|
|
|
Click here for the answer to my home page city conundrum This page will feature my journeys around the town with
images and stories about what I see.
Give yourself a gold star if you can work
out whereabouts in Warrington the photo above was taken. BACK IN TIME
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Thorn Marine supplies essential materials to the canal boat community and the local community of Stockton Heath. On 29 August 2003 they received notice from the owners of the Bridgewater Canal, Peel Holdings (Manchester Ship Canal Company), that they intended to apply to Warrington Borough Council for planning permission to build 5 houses on the site of Thorn Marine. The occupiers of Thorn Marine, Mr and Mrs Hamilton, are campaigning against the planning application and received TV and press coverage in 2003. |
|
 |
Whilst chatting to Mrs Hamilton, she showed me photographs of paintings of Thorn Marine from the days before photography. It is believed the building was erected sometime during the period of the Bridgewater Canal construction (around 1770). She also told me some more about the history of the area, and of the Marine itself. |  |
| The two images here are re-created as paintings from my photographs taken on 27 January 2007. The land to the left of the image, right, has already been redeveloped into housing. | ||
The objections to the planning application include the following points concerning its history:
The date of construction is very difficult to ascertain exactly, it is on the Ordnance Survey maps of 1870,1898 and 1910, and is also show as a building on the Tithe Map of 1847 and in the associated Apportionment. The Bridgewater Canal (adjacent) was built in 1768-1771 depending upon where you read about the construction. The building we believe was built around this period, the Tithe Apportionment states that the area was a Meadow, Stable and Stack yard, belonging to the ‘The Bridgewater Trustees of the late Duke of’ and for use by ‘Themselves’. The area on the opposite side of the canal was formally part of Stockton Quay(s). The wharf which overhung the canal and the sizable warehouse were an important location for the transhipment of goods to and from the canal; the warehouse and wharf were listed buildings (ref LD5R14129758). The London Bridge pub was also part of Stockton Quay and served as a passenger transfer location for the Duke of Bridgewater packet boats.
|
|
They would use the Packet Steps, which can still be seen today [left], leading down to the canal to board the Duchess Countess to Manchester and Runcorn; the now A49 was then (and still is today) a major route from London. Behind the Pub was a smithy and wheelwrights, which served the road and canal. There is also mention of horse changes being made at Stockton Quay. Both Thorn Marine and the adjacent property (currently Jeffrey’s tyres old site), appear to have been used as stables for this purpose. It is mentioned in the Tithe document as a stable, and it is later in life to be called ‘Bridge Stables’, and also has been used as a ‘Bank riders’ Cottage. It would therefore make sense that the building is part of the ‘Stockton Quay’ area, and was as vital as the wharf or the steps outside the London Bridge pub. Evidence of horses can also be seen in the construction of the canal bank outside Thorn Marine - there is a series of steps set in to the bank to enable horses to be helped out of the canal when they fell in. |
That's the history side of things, What about the modern day? Well, there's the employment of the people working there to consider when deciding whether or not to keep the Marine. Between 10 and 100 boats call there daily, most of which need services like the post office, banks, grocers, doctors, etc. Thorn Marine is able to direct them to those services in the village. Thorn Marine supply many unique items not available anywhere else in the town, including repair facilities for boats. The water point they provide is the only one in the area. The nearest alternative is 2½ hours away if travelling towards Manchester and 8 hours away if going in the opposite direction towards Preston Brook and Anderton. They are the only pump-out station in the local area. They have an Elsan disposal point (for those not familiar with this term, an Elsan is a type of transportable chemical toilet). The nearest ones are Manchester and Anderton (7 and 8 hours away respectively).
|
Another important community facilities is the Wizard canal boat. The Wizard is a charitable boat run by St James Church, Westbrook, originally set-up 15 years ago to take out disabled parties onto the Bridgewater Canal. It takes out about 2,000 people from all over Warrington every year, including the infirm to physically and mentally handicapped. The wizard has a special ramp in the front to allow wheelchair access; as most passengers are in wheelchairs it can only run from somewhere with a good level surface to load the passengers. There is nowhere else in the local area. |
|
The enjoyment on the faces of the thousands of disabled people using the Wizard can not be explained in words. It would be a shame if they should loose this facility for the sake of 5 houses.
Government policy on the transport use of inland waterways is set out in the Transport White Paper and is developed in the Governments policy document Waterways for Tomorrow (June 2000). Local authorities should work with all those concerned in the inland waterways industry - British Waterways (BW) and other navigation authorities, private operators and the voluntary sector concerned with restoring currently disused waterways - to develop the potential of inland waterways.
|
|
Tourism is crucial to the area. Thorn Marine is an important information access point for many canal visitors. Without the Marine, this vital facility would be lost. There are currently about 1,000 boats licensed for the Bridgwater Canal and countless numbers of boat visitors from other areas. Security and the general upkeep of the area are monitored by Thorn Marine. So, as you can see, the area is steeped in history and provides a valuable service to the community. |
Far too many historic buildings end up being destroyed. I believe, as do the Hamiltons, that Thorn Marine is worth saving. After all, how much of the town's history is maintained for the community? Visit their website www.thornmarine.co.uk, and you can visit Thorn Marine at 164a London Road, Stockton Heath, Warrington WA4 6LE (located right by London Bridge). Their website has additional information such as contact addresses and media organisations. I would be happy to publish your comments on the proposals here on mywarrington, remaining anonymous if you like. I wish Thorn Marine all the very best in their desire to continue serving the community as they have done for many years.
