Finding the Battle of Brunanburh: Was This Definitive Battle of 973 Located at Bromborough in the Wirral?
2026-07-02 12:30 - 13:30 (Europe/London) | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
This illustrated talk by the authors of a new book will outline the case for Bromborough as the location of the ‘great war’, as it was known, of 937. King Athelstan of Wessex defeated a coalition of Irish, Norse, Scots and Cumbrians in a massive and deadly conflict. Many places have been suggested as the site of the battle. In this talk, the evidence from literature, history, geography and archaeology will be presented to show that it very likely happened on Wirral.

The Micro World and the Wood Wide Web
2026-07-02 12:30 - 13:30 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
When thinking of the natural world, everyone pictures badgers, foxes, wildflowers or maybe tall trees in a green woodland. However, none of this world would exist without the invisible micro world that ties the environment together. Dive into this world and learn how truly connected our precious biosphere truly is.

Sustainable (workplace) flexibility and how to achieve it
2026-07-02 12:30 - 13:30 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
This interactive session explores what sustainable workplace flexibility looks like and how it can be achieved in practice. A short mini lecture introduces key tensions in research and practice, highlighting why current approaches can feel fragmented. Participants will then take part in a workshop style group discussion, examining key stakeholders, potential solutions, and what makes workplace flexibility genuinely sustainable.

A Practitioner Panel on Trauma Informed Approaches to Support Expectant Families
2026-07-02 13:00 - 14:00 | Storyhouse Garret Theatre, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
Led by practitioners from Warrington Borough Council, this event convenes a panel of practitioners from Tameside Council and CWaC to discuss trauma-informed and relationship-based practice through the RESTORE programme. RESTORE is a Warrington-based five-year voluntary initiative supporting expectant families who have experienced, or are at risk of, having children removed from their care. The discussion will be relevant to those working in family and parenting support roles interested in trauma-informed practice.

Lasting Powers of Attorney: what are they, and how can our students help you complete them?
2026-07-02 13:00 - 14:00 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) are hugely important documents that enable you to nominate trusted people to make decisions about your health, welfare, property and finances in the event you lose mental capacity. Join this event to hear about how LPAs work, the risks of not having one, and how our students at the University of Chester Law School can help you complete your LPAs free of charge.

Great Communities Photovoice Research: Capturing the Lived Experience of People with Learning Disabilities
2026-07-02 13:00 - 15:00 | Storyhouse Kitchen, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
A photograph can tell a thousand words! Come and see our exhibition and meet the artists with learning disabilities and/or autism who share their Lived Experience of being leaders in their community.
This diverse and dynamic group have developed ‘Great Communities’ (GC) in Warrington. It connects people over 16-yrs who are not eligible for social care services.
GC and the UoC co-produced a photovoice study to tell their stories about making the changes they wanted to see! Join us for a chat.
http://www.macintyrecharity.org/in-your-area/cheshire/
https://www.facebook.com/MacIntyreGreatCommunities

How old am I? Trying to date buildings in our rural and urban landscapes
2026-07-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Our villages, towns and cities are full of buildings which date from many different periods. Many have a story to tell. This introductory talk will look at the buildings around us (both rural and urban) and offer some hints and pointers to dating houses, churches and civic buildings. Become aware of the distinctive features, and possible red herrings, which help when trying to date a building from visual clues. You too can become a building detective!

The Early Neston Collieries: Seven Reasons Why They Were Remarkable
2026-07-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
The collieries at Neston on the Wirral were worked for hundreds of years but few people know much about them. The early mines were, however, remarkable for their industrial, social and commercial innovation. Among other things, we will hear about underground canals, blatant acts of sabotage and workers’ healthcare. Anthony has studied and written about the mines for years and will show why he believes they were where the Industrial Revolution started in west Cheshire.

Scriveners, Priests, Feasts...and Huge Quantities of Objects - Medieval and Later Finds from Chester Amphitheatre
2026-07-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Grosvenor Museum, Chester, 27 Grosvenor Street, Chester, CH1 2DD, United Kingdom
Linked to the Grosvenor Museum’s exhibition ‘Chester Amphitheatre – an 8000 year story’, join the museum’s Archaeological Officer for a talk on medieval and later finds from the 2004-6 excavations at the Amphitheatre. The site of Chester Amphitheatre is well known for its Roman gladiators but who was using the site when the combats had ceased? This talk looks at some of the great variety of objects found in the excavations and the people who might have used them.

