Tram cars had been seen in Chester streets since 1879 when the Chester Tramways Company introduced a horse drawn tram service from the General Station to the Castle on 10th June and to Curzon Street, Saltney on 21st June. Horse trams continued to ply on this line (with horse buses on the Bache - Christleton and Market Square Hoole routes) for 28 years until the City Corporation acquired the company in 1902. They then decided to electrify the line and extend it at the same time to Tarvin Road and Christleton Road. Up till then, the cars were small double deckers (in the same livery of crimson and cream used today) pulled by two horses abreast. In 1903, when the Corporation took over, the livery was changed to apple green and ivory. The tracks were narrow - 3 ft. 6 in. - to cope with the city's streets, and even so there were areas, such as at the Cross and under the Eastagte where single tracks had to be placed. The view above is at the Overleigh, looking up Wrexham Road. Notice the granite setts (for the horses) and the lack of traffic- one cart in the background and three cyclists. Presumably everyone has been turned off the trains to have their photograph taken. It is certainly a very posed picture.
The 'Lee' of Domesday is divided into Netherleigh, in Eaton Road, an estate part of which descended in one family from 1270 until it was sold to John Cotgreave, Mayor of Chester in 1735, and now only consists of a house of that name, and Overleigh (or Overlegh). This latter estate consisted of the land and a large ancient timber house which was destroyed in the Civil War. It was replaced by a brick mansion which stood somewhere near the Catholic High School on the old Wrexham Road. The Marquis of Westminster bought the estate in 1830 and demolished the house putting up the present lodge and gateway to Eaton Hall in 1838, to coincide with building the new bridge and embankment, which divided the Dingle in two, and the cutting of a new Wrexham Road. Prior to this, the road in from Wales was a lonely desolate one, high above the bank of the river and crowded in by the trees and heathland of what is now Curzon Park and Westminster Park. The narrow country lane up to Lache Hall and beyond, ran off to the right through the woods (the remnants of which are seen here and still remain in the roundabout). Then the road dipped down to Handbridge with the Dingle on the left containing the old Roman stone quarry and lake where the cemetery now stands. On the right was Overleigh Hall or Manor and then came the fishing village itself, River Lane, Brown's Lane and Greenway Street, all running down to the river on the left. Finally came the old Dee Bridge with a tower at either end, and the toll keeper wanting his fee for the crossing into the city.

ELECTRIC TRAMCAR, Saltney, 1905. This was the terminus of the line which went through Bough Green, over the Grosvenor Bridge, along Bridge Street, Eastgate and Foregate Street to the station. The trains were electrified in 1903, the Corporation having decided to take over the Chester Tramways Company the previous year and replace the 20 year old horse trams with twelve small, doubledeck, open top, electric vehicles in apple green and ivory. Five more were added in 1906. To cope with Chester's narrow streets, the small gauge of 3ft. 6in. was adopted and the trains remained in service, with an extension from Boughton to Christleton and Tarvin Roads, until 1930. The rails were then covered over but were not removed until 1946-47. There was chaos caused by digging up the tracks and relaying the streets with tarmac. The wooden blocks had replaced the original granite setts many years before, presumably for quietness, and these were sold off by the Corporation after they had been dug up. In the freezing winter of 1947 they provided a wonderful addition to the meagre coal ration of those immediate post-war years. In this photograph, Saltney Station is very prominent. It cost 4d. single and 7d. return to the General Station by train ( but only 2d. on the tram). Richard Jones' Sale started on 7th January, 1905, it says on the poster by the hotel - now called the First (or the Last - depending on your direction of travel ) House in England. Notice the news agents - still in business - who were also the sub-post office at that time. A nonchalant postman is leaning on his bike and there are the usual bystanders including maids from the hotel. Notice the tiny boy by the lamp standard with a hand cart. Children were smaller in those days and they left school at 12.