Speaker John Hinchliffe is Liverpool's World Heritage Officer: nobody is better placed to report on the significance and implications of this UNESCO recognition of Liverpool as a World Heritage Site, as the City approaches its year as European Capital of Culture.

The National Trust now cares for the unique ‘Mr. Hardman’s Photographic Studio’ in Liverpool's Rodney Street where Hardman and his wife lived for 40 years. Its custodian Sarah-Jane Langley, will tell us about this outstanding pictorial photographer who left a detailed record of the Merseyside area, and indeed Chester in the 1950s. (Organized in conjunction with Chester Photographic Society).

The ancient monument known as Heronbridge is long known as a Roman roadside settlement. Dr David Mason will talk about recent work that has shown it also to be the location of the earliest identified battlefield site in England, a rare Dark Age fort, and the site of English Civil War siege works. (Talk postponed from Feb. 2007)

An exploration by architect John Tweed on what the impact of global warming might actually mean for Chester and its built environment, including implications for energy use, construction, lifestyles and transport. A number of questions and thoughts will be posed on matters such as renewable energy and construction standards for new and existing buildings.

Opened by the Earl of Grosvenor MP in 1867, the Grosvenor family, Edward Kemp, John Douglas and many others helped create Chester's first 'Peoples Park’. John Dyke, of Chris Burnett Associates Landscape Design Practice, will discuss the politics and costs of making a public park in the 19th century, developed to: "afford to the public the opportunity of enjoying fresh air, sunshine and the flowers".