Why write a biography of Alfred Mond? The Many Lives of Chester's Forgotten MP
2026-07-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Who today knows of Alfred Mond? Once one of the world’s greatest tycoons, Mond has largely vanished from British public memory. Yet, elsewhere in the world the picture is very different. In Israel, there are streets, statues and even a museum in honour of the former Chester MP. As Tim Grady will discuss, Mond lived many different lives: politician, industrialist, leading Zionist and architect of the Imperial War Museum. It’s 90 years since the last biography. Is the time ripe for a follow up?

On Holy Ground: Experiencing Life in Relationships
2026-07-02 14:30 - 15:30 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
This lecture explores the idea that life is all about relationships, and that the experiences that we have with ‘others’ are holy ground where we can develop in dialogue with those we are in relationship. This presentation will draw on James’ experiences in education and inter-faith to fully explore what it means to live life in relationship. It will contrast an approach to life that Martin Buber describes as ‘I-It’: where everything and everyone are things to be used. The argument of this lecture is that we should adopt an ‘I-Thou’ approach to life where we view others in a relationship of love.

Walking and Cycling to a Better Future?
2026-07-02 14:30 - 15:30 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
Cycling is well known as an essential part of sustainable transport planning. This public lecture from Peter Cox, Emeritus Professor at the University of Chester and internationally acclaimed writer on cycling and sustainable travel, will explore the implications of taking walking and cycling as the starting point of thinking about movement; not just including them in travel plans.

From Representation to Action: Student Race Advocates Driving Equity in Chester Community
2026-07-02 14:30 - 15:30 | Storyhouse Garret Bar, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
This presentation highlights the work of Student Race Advocates (SRAs) at the University of Chester in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion both within the university and across the wider Cheshire community. The session will showcase a range of research-led and collaborative initiatives and how student-led advocacy can translate lived experience into informing institutional practices and strengthening community relationships. Attendees will be invited to reflect on their personal ability to drive equity and be a changemaker. As well as reflect on the University of Chester’s ongoing commitment to diversity and to consider how collaborative, community-based approaches can move beyond representation towards fostering genuine belonging and inclusive change.

What Am I Looking At? Following Chester’s Buildings Through Time
2026-07-02 15:30 - 16:30 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Chester is filled with beautiful and distinctive buildings, but in a place where people have lived for more than two thousand years, things are rarely as they seem. Combining an introduction to European architectural styles with a more detailed look at some of Chester’s most interesting architecture, this illustrated talk will explore the ways in which buildings survive and change through the centuries, and what they can tell us about their makers.

Hidden Histories Beneath Our Feet: How Digital Tools Reveal Local Stories
2026-07-02 16:00 - 17:00 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
Discover how digital tools such as drones, 3D scanning, mapping, and creative storytelling are helping uncover hidden histories in our towns and landscapes. Through visual examples from local heritage sites, including castles and community spaces, this session explores how technology can reconnect people with the stories beneath their feet, and inspire new ways of seeing familiar places.
https://www.avimmerse.com/
https://warringtoncastle.co.uk/

Monika Haeger - Inside Stasi: The Art of Translation and Adaptation for the Stage
2026-07-02 16:00 - 17:30 | Storyhouse Garret Theatre, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
This event will be led by Dr Stef Kerrigan and Dr Richard Millington and will include an audience Q&A.
This presentation is the first public sharing of an ongoing collaborative project between staff and students at the University of Chester whilst working with Nicole Heinrich’s 2024 play, Monika Haeger – Inside Stasi. Heinrich’s original work is based on the life of Stasi agent Monika Haeger and is a dramatic account of her activities within the German Democratic Republic in the 1970s and 1980s. Featuring excerpts of performance, come and join us as we share our journey of translation, collaboration and performance. We consider the creative processes of adaptation and storytelling for the contemporary stage whilst addressing timely issues of extremism, unreliable narrators, absolutist ideologies and the state.

Can You Spot the Traitor? The Psychology Behind The Traitors
2026-07-02 17:30 - 18:30 | Chester Picturehouse, Unit 10 Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR, United Kingdom
Missing The Traitors now the series has finished? Join this interactive session exploring the psychology behind the show. Why do the Faithful struggle to identify the Traitors, and why are humans so poor at spotting lies? Drawing on insights from our Psychology of the Traitors podcast, we’ll explore deception, trust, groupthink and social influence. Along the way, you’ll analyse real moments from the show and test whether you can spot the traitor.

