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Warrington - The Town of Many Industries |
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This page will cover events and
happenings around the town.
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National Play Day is an annual event traditionally celebrated on the first Wednesday in August. On Play Day thousands of children and their families get out to play at hundreds of community events across the UK. See the Playday website for more. |
Warrington Market was host to a replica of a World War II aircraft, the Mark VB Spitfire W3644, courtesy of The Lytham St Annes Spitfire group. Members of the group were on hand to give talks and answer questions from the public. The original Mark VB purchased by the Lytham St Annes residents was shot down by a Focke-Wulf FW190 whilst on escort duty during a bombing mission of Morlaix, France. The mission began over Start Point, Devon, and once hit, the Spitfire crashed into the sea on 23 June 1942.
| In Warrington on 14 September 1940, a lone German bomber attacked the recreation ground of Thames Board Mills at Arpley Meadows, killing sixteen men, women and children at a fundraising event, ironically to buy a Spitfire. Over a period of time, enough money was raised to buy two Spitfires. | |
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two Spitfire fighters were presented to the RAF by the people of |
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| Warrington Museum has a photograph of Spirit of Warrington II on display. More on the Lytham St Annes Spitfire later. | |
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At the town centre event, entertainment and hands-on activities, including face-painting and badgemaking, were available to encourage the importance of play. A fancy dress parade took place, and street art was featured, including a sand sculpture. I wanted to interview the creator of a cat and dog sculpture, but unfortunately he didn't understand much English. However, if you go to the Golden Square page, you can see a sand sculpture from September 2006 which uses the same technique. There was a rock climbing wall and a circus skills workshop. |
| Events With a Difference is a local family-run business from Cuerdley near Fiddler's Ferry, who provided a helter skelter for the day. They were most helpful in allowing me to take some photos from the top, but I forgot to take a mat up with me so I had to walk back down the stairs again when I had finished, unlike Steve, the manager at the market, who took his video camera up with him to film the ride down. Well, it was a job somebody had to do! Market stalls were also available, selling the freshest fruit and vegetables to a grateful public. Warrington Wolves mascot, Wolfie, was on hand to meet and greet the children, as were Laurel and Hardy. |  |
Other entertainment and activities included Stuffett's Puppet show and a flight simulator. In fact, there was so much going on, I didn't get chance to see everything!
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| Workshops
were on hand throughout the event |
Cat
and dog sand sculpture. The colour seems to have gone astray in the left side of the photo. I'll put it right soon |
Fancy dress parade | Visitors admire the Spitfire |
Music was provided by the Red Rose brass band, and children performed in an open-air marquee with song and dance routines. Donkey rides were enjoyed by the children. I didn't see a bucket and spade, but I did see a bucket and shovel - to clear up after the donkey! Warrington-born TV presenter and historian, Mark Olly, explained Celtic history and there were demonstrations of sword fighting. Warrington's online community radio station, Radio Warrington, broadcast live from the event, with music mixed by my friend DJKenny, who has his own shows on Tuesday and Saturday evenings. Tune in by visiting www.radiowarrington.co.uk. DJKenny also runs his own website, www.djkennylive.me.uk.
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| Red
Rose perform. I Like the brolly |
Wolfie meets his many fans | Press
the button to make him laugh |
Radio
Warrington broadcast live from the portable studio |
So now it's time to see some more photos of the Spitfire. I am not including any technical details or history about the fighter plane here. You can find information in Wikipedia and other websites. Instead, I will just let you enjoy the sights and to tell you that lots of money was raised by allowing visitors to sit in the cockpit of the replica Spitfire for photographs. By the way, the spitfire is called Lucy. don't forget to view The Lytham St Annes Spitfire website.
