Hoole

Overview
Hoole is one of the largest neighbourhoods in Chester. Situated roughly a mile north-east of the city centre, Hoole starts from the Hoole Railway Bridge and runs all the way up Hoole Road (A56) to the Hoole Hall roundabout, where the M56 motorway starts.

It is a popular residential neighbourhood. Most of the current housing stock consists of Victorian terraces of houses and villas, and semi-detached houses dating from the 1930s. In the 1960s and 1970s, Hoole declined into genteel decay. Many of the larger properties were divided into bedsits and small flats to provide housing for students and the unemployed. Since the mid-1990s, the area has once again become desirable. The large Victorian villas are being restored to their original purpose as family homes. One reason for Hoole's popularity is its proximity to Chester Station - ideal for commuters.

A Brief History
The ancient village of Hoole dates back to at least 1119, when it was first recorded in the records of the Chartulary of the Abbey of St. Werburgh. It remained a separate entity until 1954, when it was incorporated into the City of Chester.

Hoole lies on the Roman road which leaves Chester via Frodsham Street and Brook Street, continuing through Flookersbrook into Newton Hollows, which still exists as a sunken pathway and connected with Mannings Lane before the construction of the now disused railway. Mannings Lane then continues the line through Hoole Bank, and it becomes known as "The Street" in Mickle Trafford, a name which frequently denotes a Roman road. The name "Hoole" is thought to mean 'at the Hollows' (or hole) and most likely refers to the 'hollow way' formed by the road. The modern Hoole Road follows a parallel course.

Early tourists were somewhat disparaging:


 * "The native of Chester remembers how three roads branch off outside Eastgate and how beautiful and pleasing are the names of the places to which they lead. The road straight in front straight in front leads to Christ's Town (Christleton), that on the right to the Old Ford (Aldford) but if it turns to the left it comes to a place which they rightly call the Valley of Demons (Hoole) with reference to the hiding places of those who lie in wait... the wanderer... is despoiled by thieves and robbers" ---Lucien the Monk

Samuel Lewis in 1848 described it as follows:


 * "HOOLE, a township, in the parish of Plemonstall, union of Great Boughton, Lower division of the hundred of Broxton, S. division of the county of Chester, 2½ miles (N. E.) from Chester; containing 294 inhabitants. It comprises 745 acres, of a sandy soil. The tithes have been commuted for £80 payable to the rector, and £22 to the Marquess of Westminster. Various plots of land here, belonging to the Rev. Mr. Hamilton, of Hoole Lodge, and others, have been laid out for building purposes, such as the erection of villas, &c., by Mr. Rampling, architect, of Liverpool; and some of the plots have been sold at the rate of 5s. the square yard, or £1210 per acre; while, before the introduction of railways, the price was not more than about £150 an acre."

In 1917 Leonard Cheshire was born in Hoole Road (in the building which is now the "BaBa" Hotel). Cheshire did not take part in the "Dam Busters" raid but took over command of 617 "Dam Busters" squadron later in the war, and was the official British observer of the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki flying in the support B-29 Big Stink. He is one of the few people awarded a VC not for a single incident but due to cumulative action throughout the war. Cheshire dedicated the rest of his life to supporting disabled people, combining this with lecturing on conflict resolution. In 1948, he founded The Cheshire Foundation Homes for the Sick, which, in 1976, became the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, now styled Leonard Cheshire, which continues his work to support disabled people globally. On 5 April 1959, in Bombay's Catholic Cathedral, he married Sue Ryder, also the founder of a charity. Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters once described Cheshire as "the only true Christian I've ever met."

Links

 * Streetlife.com provides a local "chat" facility for Hoole residents;
 * "A virtual Stroll" on Hoole;
 * Hoole on "openstreetmap";
 * Daily satellite image (NB sometimes it is cloudy!);
 * All the other maps of Hoole you might ever want;
 * Old images of Hoole;