Mobile phones in schools: Necessary tool or toxic distraction?
2026-07-02 17:30 - 18:45 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
With research indicating that 90% of children own a mobile phone by their eleventh birthday, but increasing concerns about their effect on mental health and online safety, how do we find the right balance, and how do we implement policies that are manageable for schools and supportive of both the education and wellbeing of children and young people? With increasing pressure on schools to act, what are the challenges they face and how might these be addressed?
Join us for a discussion about this crucial issue. The University of Chester’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eunice Simmons, will welcome: campaigner and founder of The Brianna Ghey Legacy Project, Esther Ghey; Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, Dan Price; and, headteacher at Queen’s Park High School, Tom Kearns, to explore this topic and possible safeguards that could be implemented.
More about our panel:
Professor Eunice Simmons has been VC at Chester since January 2020. Her priorities include modernising the University’s courses and services through responsible use of new technologies, chairing TASO – the national charity supporting access to HE – and promoting biodiversity and social justice projects in the UK and globally.
Esther Ghey is a campaigner and founder of The Brianna Ghey Legacy Project, which supports the mental health and wellbeing of young people and families across the UK, and she is a leading voice on online safety and Phone Free Education. She has taken her campaign to the House of Commons, appeared widely across national media, is the author of Under a Pink Sky, and was named The Independent’s Most Influential Woman in 2024 as well as one of GQ’s Heroes of the Year.
Dan Price was elected as Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner in May 2024. He has set out clear objectives for his term of office in his Police and Crime Plan. Its three pillars – listen to the public, modernise and reduce crime – focus on community-led policing, crime prevention and public engagement. It includes initiatives such as citizens’ assemblies, getting ex-offenders into meaningful employment and investment in community safety projects funded through recovered criminal assets.
Tom Kearns is the Headteacher of Handbridge Campus at QPHS & Chester International School (CIS). Tom has worked in education for over 22 years, with 18 of those spent in senior leadership roles. Throughout his career, he has gained extensive experience across a wide range of schools in the northwest of England, bringing a deep understanding of different contexts and communities.

Cheshire Prize for Literature Awards Evening
2026-07-02 19:00 - 20:30 | University of Chester Exton Park School of Education, University of Chester, Parkgate Road, Chester, CH1 4BJ
The Cheshire Prize for Literature showcases the literary talents of writers with a connection to the Cheshire area. Now in its 22nd year, the awards evening will announce the winners in the primary, secondary and adult categories for poetry, short stories, children’s literature and scriptwriting.
The winners will be joined by renowned author Ele Fountain. Ele worked as an editor in children’s publishing where she was responsible for launching and nurturing the careers of many prize-winning and bestselling authors, and was shortlisted for the British Council’s Young Creative Entrepreneur Award.
She lived in Addis Ababa for several years, where she wrote her debut novel, BOY 87, which went on to win four awards and was nominated for ten more, including the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and Carnegie Medal. Her second novel, LOST, was a Guardian Children’s Book of the Year. FAKE has been selected as a BookTrust Future Classic. WILD was a Financial Times Best Book of the Year. Her latest novel, STORM CHILD, was a Times Book of the Week. Her books have sold to 13 countries worldwide and received more than 30 award nominations between them.
She has talked about books and reading on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC World Service, and to anyone who happens to be passing. She speaks regularly at schools and literary festivals, delivering talks and workshops drawing on 20 years’ experience in the publishing industry. Ele currently holds a post as RLF (Royal Literary Fund) Fellow at the University of Reading.
The event will start at 7pm with a complimentary drink available beforehand.

Research is a Laugh - Stand-Up Comedy Night!
2026-07-02 19:00 - 21:30 | Storyhouse Garret Theatre, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
Think academic research isn’t your thing? Think again!
Join us for an evening stand-up comedy, a new event for 2026! Researchers from across the North West will swap jargon for punchlines and take to the stage to share their work. Expect fascinating research, silly stories, and lots of laughs. No prior knowledge required, just come along and discover what happens when research meets comedy!
This year’s Chester Festival of Ideas line-up includes: Luke Chaplin, Kate Slade, Sahir Hussain, Erin Beeston, Bethany Facer, and Sarah McGrath!

Postgraduate Research Exhibition
2026-07-03 10:00 - 16:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
The postgraduate research exhibition will feature current research being conducted at the University of Chester across a variety of disciplines. The research will be presented via posters, detailing what the researcher is doing, how they are doing it, and what impact this could have.