I am an interested, independent observer of the Thorn Marine campaign and am not connected to the family or the business in any way.
NO TO REDEVELOPMENT ON THIS SITE!
|
|
Stockton Heath no longer looks like a village, mainly because the main A49 road goes right through the centre. The view is a typical daytime scene. The village police station is situated on Grappenhall Road. |
|
|
|
Modern road signs are in various reflective colours to aid the driver. In the good old days we didn't have that kind of luxury. But, like the example to be found in Stockton Heath, left, the signs had a bit of character to them. Here is a relic from our engineering past. It is part of the machinery of the old forge, on which The Forge Shopping Centre now stands. The forge was used to make spades for use in the First World War trenches. It disappeared in early July 2006, and at first residents thought it had been destroyed. Thankfully it has been found and will be relocated back in the village. |
|
|
|
These two views show Victoria
Square. It is the junction of routes to |
|
|
|
Two of the public houses in
the centre of the village. |
|
|
All photos taken 22 Feb 2003 |
||
| After
97 years on the site of Egerton Street, Stockton Heath Primary School
could finally say goodbye as a legal battle to save it is dropped. It
would have cost £30,000 to fight the closure in the High Court, but
solicitors say it would only have a 50/50 chance of succeeding. The
council has decided to pull the building down in favour of a £multi-million state-of-the-art building on the same spot. Residents
and campaigners have not given up the fight, however, and the battle
goes on to save the Edwardian building. 1 May 2007 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
main entrance |
The foundation stone indicates the opening date of 2 May 1910 for Stockton Heath Council School when administration was under the education section of Runcorn Rural District. |
West Avenue view. |
Demolition work
along |
For more on the school, check out their website
|
|
R. Roberts and Son established their shoe shop in Bridge Street in 1858, shown here. Members of the same family have served the community ever since and are agents for the world famous Clarks brand, where they still offer the service of measuring not only your shoe size, but the width fitting too. I wonder how many of you remember the Big Sister TV advertising campaign where the oldest child of the family informs us that when she grows up her mother says she is going to be a proper little madam? On Thursday, 24 May 2007, Roberts moved into the newly refurbished Golden Square shopping centre. mywarrington wishes the family and colleagues continuing success and thanks them for helping out with this feature. Here's to the next 150 years! |
|
|
|
Walton Hall Gardens was designated a Cheshire Garden of Distinction in the Cheshire Year of Gardens 2008. During 2008, Cheshire launched a very special programme of events to share with people of all ages the joys of our Gardens of Distinction. Explore not only the gardens, but garden-related activities, there is something for everyone to enjoy. See www.yearofgardens08.com for more. Read a history of Walton Hall Gardens in Warrington Green and The Cycle Museum in Events. |
|
|
Now for something completely different. To save you wandering around looking down and bumping into people, I'll tell you it was taken in Bold Street, near the old Eustance's building. Looking along this stretch of street you can see where the old "coal holes" were. They have lost their covers except this one. I'll quote from the book Street Furniture. A 12 inch (305 mm) diameter coal plate by Hayward Brothers of Borough, South London, one of several large-scale suppliers in the nineteenth century. There were a couple of other interesting "lids" in the street but they have disappeared over the years. Photo and text © P Spilsbury |
Do you have any interesting photos of the town's past and a story to go with it? If so, email them to me I'll put them on this page. And even if you don't have a photo, and the object still exists, let me know and I can go and visit the area to do a photo. I will credit your work on the website.
|
|
SPUD FUNJust thought I would share this photo with you. We had put the potatoes in water while we went out to town and when we came back the dirt from the potatoes had risen to the surface in the exact same shape as the original potatoes. There must be a scientific explanation for this type of thing - I wonder if anybody can tell why this phenomenon happens? Feed back your suggestions. (1.8.2007) |
|
|
The town centre had a visit from Dr Who's TARDIS and a Dalek on Monday 23 July 2007. Dr Who is BBC Television's long running science fiction show which began in the 1960s and was revived this century under popular demand. The show centres around a time travelling doctor - TARDIS is an acronym for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space - and the adventure began on 23 November 1962 when William Hartnell travelled 100,000 miles back into earth's history to help cavemen discover fire. Since then he has battled against the Cybermen and the Daleks. My thanks to DJKenny (www.djkennylive.me.uk) for his two photos here of the TARDIS (left) and one of the Daleks. For the official BBC Doctor Who website, click here. |
|
|
The forecasters got it right - just! Warrington once again is hit by snow on Thursday 8 February 2007 - but it didn't last long |
||
|
|
|
|
|
Dallam School playing field |
Town Hall and Golden Gates |
Town Hall with flowers in snow |
|
|
|
|
|
Queens Gardens |
Thorn Marine, Stockton Heath |
Queens Gardens |
Trees blowing down, rivers and canals swollen and the closing of Thelwall Viaduct caused total gridlock in just about every part of the town centre and outskirts. Two large trees blown over in the Winwick area totally blocked the main A49 causing tailbacks for miles. NOBODY could go about their business - buses stuck in jams, delivery vehicles held up and shoppers going nowhere. Tesco closed its store on Winwick Road due to part of the roof coming off and businesses were sending staff home early to collect their children from schools damaged by the 80 miles per hour winds. I was literally inches away from a hospital visit when the branches of a tree were snapped off and blew down in front of me. Thankfully I survived without a scratch.
