Frodsham

In medieval times, Frodsham was an important borough and port belonging to the Earls of Chester.

A market is held each Thursday, and Frodsham's viability as a trading centre was emphasised by the presence of the "big five" clearing banks and several building societies, though the branches of HSBC and NatWest have recently closed.

Development in the town's shops and premises with alcohol licences is evident through the opening or modernisation of contemporary-style bar, restaurants, take-aways, and public houses since 2002, and in the continued presence of small, specialised, businesses operating from town-centre shops.

In the early 1990s Vale Royal Borough Council opened a new purpose-built headquarters in Winsford.

Castle Park House had a major refurbishment in 2005–06 and now operates as a "one-stop shop" for Cheshire West and Chester Council, providing a number of services for the community and for businesses.

Frodsham, like the neighbouring village of Helsby, has a hill overlooking the Mersey estuary, which is popular with dog walkers and naturalists.

Before the construction of the hotel and nightclub, famously hosting one of the Beatles' first appearances, the site was home to a very large helter skelter and a fine collection of vintage coin-operated amusement machines.

The town is close to the junction of the A56, the main link between Chester and Warrington, with the B5152 road, which runs southeast to connect with Kingsley, Northwich and Tarporley in the centre of the county.

The formerly separate settlements of Netherton and Overton form the southern districts of the town while the easternmost section towards Frodsham Bridge is known as Newtown.

[7] The parish, like most in Cheshire, is underlain by a suite of sedimentary rocks dating from the Triassic Period.

The uplift resulted in trapping the water table at an elevation of around 200 feet (61 m) at which level springs developed.

These comprise a thin and patchy cover of glacial till (or 'boulder clay'), largely a legacy of the last ice age, together with spreads of glacio-fluvial sand and gravel, a product of the eventual deglaciation of the area.

Recent alluvium fills the deeply incised valley of the Weaver and also extends across the Marsh to the Mersey estuary.

[8][12] Being close to the west coast and the Irish Sea, the climate is generally temperate with few extremes of temperature or weather.

[15] The average number of days in the year when snow is on the ground is 0 to 6, which is low for the United Kingdom.

[19] Bus services are available to Chester, Runcorn, Ellesmere Port, Hatchmere (adjacent to Delamere Forest) and to Northwich.

The town has, in the past, had a number of Methodist churches built to replace older chapels.

In April 2012 the council resolved to split the roles of chairman and Mayor of Frodsham and separate votes are now held for each position.

The council also resolved to create a convention offering the mayorship to the councillor who had served the longest since last being Mayor, or having been first elected regardless of any political or personal affiliations.

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada.

[29] In November 2014 Frodsham made national headlines due to a hoax in which it was claimed that actor William Shatner would be turning on the town's Christmas lights.

Frodsham Castle Park Arts Centre (photo: Neil Kennedy)
Map of civil parish of Frodsham within the former borough of Vale Royal
St Laurence's Church, Frodsham
Frodsham Methodist Church decorated for Easter 2020
Alice Coote, 2007
Gary Barlow, 2017