Burton and Neston History Society
The Society started as the Burton and District Local History Society on 21 April 1975 at Burton Manor College. It grew out of a local history course there led by Paul Booth from Liverpool University. Paul Booth became our President in 1999.
The Burton and Neston History Society now meets monthly for talks from October to May and outings or history walks are organised during the summer months. The Society has an active Research Group where members pursue their own research interests but also collaborate for projects such as exhibitions and publications. New members are always welcome – come along to a meeting and see if you would like to join.
What the Society does
The Society’s prime purpose is to study and research local history, and its research work has resulted in a number of books, smaller publications and exhibitions. Burton in Wirral published in 1984, Neston 1840-1940 in 1996 and Neston at War, 1939 – 1945 published in 1999 are now out of print but are available in Neston Library and second hand copies may be bought online.
The Society’s most recent book, Neston Stone Age to Steam Age, was published in December 2014 and is for sale in local outlets and on Ebay.
Membership
BNHS now has over 90 members, drawn mostly from Neston and the nearby villages of Burton, Parkgate and Willaston at the south end of the Wirral peninsula in West Cheshire. Neston & Parkgate are alongside the Dee Estuary, only a very short distance from the Welsh border, and it comes as a surprise to many that Cheshire should have a coastline. This unusual geographical location has had a strong influence on the development and history of the area and make it a popular place to live and to visit today.
How to Join
Download and fill in a membership form (click here) from BNHS website and either bring it with your membership fee to the next meeting or return by post to the address on the form.
Membership fees:
£7 – Individual Membership
£10-Joint/Family Membership.
Meetings
Monthly talks/meetings for members take place on the second Thursday of the month from October to May at the Parkgate and Neston United Reformed Church, Moorside Lane, Parkgate CH64 4UZ.
Talks start at 8pm and last about an hour.
Non-members/guests are welcome free of charge on the first occasion. Tea, coffee and biscuits are served afterwards.
Programme of talks for 2024/25
2024
10th October David Eveleigh
Escaping suburbia: Bebington in the 1960s
14th November Joanne Ball
Roman Chester
12th December Mike Royden
The Royden Shipbuilding Family
2025
9th January Neil Heather
Wirral Aviation 1900-1956
13th February Anthony Annakin-Smith
Neston’s Great Slave Mystery 200 years on.
13th March Gavin Hunter
The Life of Lady Lever
10th April Clive Edwards
Myths of the Wirral
8th May AGM
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Current Work
Society members have been actively involved in researching the history of the area for 40 years. The Society aims to promote an interest in and appreciation of the locality and its people and history through the sharing historical research. To those ends the Society holds lectures, discussions, field studies and visits to places of historical interest, collects and preserves documents and photographs relevant to the district, assists in the preservation of land, buildings and objects of historical interest and makes available to the public from time to time such writings or documentary evidence as may be available. Researchers are currently looking at the period after 1945.
The Society has organised exhibitions on Coal Mining in Neston, the First World War, Emma Lady Hamilton, and ‘Then and Now’ contrasting photographs. In April 2016 it supported involved the Neston Georgian Festival.
The Future
The Society aims to continue its research efforts and encourage others to develop and contribute theirs to further the understanding of the past and how it has shaped the present in the locality. Some of its researchers are now working on the period from World War II to the present.
Articles and documents available on the Burton and Neston History Society Website include:-
Neston Colliery Injuries Record Book – Neston Colliery Company Ltd.
This log covers the period from 13th June 1911 to 4th April 1927. All entries have now been scanned and provide a fascinating insight into the operation of the mine and an invaluable item for research. You can view the book and various related enclosures and clippings at the links below:
Neston Colliery – Injuries Record (pages 1-40)
Neston Colliery – Injuries Record (pages 41-79)
Neston Colliery – Injuries Record – loose inserts
Bulletins
Apart from the books that BNHS has published during its 40 years, it has also published a number of shorter essays in our Bulletins; Bulletin 1 was published in 1976 and the last, Bulletin 20 in 2008. These are being added to Society website and are available in .pdf format here
Neston Villages Heritage Guide
A brief guide to the history of and places of interest in and around Neston, Parkgate, Burton and Willaston
History of the Centre of Little Neston by Edward Hilditch
Neston Parish in the Middle Ages by Geoffrey Place
Normans in Cheshire: the View from Normandy by Tim Strickland
Further Notes on Hinderton Road
Newsletters
Members receive a monthly newsletter. They are available to read on the Burton and Neston History Society website – click here
Publications
Burton in Wirral – A History, was published in 1984 and Neston 1840-1940 in 1996. Both books are now out of print, but are available in Neston Library and secondhand copies may be bought online from sellers like Amazon, Ebay, Abebooks etc.
In 1999 we followed these up with Neston at War 1939-1945 and in 2014 with Neston Stone Age to Steam Age.
Neston Stone Age to Steam Age is for sale at the local outlets listed below at £14.95, on ebay or by emailing the Society on bnhsociety@googlemail.com.
o Gordale Nurseries, Chester High Road, Burton, NESTON, CH64 8TF
o Nicholls of Parkgate
o Little Neston Newsagents
Also available, price £2 from the same outlets, is the Society’s latest publication: A Short History of Neston and Surrounding Villages: Burton, Little Neston, Parkgate, Willaston, Ness, Thornton Hough, Ledsham, Capenhurst and Raby.