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English lever reversing pinion pocket watch with dial

English lever reversing pinion pocket watch with dial

1900
Willis's odontograph

Willis's odontograph

Advertisement for Sweet Briar ready rubbed tobacco, England, 1940-1965

Advertisement for Sweet Briar ready rubbed tobacco, England, 1940-1965

1940-1965
Daily Herald Photograph; Barrel Making

Daily Herald Photograph; Barrel Making

1934-01-12
Advertisement for Meadow Gold 'medium' cigarettes, England, 1940-1965

Advertisement for Meadow Gold 'medium' cigarettes, England, 1940-1965

1940-1965
Glass measuring cylinder, England, 1777

Glass measuring cylinder, England, 1777

1777
Santa's gone to lunch

Santa's gone to lunch

1965-12-16
Silver Pocket Watch with Silver Dial by Wrench, 1710-1725

Silver Pocket Watch with Silver Dial by Wrench, 1710-1725

1710-1725
De Havilland D.H. (H.S.) 125 aircraft, serial no. 25010, built at Chester 1965 (see note)

De Havilland DH. (HS) 125 aircraft

1965
Chester

Chester

circa 1957
The Menai Bridge

The Menai Bridge

1826-1840
Trade card: W.N. Telford

Trade card: W.N. Telford

1855
Medal, silver, Co-Op Ambulance Competition, 1912, awarded to John Duff, made by William Walter Cashmore, Chester, 1911.

Silver medal, Co-op Ambulance Competition, 1912

1911
Brotherhood's three cylinder hydraulic engine, in section, on base, with a spare valve in section and spanner let into the wood.

Hydraulic motor, 1888

1888
Photograph showing baby gorilla Jason at the Chester Zoo. Caption on front reads: 'Jason the baby gorilla at Chester Zoo who can't settle down and has to go for walks to get to know his surroundings plays with 9 month old Allison Glover watched by keeper Michael Colbourne.' The Sun/Central Press Photos Ltd.

Photograph of baby gorilla Jason meets human baby Allison Glover

1965-08-25
Two voltage regultors for the home (to encourage domestic energy-saving measure), made by Vphase, Chester, and supporting documents.

Two voltage regultors for the home (to encourage domestic energy-saving measure)

2010
Analogue C-type print entitled 'Distant woman, Chester' taken by Tom Wood in 1992. This is part of his series of photographs taken on bus journies.

Distant woman, Chester

1992
fitter, turner, Works training school, erecting shop, machine shop, heavy machine shop; background; school; job choices; Works Training School; family influences; attitudes to teaching and learning; skills; travelling; Crewe, Dead Centre; Crewe Works; conditions, hours; clothing, hobnail boots; signing up as fitter/turner; conditions, pay distribution, hours; apology to father; holidays; Bank Holidays; travel passes; train delays; weather, fog; steam locomotives in operation; other trains in operation; Works transport tricks; experiences at Training School; Christmas activities; gambling; rituals before wedding; pranks played at work; pokers; standards; tools, "foreigners"; "smuggling" from Works; redundancy; demise of steam; skills transfers; The Well; d.o.b. 1941-04-25, railway work 1956-1963, Crewe works; Derby works;

Moore, Barry Malcolm

2000-11-22
Interview with Matt Smith recorded by Christopher Nairne on 1st May 2026 at Bluecoat Charity, Chester. Duration: 3 hr 36 min 57 secs. [Start of interview, track 01] Childhood, North West England, family background, education and school; current role as Engineer consultant at AtkinsRéalis, rail and other projects; childhood, first house he lived in, his parents, how they met, their respective education and career; moving house to rural area, having horse and pony, mother’s job, father’s job; schools attended, view and place of religion and faith in his life then and now; coming out to his parents, their reaction. [00:33:25] Religion and same-sex marriage; family background and generations, details about his grandparents; Childhood interests, railway and photography, friendship, neighbourhood, Cheshire then compared to now; [00:58:10] experience at secondary school, homophobic bullying and impact on him; how he felt about media coverage of civil partnership legalisation; realising he was gay as a teenager, LGBTQIA+ students at school; favouritism and unconscious bias amongst teachers, impact on students; [01:36:19] friendships from school, life after school of some of the LGBTQIA+ students; homophobic bullying at school; his interest in geography, experience at University of Liverpool, friendships ; how school influenced his interest in people and human geography, enjoyment of learning, doing a master’s degree, reasons for not deciding not to continue with a PhD; joining Atkins after completing master’s. [end of track 01] [Track 02] Changes observed in transport industry over the last 10 years. Relationships when at university, open-mined environment at university. Coming out after university, father’s reaction; valuing meaningful connection and relationship; [00:25:36] coming out to mother, her reaction; discussing religion and evolution of his personal faith, how he felt about the way sex-same marriage has been debated at local churches, importance of campaigning; [00:40:18] what motivated to work in transport planning, application to Atkins and other companies, interview and assessment process. Joining Atkins in 2016, impressions of teams, work as part of transport policy and strategy team for 3 years; moving to live in Manchester, living as more openly queer; move to Intelligent mobility and smart technologies, the way team worked and was managed; getting involved with Atkins LGBTQIA+ staff network, becoming co-chair, types of support required by colleagues, examples, being promoted to senior consultant, challenge of balancing job and role on the staff network. [01:00:54] Being co-chair of Equilibrium, Atkins LGBTQIA+ staff network, impact on his job, other chairs of Equilibrium, reaching out to other LGBTQIA+ network in rail industry to link different networks, being a founding member of Journey, cross rail industry LGBTQIA+ network, open to all, founded in 2023. Getting involved in People Pride and Progress via Journey. Events taken part of with Journey, including Pride train at the Greatest Gathering 2025. Reflecting on his work as co-chair of Equilibrium and Journey, example of ways he has supported others, examples, being proud in his work and contribution to the community. What he enjoys about his role as Principal Consultant, how transport planning has changed, vision-led planning, focus on sustainability; how he envisage next steps of his career, reflecting on career and support in workplace so far; discussing where transport and society is going, work on current project trial of digital pay-as-you-go ticketing; how he feels about current society, what feels positive, what feels concerning, his interest in working more locally to make a difference to a local area, his future plans for personal life; his hopes for the legacy of People Pride and Progress oral histories. [end of interview]

Matt Smith interviewed by Christopher Nairne

2026-05-01
Coloured lithograph. Interior of General Railway Station, Chester. J Gresty, Lith, Chester. (c1850)

Coloured lithograph. Interior of General Railway Station

circa 1850
Letter, from George T. Phizackerley to inspector Pilkington offering his thanks for help with the investiture arrangements, 19th July 1911.

thankyou letter

1911-07-19
2 certificates of First Aid, in the name J A Morrey, London Midland & Scottish Railway.

London Midland & Scottish Railway first aid certificates

1927-1928
Pamphlet advertising "Day Tickets to London from Chester (General), trips leaving day from 14th June 1965 until 21st May 1966. Black and white photocopied sheet.

day tickets to london from chester (general)

1965