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| Five
views of the Spitfire from every angle, apart from above (I wasn't
allowed on the roof). Actually, I didn't ask, because I didn't want to face any health and safety issues - there was enough said against that on the day! |
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| Although the main Spitfire on show was a replica, there was a trailer displaying part of a real version (first photo, above). Unfortunately, nobody was allowed to sit in it due to health and safety regulations. Strange isn't it, there was no health and safety in the war time when brave young men and women were risking their necks to save us from the onslaught of Hitler and his cronies. There's only two things I don't like in this world, and they are health and safety! The second photo shows a black plaque, which is positioned close to the cockpit on the fuselage of the plane. The third photo shows the flight control panel and part of the cockpit. The plaque in the fourth photo features various messages and honours to the local people of Lytham St Annes and the Fylde coast for their fundraising efforts in the war. The white label says "Not for ourselves but others". The plaque in the fifth photo contains the Latin phrase Per Ardua Ad Astra, which means Through Adversity to the Stars (or Through Struggle to the Stars), and is the motto of the Royal Air Force. | ||||
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| The first photo, above, shows the side of the promotional trailer. The next seven photos show the Spitfire in closer detail. The ninth photo shows one of the weapons of war, on display in front of the Spitfire. They were selling empty shell cases on the stall. The last photo shows the pride of the British people, the Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack. It is possible that the term "Jack" occurred because of its regular use on all British ships using the "Jack Staff" (a flag pole attached to the bow of a ship). There is still debate on whether one should say Union Jack or Union Flag. I leave to your own choice... | ||||
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I mentioned Events With a Difference earlier. Their helter skelter took about three hours to assemble, and the same time to take down at the end of the day. It was built by Orton & Spooner in 1932. George Orton was born in Measham, Leicestershire in 1843, and a wheelwright and coachbuilder by trade. Charles Spooner, a wood carver, was born in 1871 in Burton-on-Trent. Orton established the Lion Carriage Works in 1875 and Charles Spooner was one of his suppliers. They worked together from 1894 and amalgamated in 1925. For more detailed information on their work, visit The Fairground Heritage Trust website.
I am Grateful to Events With a Difference for their assistance with the following ten photos. Visit their website to see what else they do. Meanwhile, have a look at some views of the town centre from the top of the helter skelter.
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| Here we see the top of the helter skelter in the first photo, with a view of the route down in the second. I hope this scene brings back some childhood memories for you. Why not Email me with your experiences for Memory Lane. | This view looks northeast towards Bank Street and Buttermarket Street. The Cheshire Lines warehouse, now an apartment block, is in the centre of the first panoramic photo. The pyramid roof of the market is seen here in the third photo (looking south). There are major plans to redevelop the Bridge Street and River Mersey area, including a brand new market. | |||
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| A rock climbing wall was assembled behind the Howard Building (the former Boots store). John Howard wrote a book on prison reform and stayed at a house on this site. A plaque is dedicated to him on the front of the building on Bridge Street. Read his profile in Warrington People. | In the 1900s this magnificent building on Bridge Street was occupied by W Hodgkinson Ltd, Warrington's premier department store. | This is the water tower of Garnett's cabinet works. It was recently saved from demolition by Warrington Borough Council. | Back at ground level, this view looks once more at the helter skelter, this time from the southeast. | |
Mark Olly is a local TV presenter, historian and author. If you are a subscriber to Sky television you can still see his Lost Treasures series on a regular basis. He is currently preparing the fourth book in the series Celtic Warrington and Other Mysteries. If you haven't read the first three, they are still available to buy, or you can borrow them from the library. The fifth and final one of the series is due out in 2012. Meanwhile, take a look at these photos from the Play Day event, where he set up a medieval encampment for the day. He even took his chances with the sword fighting demonstrations and lived to tell the tale.
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| Mark Olly | The medieval encampment | The shield, left, depicts Mark's personal arms | ||
Mark and his colleagues were on hand to describe life in the middle ages and to encourage visitors to handle the various artefacts from his collection. He has a presence on Facebook. See what interesting facts you can find there.
