SOCIETY AND CULTURE, 1945-74
Health. (fn. 3) The establishment of the National Health
Service consolidated earlier gains in some aspects of
public health. In 1948, because of immunization, there
were no cases of diphtheria for the first time in
Chester's recorded medical history. In the 1950s treatment with new antibiotics and vaccination virtually
eradicated tuberculosis. Whereas in 1932 there had
been about 200 cases and 40 deaths, in 1962 only two
people died of the disease. Such improvements brought
other diseases to the fore: by the early 1960s lung
cancer had overtaken tuberculosis as a major cause of
death; coronary heart disease was also increasing, and
in the 1950s there was a virulent epidemic of poliomyelitis.
In 1945 the infantile death rate was a matter for
concern. It had fallen as low as 56 per thousand live
births in the late 1930s, but during the war rose again
into the upper 70s. The reasons, which were extensively
debated in local newspapers, were thought to be bad
housing, maternal undernourishment through poverty,
and deficiencies in health care. There were no resident
consultant paediatricians, gynaecologists, or obstetricians, no specially trained children's nurses, no special
children's wards, and insufficient maternity beds. (fn. 4) In
1947 the infantile death rate in Chester rose to 81.2 per
thousand live births, almost twice the national average,
and the Ministry of Health instituted a local inquiry
into the possible causes. Before the report was published and its recommendations effected, the corporation had appointed specialist medical and nursing staff
at the City Hospital, and provided dedicated children's
beds and a premature baby unit. Within two years
infantile mortality fell to 20.1 per thousand live births.
Thereafter there was further improvement, and by
1965 infant mortality was 14.6 per thousand live
births, appreciably lower than the national average.
Despite improvements at the City Hospital there were
still insufficient maternity beds, until in 1971 a new
maternity unit was provided at what was later called
the Countess of Chester Hospital in Liverpool Road. (fn. 5)
Under the 1948 National Assistance Act destitute old
people were moved from the City Hospital, formerly
the poor-law workhouse, to Sealand House, which
replaced the former infectious diseases hospital in
Sealand Road. Other residential homes for the elderly
were established later. (fn. 6) In general Chester's health
record improved dramatically between 1945 and the
mid 1960s. Although better health services were the
main cause, other factors included the alleviation of
poverty and malnutrition, full employment, and the
falling numbers of those living in overcrowded and
defective houses.
Culture and Leisure.With the spread of television
there was a decline in cinema-going from the 1950s;
the Music Hall cinema became a retail shop, the
Gaumont a bingo hall, and by the early 1970s, when
audiences began to recover, there were only two
cinemas left. (fn. 7) The Royalty Theatre closed in 1966
after an unsuccessful attempt to turn it into a cabaret
club. (fn. 8) In 1968 a new civic theatre, the Gateway, opened
in the Forum Centre. (fn. 9) Attempts to persuade the
council to fund an arts centre as a home for the
city's numerous drama, music, and arts societies
failed, and the cathedral remained the only suitable
venue for large orchestras and audiences over 1,000. (fn. 10)
In 1961 the corporation's only contribution to arts
provision was £550 pledged to cover the losses
incurred by the Hallé and Liverpool Philharmonic
concerts. (fn. 11) In 1967 for the first time it funded a Chester
Festival, of which the central event was an adaptation
of the Chester mystery plays on Cathedral Green. After
criticism of the council's parsimony, arts expenditure
increased, primarily in the form of subsidies to the
Gateway theatre. (fn. 1)
In 1948 the Chester City Record Office was established. (fn. 2) Nothing, however, was done to improve the
central library, although the need for a new building
had long been recognized, and the county council had
in 1966 agreed to share in its cost. (fn. 3) At the Grosvenor
Museum, which was more favoured, a professional
archaeologist was appointed curator in 1948, and in
1953 a new Roman gallery was named after Professor
Newstead. In 1966 the museum was also provided with
an art gallery. (fn. 4)
The cathedral was crucial to the city's cultural life.
The clergy, especially successive deans, cultivated good
relations with the local community, the Army, and the
corporation, through special annual services and
organizations such as the Old Choristers' Association
and the Friends of the Cathedral. They also hosted
large orchestral concerts and performances of the
mystery plays. The bishop maintained close contact
with Chester College, the expansion of which after the
war had a big impact on the cultural life of the city, and
in the 1960s the cathedral clergy as a whole gave strong
support to the bid to locate a university in Chester. (fn. 5)
Chester was reasonably well endowed with open
spaces laid out for organized sports, but there was a
shortage of appropriately sited land for recreation and
children's play. (fn. 6) In 1945 the need for a park in the
southern part of the city was recognized, and the duke
of Westminster gave the corporation 46 acres at Hough
Green; (fn. 7) Westminster Park, however, was not developed
until 1966 when a nine-hole golf course, tennis courts,
football pitches, and a running track were planned. (fn. 8)
City and county co-operated on the construction of the
Northgate Arena leisure centre, built on the site of
Northgate station and completed in 1977. (fn. 9)