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| The tree branches that just missed me as I left home this afternoon. | Hawleys Lane bridge is flooded again. | Sankey Canal at Dallam/Callands. | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| The
Sankey Canal breaches its bank to flood a normally dry area, which was the original route of the canal. |
The
Dallam section of the Sankey Canal runs into the brook at Bewsey. The tree in the centre normally stand on the bank. |
The
brook at Bewsey (officially known the River Atherton) reaches the bridge. |
The
level of the brook is normally about three feet lower. |
||
|
The Sankey Canal, England's first in the Industrial Revolution, was swollen to around three times its normal level, as did the brook at Bewsey. Hawleys Lane was completely flooded under the railway bridge (as is the norm for this bridge) but at least I could do my Good Samaritan bit by wading into 2 feet of icy cold water to help an unfortunate driver to push his car out of the middle of it. One side of the bridge had a Road Closed sign by it, but not on the other side where he came from, so he couldn't judge the depth as he drove through the murky water. This is a black spot for flooding. And to think the whole road had some attention only last year. But the problem is not the road itself, it's the drains. They are in a shockingly poor state. As a pedestrian I walk under the bridge often and the muck on the drainage grills is appalling. Come on, lets have a proper survey done on it. |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| The strength of the wind is indicated by the swaying telephone wire. | The
sky looks menacing in this view over Dallam Park. |
A tree is blown over on Folly Lane, blocking the road for most of the morning. This was what remained. | Advertising
hoardings were blown over on Winwick Street. |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
| Traffic
came to a standstill. This is Froghall Lane. |
This
is Folly Lane near Matalan on Winwick Road. |
Near the Lord Rodney on Winwick Street police assist on traffic duties. | Buses are diverted Down Crosfields Street and onto Froghall Lane. | ||
|
In town centre, Legh Street was closed as cladding was blown off the shopping centre and buses were diverted via Winwick Street, Froghall Lane and Crosfield Street. I used Shanks's pony today! At Bridge Foot the river was swollen. The K4 telephone box (featured elsewhere on mywarrington website) had its door blown off its hinges, and a tree was blown over on the riverbank walkway. It was a very frustrating day for anybody driving. Every main road was blocked and emergency vehicles found it very difficult to get through, despite everybody trying their hardest to make a pathway for them. Police were on duty to help drivers to continue their journeys. Trains were cancelled (no doubt making the hotel happy for the gentleman I gave directions to). Businesses were hit too - the shopping centre and market were empty. It was like a ghost town. The scenes were repeated across the region and indeed the whole country. |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
|||
| Sankey
Street was closed due to problems on Legh Street and road works on Bold Street. |
The
K4 telephone box at Bridge Foot looks in a sorry state with no door on. |
A
tree is blown over at Bridge Foot along the riverside walk. |
|||
|
Speaking to a bus driver the following day he said it took him 5 HOURS to complete just one run on his bus which normally takes about one hour. A passenger told me he boarded his bus at 4.30pm and he got home at 8.20pm. The journey usually takes 6 minutes! |
|||||
|
Was it all down to global warming? Possibly, and if that's true, predictions say it will get even worse in the future. And it may be too late to stop it. But hang on a minute - there may be a way to stop it. We could ground all the aeroplanes and space rockets, switch off all computers, X-BOX 360s, PlayStations, Nintendo's, televisions, DVD players, videos, camcorders, iPods, synthesisers, radios, mobile phones, landline phones, digital cameras, electronic toys, home cinema systems, satellites, sat nav systems, fridges, cookers, microwaves, dish washers, washing machines, kettles, toasters, deep fat fryers, coffee makers, food mixers, food processors, sandwich makers, grills, irons, central heating systems, vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, curling tongues, shavers, sewing machines, power tools, car truck and train engines, power stations, gas rigs, oil plants, light bulbs, CAT scanners and life support machines ... and go back to living in caves! Who will be first to do it? Any offers? I didn't think so. And even then we might be too late. One final thing: if those CFCs in my old fridge were damaging the ozone layer, what were they doing to my trifle? |
|||||
 |
And two days later this is the brook at Bewsey back to its normal level |  |
|||
|
|
And here is Hawleys Lane bridge flooded yet again a year later! This time on 19 January 2008. Can we blame this on global warming? Don't think so. The drains STILL haven't been cleared out on Hawleys Lane. The Sankey Canal's up again, too. Since this photo was first posted, the Council and United Utilities have come up with ideas to solve the problem by working on the water treatment works a mile away in Bewsey. And have they solved the problem yet? Well, it hasn't flooded since. There again, it hasn't rained as heavy since either. Draw your own conclusions! |
And on the subject of wild weather, take a look at these amazing photos sent in by Lynn in Sydney, Australia on 23 September 2009.
