No theatre, no cinema, no culture?

London city of culture, Manchester city of culture, Chester - well, never mind.

Perhaps it was the Industrial Revolution's fault; Manchester was upended by it, giving rise to the European city with the charm and fire of life on the continent. Chester was untouched by it, a genteel place, the fishin' and shootin'and racin' come first.

And of course there is the city's size. With 120,000 souls it is tiny compared to Manchester. In fact you see all of it by foot, in a day!

In Chester there appears to be a confusion between culture and history. Unfortunately historic buildings have their own culture, and culture with a capital 'C' thrives anyway. There is nothing like an old building to send you into the past, whereas 'Culture' thrives in the present.

Of course, Cheshire West and Chester Council are hot on the case; apparently they are to make Chester home to a replica of the sixteenth cenury Rose Theatre. A press release says that the "British Shakespeare Company is looking for a Northern home for the theatre and we can think of no better destination than Chester."

We can hardly wait!