Crazed plaster on party wall

[amfisted]

Currently in the process of preparing the lounge of our 1965 semi-detached bungalow for decoration. Whilst removing the wallpaper I discovered crazed plaster on the party wall ( photos attached). There was no hint of the cracks on the wallpaper that I've just removed and the surface feels solid to the touch. The cracks cover the entire surface of both alcoves either side of the chimney breast, but there's nothing similar on any other wall in the room.

Obviously I'd prefer not to hack the plaster off and pay for a new finish, but even though it does feel solid, is there anything I should do to the surface to stabilise it before repapering? The wallpaper I've just removed appears to have been there for decades and as I said above, it hadn't suffered any obvious damage from the crazing beneath.

What might have caused the original plaster to craze like this?


?

 

[Wayners]

If solid ignore and carry on papering

 

[amfisted]

If solid ignore and carry on papering

Exactly what I'm doing, thanks. We intend to hang a feature wallpaper in the alcoves and on the chimney breast, so I've started by hanging 1400 lining paper to smooth out any irregularities in the wall surface caused by the cracks.