 |
 |
 |
|
Lynn says: When we went to bed last night it was raining, thundering and lightning. When we woke at 5 this morning there was a howling wind and the sky was bright red. Turns out it was a dust storm. I don't remember seeing one in Sydney before. Apparently, wild winds swept millions of tonnes of red dust from the continent's drought-ravaged outback and dump it on east coast. Visibility was cut to less than 100 metres. Officials say it was the worst dust storm since the 1940s, with particle pollution up to 10 times worse than the previous record. Photos copyright © Lynn, Sydney, Australia 2009. |
||
|
|
These two photographs of the M6 motorway were taken by P. Kindon a couple of days after it was opened (the first section to open was the Preston by-pass on 5 December 1958). On the left we have Thelwall Viaduct which was widened in recent years to cope with the traffic demands of today. The view, right, shows how it was when things were a little quieter. |
|
|
© P. Kindon |
© P. Kindon |
|
|
|
The first section of the M6 was opened on 5 December 1958 by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, and was known then as the Preston By-pass, the first motorway in the country. Construction of the 27-mile section between Preston and Warrington began in September 1959. It was of sufficient width to accommodate dual three-lane carriageways and a central reservation but, in order to reduce the cost of the structure, hard shoulders were not provided. The total length is now 230 miles (370km). | |
|
My view of the viaduct on 4 March 2006 when it snowed in the town. |
||
|
|
Thelwall Viaduct is 4,414 feet long and rises to a height of 93 feet above the Manchester Ship Canal. The viaduct, carrying the M6 motorway over the Ship Canal, River Mersey and Bridgewater Canal, was opened in July 1963. Traffic over the viaduct amounted to 140,000 vehicles per day in recent years. To cope with this, a major project to add a second viaduct was started in January 1993. Construction technology had improved greatly since the original viaduct was built and the new section featured a continuously welded plate girder deck, the longest of its kind in the world with a length of 4,500 feet. |
|
|
Looking
south from the banks of |
This long-range view is from Knutsford Road swing bridge with Latchford Locks in the foreground (10 March 2006). |
|
|
|
April 1995 saw the first lane of traffic opened on the new section, and by December 1996 the work was complete with both carriageways now carrying four lanes of traffic and a hard shoulder in each direction. However, in 2002 faults were identified on the viaduct's supporting bearings. One of the main span roller bearings was found to be split in half, resulting in a three-year repair plan, which ended in the summer of 2005. |
|
|
On the south side of the Manchester Ship Canal opposite the penny ferry (4 March 2006). |
Are
we there yet? If you want Warrington, then it's the next turning off at
Junction 21 |
|
|
In
early 2007, work started on the demolition of an historic building in
Bewsey Street, close to the town centre. Originally the building was Wycliffe School, which
opened in 1868. The pupils moved to Bewsey School in 1932 and in its
later years it was the base for the Revelation Shirt factory. This
photo was taken on 1 February 2007. You can see a photo of the factory in its previous working state on The
Bewsian page. |
 |
|
Wycliffe Court, an apartment block development, now stands on the site (on the left of the photo here - taken 21 Apr 2009). Notice it matches the existing buildings on the corner of Bewsey Street and Froghall Lane. This is because the whole street is part of a conservation area and therefore new buildings must fit in with the criteria. Froghall Lane, by the way, gets its name because there was once a hall in the area called, wait for it, FROG HALL. |
 |
 |
Work started on
developing the vacant Cheshire Lines warehouse behind Central Station into luxury
apartments in 2006. The development is known as Grand Central. As well as
redeveloping the old warehouse itself, new apartments were constructed
around it.
The Cheshire Lines Committee ran trains from the 1870s. The goods depot had stood vacant since 1983 when services were transferred to Dallam Lane Channel Tunnel depot, close to the site of the old Dallam shed engine repair facilities. |
 |
|
The
Cheshire Lines warehouse |
The
warehouse has been converted into luxury apartments, with new buildings alongside. This view is from 15 June 2006. |
Take a walk down Bridge Street and you will find coats of arms of various families who were prominent in Warrington's early history. They are located on the lamp posts and the captions are shown here.
