Chester's Grosvenor Museum turns 140 with a free Victorian birthday party on 29 October, Halloween crafts, an 11am highlights tour and The Red Shoes on film.

The Grosvenor Museum on Grosvenor Street opened in 1886, and it is marking 140 years with a week of events over October half term. The centrepiece is a free Victorian Birthday Party on Thursday 29 October, 10.30am to 3.30pm, in the Roman Chester Gallery, and the same day runs on into a birthday Café Crafts session and an evening screening of The Red Shoes.

Cheshire West and Chester Council, which runs the museum, announced the programme on 12 October. Most of it takes place in the museum’s new Hub, the old museum shop, which has been turned into a space for events, meetings and craft sessions. The council says it already hosts regular groups, including Café Crafts and a Book Club.

The anniversary programme

Dates from the council’s release; times and prices from the West Cheshire Museums events listing, checked on 12 October.

  • Saturday 24 October: Chester Archaeological Society conference.
  • Monday 26 October: Meet & Make in the Hub, with a birthday theme.
  • Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 October: free Halloween crafts in the Hub, 10.30am to 3.30pm. The museum lists it as “Spooky Museum”: make a model museum “full of creepy crawlies, ghastly ghosts, or wicked witches”. Drop in, donations welcome.
  • Tuesday 27 to Friday 30 October, 11am daily: Museum Highlights Tours, which the council describes as a chance to see “some of the museum’s most fascinating objects, collections and stories”.
  • Thursday 29 October, 10.30am to 3.30pm: Victorian Birthday Party in the Roman Chester Gallery. Free, drop in. The museum’s listing puts the question it is built around: “What did people in the past do to celebrate their birthdays?”
  • Thursday 29 October, from 2.30pm: a birthday-themed Café Crafts session in the Hub. The council gives the finish as 4pm, the museum’s listing as 4.30pm. The listing price is £3.
  • Thursday 29 October, 7pm: Movie Night at the Museum, showing The Red Shoes, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 ballet film (133 minutes). Tickets are £6 and must be booked through TicketSource, linked from the film’s listing.
Knitted flowers on green stems with a knitted ladybird, badger, mouse and hedgehog laid out on a blue cloth
Knitted flowers and animals from the museum's Café Crafts group. Photo: supplied by West Cheshire Museums

The anniversary week also overlaps with the museum’s usual half-term listings: the Half Term Children’s Ghost Walk leaves from the Town Hall flagpole on Northgate Street on the evening of 29 October (£12 per adult with two children free, cash only, book on 01244 972197), and other half-term events across the district are on our October half term page.

What the council says

Councillor Lisa Denson, Cabinet Member for a Fairer Future (Poverty, Public Health and Museums), said:

“The Grosvenor Museum has been an important part of Chester’s cultural life for 140 years and these celebrations are a wonderful opportunity to reflect on its remarkable history while looking ahead to its future.

“We are proud to offer a varied programme of activities that will appeal to families, history enthusiasts and anyone who has a connection with the museum. I would encourage residents and visitors alike to come along and be part of this special milestone.”

Museum staff have thanked Premier Plants in Ledsham, which is donating indoor plants for the Hub.

Getting there

The Grosvenor Museum is at 27 Grosvenor Street, Chester, CH1 2DD. Full details of the anniversary events are on the West Cheshire Museums events page, and the museum takes phone bookings on 01244 972197.