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| Chain mail - very heavy | A variety of shields and helmets | ||
The six scenes, below, were photographed at high speed over a two-second period to capture the various actions in one of the sword fighting demonstrations. In the olden days you had to be fit and strong to both hold a the sword and to wear the heavy chain mail. I don't think I would have made the grade.
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The ice sculpture above (shown the normal way round on the left and as a mirror image on the right) was one of the attractions in Warrington town centre this November for the Christmas celebrations. It was created by Glacial Art of Liverpool. The sculptors started with one solid block of ice at 9 a.m. and, using a chain saw, completed the work by 2 p.m. Clients for their work include MTV Awards 08, Liverpool 08 European Capital of Culture, Jaguar, Reebok and Gucci. In 2009 won First Place in an International Ice Sculpting Competition in Latvia. See more of their spectacular work at www.glacialart.com.
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Other attractions at the Christmas Market included the three wise people and their camels.
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Classic vehicles were on display at the Vintage Christmas event by Warrington market, including a Christmas Mini and the town's heritage bus, the Leyland PD2-40 Special. Other events in Warrington this Christmas were the Christmas Lights Switch-on, a Christmas fayre in the Old Market Place, a lantern parade and a Christmas grotto in Warrington market. Various musical recitals, lunchtime choirs, church services and the Salvation Army band were also available. Entertainment for the festive period at Pyramid and Parr Hall included Ken Dodd's Happiness Show (10 Dec), Vienna Festive Ballet - Sleeping Beauty (11 Dec), Northern Chamber Orchestra - The Manchester Carols (15 Dec), Back for Good recreating the magic of 'Take That' in concert (16 Dec), Christmas Comedy Store (18 Dec) and Jack and the Beanstalk in pantomime (2-15 Jan 2011). For details of future events visit www.pyramidparrhall.co.uk.
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Acker Bilk
gained worldwide fame with his hit single 'Stranger On The Shore' in
1962, which stayed in the charts for 55 weeks and was the first number
1 hit in UK and USA simultaneously. He also had a big hit with 'Aria'
in 1976. Born in January 1929, he has previously worked in a tobacco
factory and also done a bit of boxing.
He began playing the clarinet in 1948 and has received many gold and platinum disks for his music. In 2001 Acker was honoured with an MBE for his services to the Music Industry. He now tours with his Paramount Jazz Band. |
On Saturday 25 August 2007 he gave a sparkling performance at The Old Fish Market at Golden Square Warrington in a free concert which was sponsored by Golden Square, The Town Centre Partnership and Warrington Borough Council. Here are photographs of that performance. For more on the man, try this link: www.ackerbilk.co.uk
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On Thursday, 21 September 2006, a musical evening with a difference was held in Victoria Square, Stockton Heath. A Merenghi 89 Key Fairground Organ was on display to play well-known tunes in a free 'concert' . The organ was powered by a 1914 Fowler Showman's steam engine. Donations on the night were given to the St Thomas's Church Restoration Fund. It was an excellent evening, attracting lots of attention from curious members of the public, including a delightful baby who was fascinated by the marvellous sounds created. A full description of the organ is given below, as it visited the town during the recent Market Grand Day Out event. |