 |
 |
 |
|
Boteler |
Stanley |
Ireland |
 |
 |
 |
|
Booth |
Blackburne |
Patten |
These images depict various artworks designed by the young people of Dallam at the turn of the Millennium.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| At the Millennium the young people painted their visions of the world as they saw it. Included here is Princess Diana's death in 1997, Rastafarian singer Bob Marley and a wish for peace in the world. | Industry and transport feature in this collage. Sadly, the section on the far right (Dallam Youth) was lost when the backs of the shops were flattened to make parking spaces. | Dallam Forge Company was formed in the 1860s. It later joined with the Warrington Wire Iron Company and a Wigan colliery company to become Pearson & Knowles Coal and Iron Company. | The Bewsey Circular bus was still running in my young days of the 1970s and 1980s. Service 5a ran down Bewsey Road and terminated at the junction of Norreys Avenue, Lilford Avenue and Molyneux Avenue. I believe they should bring it back (with an extension to Dallam to help solve the problems for buses travelling between Bewsey Bridge on Lovely Lane and the roundabout at Sankey Green beyond the hospital, perhaps as a 16B service with regard to getting people home from town at teatime.) | The
canals, and later the railways, formed a large part of Warrington's
history, especially past the Dallam estate. The West Coast Main Line
runs to the east, whilst the first industrial canal in the country,
the Sankey (St Helens) Canal, flows on the west side. The Sankey Canal
celebrates 250 years in 2007, having opened in 1757. SCARS (The Sankey
Canal Restoration Society), a registered charity (No 702571) founded
in 1985, is committed to restoring the canal. www.scars.org.uk |
 |
These are landmark views of Latchford. The bridge carried the Warrington and Stockport Railway, formerly the Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway (created by an Act of Parliament on 3 July 1851). Trains haven't run over it since 1985 and it was suggested in late 2006 to divert the Trans Pennine Trail over it, which currently runs via Latchford Locks in the background. Estimates indicate that it would cost as much to demolish it as it would to repair it. It would be a great viewpoint on the whole town. In the very same week where letters to the Warrington Guardian talk about the council wasting money, re-opening it for the community would be a fitting tribute to the heritage of our town. However, I don't see it happening. See Making Tracks for a history of the railway line. |  |
| Latchford
Locks in the background. |
The
view from Latchford Locks. |
The name Latchford means "a ford over the Laecc or stream". The stream in this case was the River Mersey, which was crossed at this point by the ford before the first wooden bridge was built. Its location is just to the east of Black Bear Bridge as you approach the village from town centre. Nowadays, the Mersey flows in a different direction, having been diverted the 'hell hole' close by. See Warrington Green (Victoria Park section) for more.
 |
Two views of Latchford Bridge shopping centre. The image, left, was taken on 27 August 2003, whilst the second view, right, was taken on 10 March 2006 after the site was completely redeveloped. |  |
 |
These views were taken on 15 August 2003. On the left we look on from the eastern end of the village, which shows the original shopping centre on the left. The second view, right, is from the opposite end of Knutsford Road. |  |
 |
Two of the churches in Latchford. On the left is Christ Church, Latchford, on Wash Lane. It was consecrated on 16 July 1861 and is owned by the Church of England. On the right we see Latchford Methodist Church on Knutsford Road, which opened on 11 October 1894. Methodism in Warrington started in 1749, and the town has had many visitations from its founder, John Wesley (born on 17 June 1703 and died 2 March 1791). His first visit to Warrington was on 14 April 1755 and his last was 7 May 1790. He had been ordained in the Church of England before setting up the Methodist movement. |  |
| Christ Church, Latchford. | Latchford Methodist Church. | |
 |
The
Cantilever Bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal. The main view, left,
is from Latchford swing bridge and looks west towards Chester Road
swing bridge. On the right is a drivers eye view. Below left is the
view from the top of the bridge looking west. In the distance is
Fiddlers Ferry Power Station where electricity is generated for the
national grid.
Below right is Warrington Town Football Club. It was formed in 1949 by Jimmy Drinkwater and was originally known as Stockton Heath Albion. The club has been at the Latchford site since 1965. They played for the F.A. Vase at Wembley in 1987 against St Helens Town, but lost the game 3-2. They reached the F.A. Cup First Round Proper during the 1994-95 season for the first time in their history. They currently play in the Unibond League. |
 |
| Cantilever
from Latchford swing bridge. |
Cantilever bridge. | |
 |
 |
|
| The
view west from the bridge. |
Warrington
Town Football Club. |
|
 |
New World gas cooker company, left, started out as Richmond's in 1890 in Academy Street, Warrington. It moved to its current Latchford site it 1906 and at the time employed around 500 people. The works were situated right alongside Latchford Locks. The site is now a housing estate. Latchford swing bridge, right, is one of three such bridges in the town (Stockton Heath and Chester Road being the other two), built to cross the Manchester Ship Canal, which opened in 1894. |  |
| New World gas cooker plant. | Latchford swing bridge. | |
 |
The image, left, is the historic Boteler Grammar School on School Brow near Sainsbury's. Or, at least it was there until the council knocked the building down to make way for a housing development! I always believed it to be a listed building, but in 2009 I was informed it wasn't listed, although local campaigners tried to get it listed. It was considered to be 'too altered' and of not sufficient quality. Thanks Matthew for your update. It was established on the death of Sir Thomas Boteler in 1526. The original building was rebuilt in 1863. It ended its days as a council storage depot. The Sir Thomas Boteler Grammar School is nowadays located in Latchford, right, where it has stood since 1940. |  |
| The old school. | The current school. | |
 |