The Peaces We Keep, Make, Transform
2026-07-03 10:00 - 17:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
This is a participatory art work inviting visitors to sit, pause, and write a promise of peace for themselves, someone they love, or the wider world. You may keep it, dissolve it in water, or place it in a box. Promises in the box are later transferred to the chair, allowing it to hold community voices. On the final day, staff and dance students from the University of Chester will present a live performance responding to the chair and its collected promises.

Retracing Footsteps: The Past, Present and Future of Yr Wyddfa / Snowdon
2026-07-03 10:00 - 17:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Yr Wyddfa / Snowdon is Wales’s most iconic mountain, hosting 650,000 visitors each year. This exhibition takes us on a journey that considers the past, present, and sustainable future of the mountain. Contemporary photographs are juxtaposed with extracts from the 19th-century Snowdon summit hotels’ visitor books. The exhibition is part of an ongoing, interdisciplinary project at the University of Chester, in collaboration with Bangor University and Eryri National Park Authority.

Nourish to Flourish (Photo Exhibition)
2026-07-03 10:00 - 17:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Nourish to Flourish is a school-based project led by Kate and Ellie, helping children feel confident about healthy eating through creativity. Supported by the Bluecoat Charity, the Westminster Foundation and Crossing Borders, with evaluation support from RECAP (University of Chester). This year children explored artists from around the world and created artwork using food as material. The event includes a photo exhibition.

The Rows of Chester: A Unique Creation or a Unique Survival?
2026-07-03 10:30 - 11:30 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
The uniqueness of Chester’s Rows lies first in the imaginative adaptation of a common medieval building form to the city’s hilly site. However, they would not have seemed so unusual had comparable buildings elsewhere survived better. The talk will look at parallels for the building type, how it was adapted to the landscape, and the historical circumstances that prompted it.

Supporting the next generation: inter-generational mentoring - how "the old" can mentor "the young".
2026-07-03 11:00 - 12:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
The MACIE (Mentoring And Coaching In Education) research group have undertaken extensive research into mentoring, and what works well when mentoring relationships are successful. In this interactive workshop session we will take you through what we have learnt from our research into mentoring in education settings, and apply it to real life situations that you can use in your everyday interactions. More specifically it’s about how “the old” can best go about helping “the young”.

Promises to Ourselves
2026-07-03 11:00 - 12:00 | Storyhouse Garret Theatre, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR
An exciting and thought provoking drama, dance and musical exploration of the hopes and aspirations of the students at Lymm High School and how they envisage their futures. Using students’ own opinions and viewpoints, this performance will express their expectations and intentions about how they want the world to look in the future.

Sustainability Walk - Energy
2026-07-03 11:00 - 12:30 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
This led walk, which is also “wheels accessible”, is one of four themed routes staged as part of the 2026 “Festival of ideas” that uses examples from the existing cityscape to demonstrate various aspects of the overall theme of ‘Sustainability’.
This walk focuses on the Sustainability dimension of ‘Energy’ visiting various sites in and around Chester City Centre to illustrate live examples of what are demonstrations of energy conservation or renewable energy production.

"The future in our hands"- An exhibition by the students of Chester schools in collaboration with WeMindTheGap.
2026-07-03 11:00 - 15:00 | Churchill House, Queen’s Park Campus, University of Chester, Queen's Park Road, Chester, CH4 7AD
Join us to hear what matters to young people in Chester today! Students taking part in WeMindTheGap’s WeInspire programme across three Chester high schools will be showcasing a vibrant collection of mixed media works to present their thoughts, opinions and feelings about life as a teenager in Chester.

WeMindTheGap | Giving new opportunities to under-served young people
WeMindTheGap: Overview | LinkedIn
Facebook

Talking Tours: Let’s Talk History
2026-07-03 11:00 - 16:00 | Chester Town Hall, 33 Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2HQ
Lace up your plimsoles and sprint through the last century of Cheshire’s sporting past with Let’s Talk, History. Using historic sound recordings from Cheshire Archives’ collections, this free audio trail tells 100 years of stories about the county’s competitive, recreational and, at times, amusing sports. From the football field to the polo field. George Best and his team cheating their way to victory against Chester FC to street-side boxing matches to win £5. Follow the trail map and scan the free QR code on the Let’s Talk, History posters at each location to hear the stories of our sporting stars from yesteryear. The ball’s in your court!
Pick up your trail map from the info point in Chester Town Hall to get started!
