A house move in Handbridge usually comes down to one question. Where does the lorry stop?
Handbridge sits on the south bank of the Dee, a few minutes from the city centre, and it was a village long before it became part of Chester. The streets still follow that old layout. Winding, narrow, and lined with Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian terraces built straight onto the back of the pavement. No front gardens. No driveways. Parking on both sides, usually full by mid-morning.
Hoole, on the other side of the city, sets much the same puzzle. Victorian terraces, cars nose to tail, and a front door that opens onto the path. A move between the two is short in miles and long in planning.
Britannia Cestrian has been moving households across Chester since 1972. What follows is how we handle a move between two period properties inside the city, from the pre-move survey to the last item off the van.
A typical job of this kind
| Move type | Local house removal within Chester |
| Route | Handbridge to Hoole, around three miles across the city |
| Property | Two-bed period terrace to three-bed Victorian semi |
| Main constraint | On-street parking only at collection, restricted waiting at delivery |
| Services used | Free pre-move survey, packing service, removal, dismantling and reassembly |
| Covered by | BAR accreditation, BS EN 12522, Which? Trusted Trader |
What we plan around
Three things decide how a Chester period move runs. Where the vehicle can legally stop, how far the carry is, and what has to be protected on the way out.
Access at both ends
A full-size removal lorry needs a legal stopping point within a sensible carrying distance of the door. Much of central Chester runs a residents’ parking scheme, and on many streets the restrictions apply seven days a week from 8am to 9pm with a waiting period of only ten minutes. That is not long enough to load a house.
So the stopping point gets decided at survey, not on the morning. Sometimes that means a bay suspension arranged in advance through Cheshire West and Chester Council. Sometimes it means a smaller shuttle vehicle running between the door and a lorry parked further out. Our own fleet of twelve vehicles covers both, from a van and one man through to a full household load.
The house itself
Period terraces have things worth protecting. Original tiled hallways, stripped boards, plaster cornice, and a staircase that turns tightly at the top. A wardrobe that went in flat-packed forty years ago will not always come out in one piece, which is why dismantling and reassembly gets agreed in advance rather than discovered at eleven o’clock on the day.
The order of the load
When the carry is long, sequence matters more than speed. The van is loaded so the first things off at the new house are the things you need first. Beds and kitchen boxes come out before the loft contents.
The pre-move survey
One of our trained pre-move surveyors visits you at home. There is no charge and no obligation.
They walk both the property and the street, then build a written move plan covering:
- Volume, and the vehicle or vehicles it needs
- Where those vehicles will stand at collection and at delivery
- Any specialist equipment or materials for large, awkward or valuable items
- What needs dismantling, and what needs reassembling at the other end
- Anything that is not being moved
- How much packing you want us to do, from nothing to everything
We look at the destination as closely as the collection address. A move that loads easily and then cannot unload has only moved the problem three miles up the road.
On moving day
The crew arrive briefed from the move plan, with everything already loaded for the job in hand. Floors, doorways and banisters go under protection before a single item moves. Furniture is blanket-wrapped, upholstery covered, and loads secured with straps for the run across the city.
At the new house the same protection goes down first. Furniture is placed where you want it and reassembled, not stacked in the hall for you to sort out later. Boxes go to the room marked on the label.
What you get
A clear picture before you commit. The survey tells you what your move needs, what it costs, and whether it is a one-day job or something to spread across two. That number does not move afterwards unless you change what is being moved.
Everything is carried out to British Association of Removers practice and our BS EN 12522 certification, and your belongings are covered in transit. We will set out exactly what that cover includes before you book.
Accreditations
- Member of the British Association of Removers
- BAR Overseas Group member for European and international moves
- Certified to BS EN 12522, the European standard for household furniture removal
- Which? Trusted Trader, with independently verified reviews
- Established 1972, and part of Britannia Movers International, a network of 49 family-run removal companies
Book a free survey
Tell us the two addresses and we will arrange a surveyor to visit. Call 01244 521 950, email sales@britanniacestrian.co.uk, or use the quote form.
Related pages
House Removals | Removals Chester | Storage in Chester | Testimonials