The Railway Pub in Latchford stands at the junction of two roads - Grammar School Road and Knutsford Road. It has been vacant for some years and it was suggested in April 2009 that it could be converted into an office development, retail unit or a restaurant and takeaway. The school is to the right of this image, whilst the houses on the left form part of Osborne Terrace, built in Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee year of 1897. |  |
 |
The Trans Pennine Trail is a public right of way stretching from the Humber on the east coast of the country to Liverpool and Southport on the west coast. An 8-mile section passes through Warrington, including Latchford. I will be walking the full length of the Warrington section at a later date. Meanwhile, see Making Tracks for a description of part of the route by Bert Harris. The Cantilever Chippy, right, is tucked away under the old railway bridge on Wash Lane. |  |
 |
 |
 |
| Three views of the old railway bridges in the village: left to right - Knutsford Road, Wash Lane and Grammar School Road on 15 August 2003. | ||
| THE
MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL WAS OPENED IN 1894 TO COMPETE WITH THE RAILWAYS
AND LIVERPOOL'S VAST DOCK EMPIRE ALONG THE RIVER MERSEY FOR TRADE COMING IN FROM THE AMERICAS AND BEYOND. LATCHFORD LOCKS IS SITUATED ABOUT HALFWAY ALONG THE ROUTE. |
||
 |
 |
 |
| The
locks viewed from Latchford. |
The
Warrington and Stockport
railway was diverted and re built on a high level bridge to cross the canal. |
View
from Grappenhall side. Pedestrians can cross the locks via a marked out route. |
 |
 |
 |
| These
views are from near the Thelwall Ferry crossing point of the Ship
Canal. First, a view towards Latchford Locks (left), tying up your ship (centre) and a view towards Thelwall Viaduct (right). |
||
| All photos taken 9 June 2006 | ||
|
|
This is the relief Trent class 14 lifeboat "Earl & Countess Mountbatten of Burma" passing through Latchford Locks on its way to Anglesey on Saturday 14 October 2006. It had been based in Salford Quays since Monday 9 October as part of the Manchester Lifeboat Week. Members of the public were invited on board to talk to lifeboat volunteers and to find out more about the work of the RNLI (Royal National lifeboat institution). Photos © Peter Spilsbury 2006. | 
|
The special relationship between the city and the RNLI began in 1891 when the world's first charity street collection took place in Manchester on behalf of the RNLI. The collection raised £5,500 – an amazing amount for the time – and the money supported the widows and children of the lost crewmen for many years. The event helped to lay the foundations of what became central to the RNLI's method of funding its lifeboat service. Money collected during the 2006 Manchester Lifeboat Week went towards the RNLI’s Train One Save Many appeal, which aims to raise £10M to fund vital crew training.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity based in the United Kingdom and Ireland dedicated to saving lives at sea around the coasts of the nation. It is largely a volunteer organisation, founded on 4 March 1824 by Sir William Hillary, as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, adopting the present name in 1854. The organisation is funded entirely by membership fees, voluntary donations and legacies from members of the public. Its headquarters are based in Poole, Dorset, along with its new training college, which was opened by the Queen in 2004.
The
Founder, Sir William Hillary
Sir
William Hillary came to live on the Isle of Man in 1808. He soon became aware of
the treacherous nature of the Irish Sea, with many ships being wrecked around
the Manx coast. He drew up plans for a national lifeboat service manned by
trained crews. Initially he received little response from the Admiralty but on
appealing to the more philanthropic members of London society, the organisation
was formed. The first of the new lifeboats to be built was stationed at Douglas
on the Isle of Man in recognition of the work of Sir William.
At
the age of 60, Sir William took part in the 1830 rescue of the packet St
George, which had foundered on Conister Rock at the entrance to Douglas
harbour. He commanded the lifeboat, was washed overboard with others of the
lifeboat crew, yet finally everyone aboard the St George was rescued with
no loss of life.
It
was this incident which prompted Sir William to set up a scheme to build The
Tower of Refuge on Conister Rock - a project completed in 1832 which stands to
this day at the entrance to Douglas harbour.
The RNLI in action
Since
the RNLI was founded, its lifeboats have saved over 137,000 lives.
The
RNLI operates 5 classes of inshore lifeboats, both inflatable boats and RIBs, of
20-40 knots (37-74 km/h), and 6 classes of all-weather motor life boats
with maximum speeds of 16-25 knots (30-46 km/h). It maintains an active
fleet of 332 lifeboats based at 233 lifeboat stations. It also has an active
fleet of 4 hovercraft introduced in 2002 allowing rescue in mud flats and river
estuaries inaccessible to conventional boats. The crews of the lifeboats are
almost entirely volunteers, the 4,600 sea-going crew members, including over 300
women are alerted by pagers backed up by maroons and attend the lifeboat station
when alerted.
The
Humber lifeboat station at Spurn Point, East Yorkshire is one of only two full
time lifeboat stations in the UK (the other being Waterloo Pier, on the River
Thames in London). The crew live in a few houses on Spurn Point which in bad
weather can be cut off from the mainland. The other occupants of Spurn Point are
Associated British Ports, who man their vessel Traffic Service control tower 24
hours a day, 365 days a year, along with the lifeboat crew.
The RNLI also operates 59 Beach Lifeguard Units in the South West of England employing over 300 lifeguards.
In the United Kingdom, ships in distress, or the public reporting an accident, must call HM Coastguard on Medium frequency (or MF) radio, VHF radio or dialling 112 or 999 on a telephone. In the Republic of Ireland they must call the Irish Coast Guard, or dial 112 or 999. The Coastguard co-ordinates rescue at sea and may call on the RNLI (or other lifeboats), or their own land-based rescue personnel, or rescue helicopters to take part. Air-Sea rescue helicopters are provided by the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy, the Marine & Coastguard Agency (HM Coastguard), the United States Air Force and the Irish Air Corps.
