
The public exhibition spaces at our new centres will not only include items from our collections highlighting key Chester and Crewe stories, they’ll also offer a glimpse of the Chester and Crewe that might have been ...
We think maps invite us to time travel. An interactive display featuring a selection of historic maps will take visitors on a journey through time to understand the changing landscape of Chester or Crewe. Each map layer features a selection of images of notable Chester or Crewe locations and landmarks, where you’ll see these familiar sites as they once were and how they have changed over time. You’ll also discover what the land our new centres stand on was previously used for!
The Evolving Places exhibition also offers another kind of time travel - to get to know the hopes and visions planned for that never came to fruition. Our city and town planning department records for Chester and Crewe contain a wealth of information relating to building projects dating back to the 19th century – a number of which went unrealised due to external events such as world wars, not being chosen, or objections, or lack of funding.
As we continue to discover more of these fascinating unrealised projects, here are few of our favourites we’ve found so far…
By Paul Frith, Collections Information Improvement Officer