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In July 2004, Andy Prior performed with his Big Band on Granada TV, the first such TV concert in over 30 years. Town Centre Warrington Partnership invited Andy and the band to perform in the open air under the Old Fish Market at Golden Square to an audience of over 600. The free concert was attended by the Mayor, Linda Dirir and consort Allin Dirir. It was a musical treat and the audience were enthusiastic and appreciative of Andy's humour, especially when he involved Rhode Island Coffee shop. They remained open to serve refreshments all evening and Andy created a new concept - the coffee towel! You've heard of tea towels? Well, the staff were promoting the name of the shop on towels - not tea towels but coffee towels, as Andy named them. Later the staff came round with alcoholic beverages to which Andy shouted out from the stage, "What are you selling now?" The audience were roaring with laughter. (The building housing Rhode Island Coffee next to the Barley Mow was where William Beamont, the first Mayor of Warrington, ran his solicitors business in the 19th century.) An excellent performance of 'drumnastics' was performed by drummer Bob Howard, who gave a sparkling solo performance. Andy sang some classic songs in a show which had the audience wanting more. Check out Andy's website at www.andyprior.co.uk
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| Andy Prior. | |||
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| Andy performs one of his many songs. |
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| Bob Howard's drumnastics. |
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| Rhode Island Coffee. | Andy thanks the audience for attending. |
Standing room only for the audience. |
The Mayor, Cllr
Linda Dirir and consort Allin Dirir. |
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CLICK ON EMAIL OR FEMAIL TO CONTACT ME |  |
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Saturday
1 July 2006 saw Queens Gardens transformed into a fun park for the day
with fairground rides, market stalls, games and entertainment. Even
Wallace and Gromit made an appearance. The carousel was a magic event, and brought back memories for me, and no doubt countless others. I hope my old school classmate had a go in the end – he thought he might be too old to ride it. |
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My thanks go to Mr Priestner for permission to feature his Merenghi 89 Key Fairground Organ. She is called “Lady Hamilton”, and was built in 1903. Originally having 70 keys, she was converted to 89 keys in 1920. The organ was fitted into the 1968 Bedford T. K. lorry in 1972, and now appears at rallies in Northern England. She is powered by the owner’s 'John Fowler Showman’s' engine “Evening Star”, although it does have its own 110-volt generator. The sound from it is amazing, and professional recordings have been made of the organ. |  |
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| This steam engine was built in 1916 and registered in 1918. | The Savoy Jazz Men entertained us with their renditions of many famous tunes. If you wish to book them for a show, telephone 0151 722 1478. | Wire FM 107.2…Latest Hits…Greatest Music… broadcast live from the event. |
| Various market stalls holders attended the event, including Fair 4 All, the Fair Trade stall. | ||
| This kind of stall sells goods of a more diverse nature from around the world with the aim of obtaining a fair price for the producers of the goods. |  |
If you are interested in supporting this kind of venture, call at the stall in the market to find out more, or click on to the Make Poverty History website. |
| Other stalls included a chance to buy something, or help raise money for a good cause by taking part in games or tombolas. The middle image (below) was one for the Mayor’s Charity Appeal where you had to get a ball to fall through the various nets into the blue tray at the bottom to get a prize. I did it with my first shot. But if you think that was beginner’s luck, well, you are probably right because I missed with my next three! Still, I won a bag of crisps… | ||
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| It
was a brilliant sunny day, which encouraged many people to visit. Pyramid Centre even put up a large screen for football fans to watch England play Portugal in the World Cup Quarter Final… |
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Also
on show were examples from The Cycle Museum at Walton Gardens. See
Below. |
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Paul Adams, Curator of The Cycle Museum at Walton Hall Gardens, displayed a small selection of bicycles at Warrington Market's Grand Day Out in 2006. Here he describes them to me. And like many great ideas, the museum outlived its original home and moved to Walton because it needed more space.