Warrington has its own fundraising branch of the RNLI, which meets every two months, usually at The Railway Club, Winwick Street, Warrington. If you wish to learn more about the work of this worthy organisation, or to become a volunteer, then go along. For national news and events, visit the RNLI website at www.rnli.org.uk
information on the Brief History, Founder and In Action sections are taken from Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. Subject to disclaimers. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
|
|
Mississippi Showboat was a famous night club on Howley Lane. On the night of Tuesday 2 March 2004, arsonists burn it to the ground. It was believed to have started in a garage and two guard dogs were killed in the incident. Fire crews from all over Warrington fought the blaze, with assistance from other Cheshire brigades. Together with Secrets, it had been a top town centre venue during the 1980s and 1990s. I visited the venue on only one occasion at the turn of the century. |  |
 |
 |
| The Mohicans Indian folk duo perform at Market Gate 'Skittles' on 21 December 2006. | |
 |
Monday 30 July 2007, and Buttermarket Street saw the appearance of Tatanka, performing tradition pan pipe music from Ecuador. On their 3rd CD, on sale at the time, they state the following: Music is God's gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to Earth, and the only art of Earth we take to Heaven. Prayer, dancing and songs to the beat of the drum bring people of all races together in unity...May the Great Spirit continue to bless you all. Contact them |
|
|
This is Horsemarket Street from both ends. Notice it was before the area became pedestrianised. The image (left) was taken on 10 August 1995. Do you remember Pizzaland in the right of the image? It has served as Burtons menswear before that store moved over to the other side of the street (next to Thomas Cook, here on the left). Pizzaland is now the Alliance & Leicester building society (or is that bank?). At the far end of the street is the Royal Bank of Scotland (the building with the pointed roof). The previous building housed Williams and Glyn's Bank in the 1970s, and was The Griffin Hotel before that. It was demolished in mid-1991. A view from the opposite end of the street in a rather chilly scene from 6 February 1996 is seen in the image on the right. |
|
|
|
Here we see the rather quaint Hatter's Row shopping arcade on Horsemarket Street (left). And in the image (right) we see the Hop Pole public house with Warrington Borough Transport's Midi-Lines Service 18 to Callands waiting at the traffic lights. Both photographs were taken on 10 August 1995 |
|
|
|
Warrington
General Hospital was renamed Warrington Hospital NHS Trust under the
last Conservative Government. These images were taken on 10 August
1995 when I took a stroll down Lovely Lane into town.
More images from that walk will be added soon... |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
|
The first three sun sets
over Dallam were taken on Sunday 24 September 2006 at 7.15pm, |
|||
 |
If you've read my Sankey Valley page, you will know I mentioned a dog on our cross-country run who knew Bewsey Woods like the back of his paw. Well, here he is. I never did know his name but he kept us students company on our runs - well, as far as the woods anyway... |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| I
photographed these artworks in 2003. They were painted on the wall of
the Cyber Cafe at 18 Dial Street, which no longer exists. I don't know anything about the artist. They were about 5 feet by 5 feet but are no longer on display, which is a shame. If you are the artist, or know who it was, let me know to receive a credit. |
||||
 |
Way to Life was an evangelical mission which took place on Warrington Bank Park in the summer of 1980. Sussex-based preacher, Dick Saunders, travelled around the world with his crown-shaped tent teaching and preaching the gospel. A choir made up of local volunteers from the various churches around the town led the singing of traditional hymns and choruses. He also has radio spots on Transworld Radio. My images show the tent and, in Peter Spilsbury's photo, right, the directions to the venue from Legh Street car park. |
 |
I'm sure lots of bus drivers have memories of this building. It was Warrington Transport Social Club (often called the Tranny) on Longshaw Street in Dallam. I didn't go in there much, but my mum worked there for 26 years until her retirement. The main room was quite cosy with a small stage at one end (on the right as we look) with the bar at the other. Shortly before the end of its life it was gutted by fire (right image). It was demolished on 13 May 2005 and Bramhall Construction were based on the site until May 2009. |  |
 |
After more than 200 years, 2005 saw the wire-weaving industry in Warrington come to an end, when Carrington Wire on Battersby Lane finally closed its doors. Carrington Wire took over the Rylands factory on Battersby Lane at the end of the 20th century. John Rylands began his wire-making business at the beginning of the 19th century in Bridge Street. He joined with Nathaniel Greening and they moved to Church Street (Sainsbury's supermarket occupies the spot now). Rylands and Greening eventually went their separate ways, with Greening setting up in Bewsey Road and Rylands continued to expand with two more sites at Battersby Lane and Whitecross. |
|
From Midland Way, |
Rylands was among the famous wire-making names of Lockers, Rylands, Monks of Whitecross, Longford Wire, Firth Wire Company, W. D. Houghton and British Wedge Wire Co Ltd, who between them provided work for thousands of Warrington residents. The name Rylands lives on in Carrington Wire who have set up a division called Rylands Wire Products. Carrington Wire is Europe's largest independent wire manufacturer, supplying its products to over 50 countries around the world. The industry also gave the original nickname for Warrington Super League rugby team (The Wire). Both my mum and dad worked at Greenings. The Battersby Lane site is now a housing development called Sixpenny Fields. Take a trip down memory lane with my images of the Battersby Lane site (some of which were contributed by DJKenny, a local photographer and friend of mine). The demolition was done in stages. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The
