Chester Chronicle letters

Oct 29 2004

LIFE as a church warden is one of those 'twilight zone' roles, where the objective is to be a go-between for two sets of people, in this case clergy and congregation.

Like similar posts in industry, commerce or leisure, there is the feeling of being pulled in several directions at once.

The balancing act is to please everyone just enough, without displeasing anyone too much and still get all the chores done. Accordingly, this task is rated somewhere between tricky and impossible.

It is equally true, and it must seem acutely so to those who chose not to worship regularly, that churches have a voracious appetite for new roofs, hall extensions, heating and power systems replacement etc. Appeals and fundraising events are widespread, and all too often the response is tinged with a degree of apathy.

Pause for a moment, to reflect that most churches have been standing for over a century, and pro-rata have received considerably less maintenance and upgrading than the average domestic dwelling.

Most people are resigned to the fact that a simple extension to their home will cost umpteen thousand pounds, and will go ahead and instruct the builders. However, any notion of spending a similar amount on a church building seems inexplicably, disproportionate. Accordingly, fundraising is a tough old game.

When putting together actions for urgent maintenance work to St Philip's church in Kelsall, I received financial assistance from the Historic Cheshire Churches Preservation Trust. This organisation is funded partly from revenue generated from landfill charges via WREN.

The Parochial Church Council is extremely grateful for this award, and has communicated so directly. It is fitting that we do so publicly, as many grants from this and other bodies will doubtless go unrecognised. Thank you once again to HCCPT, in particular Mr Kenneth Paul and his fellow trustees. The benefit of the award goes beyond the financial because it has brought impetus and momentum to the repair program, and has acted as a spur to future fundraising efforts.
FRANK GRANT Church Warden St Philip's, Kelsall

I WAS most interested in your article on John Lennon, The Beatles and their links with Chester.

Prior to the Liverpool 'pop explosion' in the early sixties, many of these groups played in Chester.

However, during the two to three-year period leading up to 1960 the pre-eminent group in the area was Chester's own The Flamingos, of which I was pianist.

The Riverpark had been popular just after the war with American servicemen and, as GI numbers dwindled, they started importing rock groups from Liverpool in a bid to attract Chester's teenagers, who were quite literally starved of live music of the sort they wanted to hear.

At the same time, the Majestic cinema in Brook Street closed and was turned into a dance hall and it, too, started to introduce young musicians from the area and we were installed as resident group, playing Tuesday nights.

There was rivalry between the management of the Majestic and the River-park, and rock nights were always on the same night.

Those appearing at the Riverpark included Gerry and the Pacemakers and The Beatles, albeit under different names. One such name was Johnny and the Moondogs, the Johnny being John Lennon, supported by Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

Customers who frequented both locations would frequently tell us that there were only about 40 or 50 people at the Riverpark, whereas we were playing to audiences of more than 1,000 a night.

The line-up of The Flamingos comprised of Ian McClelland (vocalist and rhythm guitar), Mike Keagan (lead guitar), Bob Carroll (bass guitar), Alan Kell on drums and myself on piano.

During that three-year period from 1958 to the end of 1960 I don't think that there was a venue in the Chester area that we didn't play. Pubs, clubs, dances, theatres - we played the lot.

Our biggest break came in 1960, when we were offered a UK tour by impresario Lewis Buckley. This, of course, meant going full-time and, unfortunately, two of the band were in their final year of a five-year apprenticeship scheme, so it had to be really good to convince them to sacrifice their futures. The result was, I think, we priced ourselves out of it.

There was one historic occasion (although we didn't know it at the time) when we played the Carroll Levis show at Manchester Hippodrome, compared by Joan Collins's sister Jackie.

I learned that it was the only time Jackie Collins had been on stage and that among those appearing were Johnny and the Moondogs, Graham Nash (later of The Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), Freddy Garrity (Freddy and the Dream-ers), Georgie Fame and Billy Fury, all of whom were unknown at the time.

The Liverpool explosion followed, whereas The Flamingos rocketed into obscurity and disbanded in 1960.

I have no doubt that, due to pure geographical reasons, we would have been sucked into the Liverpool sound, however, I doubt we would have sustained it as we had no access to original material.

Only lead guitarist Mike Keagan continued in the music scene, by firstly joining Doug Hall's dance band and, the last time I heard, he was bass guitarist with the Brian Jones Big Band, also managing to find time to manage Dawson's music shop in Chester.
JOHN DIGWEED Alvanley Rise, Leftwich, Northwich

A PATTERN is emerging from reports of new building proposals for Chester.

There is the Glass Slug and the replacement for the old police building.

Contemporary flats are to be built adjacent to 15 Hough Green in a conservation area and Bob Clough Parker comments in the same issue on recent uninspired residential development.

The emerging pattern is that the city leaders have turned their back on Chester as a historical city for the sake of trendiness and expediency.

The architects of the replacement for the former police headquarters (to be known as HQ) claim the design was influenced by the amphitheatre.

Apart from its circular shape, it takes a very long stretch of the imagination to connect the two. In fact, the design could just as well have been simulated by a pork pie - it is also circular with a domed top.

Modern architecture does not have a cohesive style, except that each building differs from what went before in order to be new or different.

The only common feature shared by HQ and the Glass Slug is the glass cladding, the use of which is quite alien to historic Chester.

The old police headquarters has a reputation as the ugliest building in Chester - such is the fate of contemporary architecture after its time.

So the plan is to replace it with another contemporary building!

Businesses in Chester look over their shoulders to Broughton Retail Park, Cheshire Oaks and Wrexham that provide value for money in a modern environment.

It is the distinctive historic character of Chester that draws in so many tourists and customers.

Dilute this character in the pursuit of trendiness and Chester will lose the unique advantage it has over these other shopping centres.
PHIL CLARK Wrexham