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The oldest bicycle on show today is a boneshaker, dating from 1868. It is one of 3 in the museum collection. |
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Next we have three examples of the famous penny-farthing. The first two date back to 1878, whilst the one on the right is from 1879. |
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This diamond frame machine had wooden wheels. It is shaft driven – no chain or brakes, and was made in Chicago in 1901. |
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Made by Raleigh in the 1950s. Soon after, it was converted into a knife-grinding machine. The man would tour the streets on his bike, place it on a stand, ring a bell and people would bring out shears, knives, bread knives, carving knives and be charged around sixpence to sharpen them. The drive system is simply a rim off a smaller bicycle and fixed to the spokes, with a curtain spring. With the back wheel off the ground the wheel would be turned and the knives sharpened. The little wheel on the back would sharpen scissors. |
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This is a replica of a 1905-06 machine, which Paul also owns. The original was made by a Mikael Pedersen, a Dane, who came to this country and set up a business in Dursley, Gloucestershire, hence its name, a Dursley-Pedersen. The triangulated design is his design and is 14 tubes all set in a diamond shape, and soft-soldered into the bottom bracket. The hammock seat allows the machine to work like a suspension bridge. When you sit on the machine the whole frame stiffens up and it gives you your riding position, which, as you can see by the height of the bars, is very elegant to ride. The inventor made allsorts of machines, including milking machines, but sadly he died in abject poverty. If you want to read more about him, try the company website www.dursley-pedersen.net |
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This photo was taken in the 1950s at Arpley Bus Station. The ABC cinema can be seen in the background - which became Mr Smiths nightclub, now Halo. The members of Warrington Cycling Club in the picture dressed up as tramps to raise money for good causes. If you recognise yourself, get in touch with the museum on the number below. The Cycle Museum is located at Walton Hall Gardens off the A56 (M56, Junction 11), and is open from 10am to 6pm on weekends and bank holidays, except when Paul is at a show like this one. On such occasions information is left on the noticeboard indicating where to find him. Telephone in the UK 07930 882569 or the Rangers Office on 01925 601617. |
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Appleton was known in the Domesday Book as Epletune and means ‘a settlement where apples grow’. It is located in the southern area of Warrington. In the 12th century the landowner was Adam de Dutton, a Norman knight in the Crusades. It is said he brought a cutting from the Christmas flowering thorn planted by Joseph of Arimathea, hence the other local name Appleton Thorn. Bawming of the Thorn takes place on the Saturday nearest to Midsummer’s Day in June each year (17th June in 2006), and is the only place in Britain where you can witness the event. Bawming means 'decorating the tree with flowers and ribbons'. Once the tree has been decorated, children then dance around it, singing the ancient Bawming Song. The chorus goes like this:
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with fresh garlands this midsummer morn, Up with red ribbons on Appleton Thorn, Come lasses and lads to the Thorn Tree today To Bawm it and shout as ye Bawm it, Hooray! |
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The children performed the song and dance wonderfully, and are to be congratulated on their hard work, not forgetting of course the teachers and parents of Appleton Thorn Primary School. After the ceremony a fun day was held on the field behind the Village Hall.
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| Appleton Thorn Parish Hall - a noticeboard promoting the event - The Church of St Cross. | The decorated tree. | ||
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| The
tree itself was dedicated as one of 50 Great British Trees in recognition of its place in the national heritage at the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in June 2002. |
The
Flower Arranging Competition attracted some wonderful entries. In my eyes they are all winners. |
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The 2006 event was officially opened by Colin Parry, JP, OBE, who also judged the children's fancy dress competition, and presented medals to the schoolchildren. Colin lost his 12-year-old son Tim in the IRA bombing of Warrington town centre in 1993, and has been an ambassador for the peace process ever since. A plaque dedicated to Tim, and three-year-old Jonathan Ball (who also lost his life in the tragedy), can be seen on Bridge Street in Warrington town centre outside the former Boots store (the Howard Buildings).
Broadcasting
live from the event was Warrington Hospital's Radio General. The station
broadcasts requests and
general
items to patients in the hospital 24
hours a day, 365 days a year (366 in leap years!). Click here
view their website.
The Prince of Wales receives the salute from members of
the Territorial Army
His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, visited Warrington on Friday 18 November, 2005. Prince Charles presented medals to members of the King's and Cheshire Regiment's Territorial Army (TA) at the Town Hall. In total, 227 soldiers received medals for duties in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
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| More pictures of Prince Charles' visit to Warrington on 18 November 2005. | ||
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On 1 October 2005, the fire station on Winwick Road was the setting for a fun and awareness day. Some of the brigade's latest fire and rescue equipment was on display, plus the splendid old engine belonging to Joseph Crosfield and Sons Limited.
The most dramatic demonstration was how to deal with a chip pan fire. If you've never seen this for real, it is a spectacle. The basic message is NOT to throw water onto a burning chip fan. Instead, if it is safe, use a damp tea towel and place it over the pan to snuff out the chance of oxygen getting to the fire. No oxygen means the fire dies. Then leave it for at least 30 minutes to cool down completely before attempting to remove it. If the towel is removed too soon, the intense heat would cause the fire to ignite again, as was clearly demonstrated on the day. The fire brigade say a safer method for cooking chips is to use a deep fat fryer rather than the chip pan as these have a thermostat to control the heat. If in doubt, get the fire brigade out - or go to the chip shop!
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| Various
demonstrations took place throughout the day, including a display from
the fire station cadets, who showed how to rescue a 'damsel in distress' from a burning high-rise building. The Joseph Crosfield heritage vehicle is shown here on the right. |
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| Rescuing
"a damsel in distress". |
Crazy Circus Fun House. | Putting
out a chip pan fire with a tea towel. |
The Fireman's Prayer. | |
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| Dramatic demonstration of what happens when water is thrown onto a chip pan fire. This sequence took just ONE SECOND to react. | ||||
| And for light relief, the Crazy Circus Fun House was available. Charity and community stalls were also on display, including a burger stall manned by the fire fighters themselves. It was a brilliant day and even the rain couldn't dampen anybody's spirits. | ||||
During the summer of 2005, Warrington Borough Council, in conjunction with The Town Centre Partnership, Pyramid Parr Hall and Golden Square, arranged a free concert under the Old Fish Market in Golden Square. It featured Wigan Youth Jazz Orchestra along with entertainer Georgie Fame. The concert took place on Saturday 27 August, 2005, and was supported by Warrington jazz guitarist-singer, Peter Price. The evening was introduced by Mayor Hans Mundry. mywarrington now presents a small selection of images from the event, which was witnessed by hundreds of townsfolk.
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| Wigan
Youth Jazz Orchestra. |
Mayor
Hans Mundry introduces the evening's entertainment. |
Warrington's
Peter Price opens the show. |
Wigan
Youth Jazz Orchestra take to the stage. |
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| Wigan
Youth Jazz Orchestra. |
Legendary
Jazz singer Georgie Fame joins the orchestra for a dazzling performance. |
The
show lasted almost three hours. |
The
show was enjoyed by hundreds of people, including families with young babies. |
I have spoken to one or two folk since the concert who agree with me that the show was a fabulous event and an incredible success. Thank you to all the organisers and I'm sure I speak for many when I say that I look forward to seeing many more events like this in the future.
For more information on activities at Pyramid, call 01925 442345 or visit their website www.pyramidparrhall.co.uk
Like the rest of the country, Warrington played its part in celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy of 6 June, 1944, when allied forces joined up as part of Operation Overlord in the battle against Germany. Military vehicles and weapons were on display at Golden Square, with the Kings Division Normandy Band entertaining the crowd with music and marching. The Warrington Guardian promotions team were giving away copies of their original 1944 front page. The Warrington Borough Transport bus shown in the WBT Centenary Open Day section below was on display at Cockhedge Shopping Park.
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In 2002, Warrington Borough Transport celebrated 100 years
of serving the community of Warrington.
An Open Day was held at the Wilderspool Causeway bus depot on the May Day Bank
Holiday.
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| Warrington's
own preserved heritage bus, number 148, is a Leyland PD2/40 Special
(above right), which was new in 1965. On the day was used to ferry passengers to and from the bus station, but was taken off by midday due to technical problems with its 42 year old engine. |
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| Vehicles from all over the northwest were on display. | ||||
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| A heritage tour was available throughout the day by open-top bus. | ||||
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| Memorabilia was on sale to collectors, along with charity stalls and refreshments | ||||
| It was a great day for nostalgia. |  |
Chester
City Transport also celebrated its centenary in 2002. |
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