old offices past the bridge on Battersby Lane. To the right of the
offices were a row of terraced houses, with Hopwood Street after that. The roundabout replaces all of that now. Opposite the office block in 1905 was an area called Clares Buildings. In my young days they had been pulled down and this used to be my playground when I was a kid. We called it the bonk (which has a totally different meaning in the 21st century!) 22 Mar 2003. |
Delivery
bay on Battersby Lane. As a kid I watched trucks loading and unloading when I walked past down the Sixpenny on my way to St Elphin's Park. While we have space here I'll tell you what else used to be where the roundabout is: The Glassmakers Arms (roughly where the lawn in front of Staples is now). 22 Mar 2003. |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Factory
entrance Battersby Lane. Do you remember some of the other streets? Gandy Street (not named after me!), Tilley Street, Crossley/Back Crossley Street, Grey Street, Derby Street. I remember Lythgoes Lane railway bridge being much wider then as well (see the Walking Day picture on the Memory Lane page). 22 Mar 2003. |
This
is the old Sixpenny Walk which runs from Battersby Lane to Dalton
Bank. The first two images are viewed from Battersby Lane, and the last one looks from Dalton Bank end. 22 Feb 2003. |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Dalton
Bank entrance. It's funny how your mind plays tricks on you - when I walked down the Sixpenny Walk as a kid I could have sworn there were two bends in the pathway. But as an adult on a recent walk there was only one. Which is right? In its day Rylands was one of the biggest manufacturers of wire in the whole of the UK, but like many of our industries, it often comes from abroad these days. 22 Mar 2003. |
Dalton
Bank. Clocking off time? 22 Mar 2003. |
Fairfield
Street area (off Manchester Road). 22 Mar 2003. |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Fairfield
Street area. The junior
school building is still there opposite, but the school is now on the
opposite side of Manchester Road in a brand new building. The old building is being kept for community use. 22 Mar 2003. |
Inside
the factory. 22 Mar 2003. |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| A
last look inside the factory. I hope it brings back some good memories for its workers. 22 Mar 2003. |
This
office filing system has seen better days. 22 Mar 2003. |
Dalton
Bank and the Sixpenny Walk. 20 Feb 2004. |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Demolition
from two angles: back of Hume Street and Battersby Lane. 5 Jan 2004. |
This
is a single hole wire drawing machine on Battersby Lane, presented by Rylands Whitecross Ltd in August 1989. 5 Oct 2004. |
Hume
Street, off Marsh House Lane. No doubt many workers lived in terraced streets like this one. You probably still do. 5 Oct 2004. |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The
Sixpenny Walk from Battersby Lane, and the beginnings of the new housing estate 23 Feb 2005. |
Back
to Battersby Lane. My memory of this area as a child was viewing the latest toy motorcars in the newsagent's shop window opposite. I lived on St Peter's Place just up the road until my house was pulled down to make way for one of those new-fangled estates with inside toilets and no tin bath, or coal in the bunker! 29 Jun 2005, DJKenny. |
The
classic shot from the corner of Battersby Lane and Marsh House Lane. Demolition is going on behind the scenes. 20 Oct 2005. |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Through
a gap in the old gate - demolition is well under way. 20 Oct 2005. |
This
view is from the east looking towards Marsh House Lane. 20 Oct 2005. |
From
Battersby Lane and Sharp Street. 9 Nov 2005, DJKenny. |
I
never did worked out why they left the single wall up along Marsh House Lane. 9 Nov 2005, DJKenny. |
Demolition
is virtually complete. 11 Nov 2005, DJKenny. |
|
|
Do you know where Towns End was in the Warrington of
the 19th and 20th centuries? In 1859 the Warrington Guardian announced
the opening of Townsend Chapel. Towns End is in fact the area of town
outside the Lord Rodney pub at the junction of Winwick Road and
Pinners Brow. In the middle ages, of course, it literally would have
been the Town's End. After that, fields as far as the eye could see.
And Towns End Chapel is St Anne's Church, but it is no longer used as
a church.
You may know it now as the North West Face climbing centre, which opened in 1996. It is located between Tesco and the Warrington Wolves ground on Winwick Road and is a grade II* listed building. Check out their website www.northwestface.com. St Anne's church is now housed in a new building on Central Avenue, Orford. It opened in 2000. Photo 23 Sep 2006 |
 |
This replica of the famous Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car from the classic 1960 film visited Golden Square shopping centre on 22 November 2004. |
| Brickfield Park is located between Winwick Road and Orford Lane. It has been a park for a few years now, but last year it received lottery funding for a complete makeover. It is now much nicer to walk through with tarmac paths, a new enclosed ball area, a fenced children's play area and a grassed area for sports. | ||
|
|
If you visit, pay particular attention to the entrance gates as they depict some of the industry which made Warrington famous, including a barrel representing Tetley Walker's Brewery, now the location of Warrington Wolves and Tesco Extra. The image, left, shows the entrance - or is that the exit - to/from Winwick Road, but have you noticed anything unusual about the picture? When you think you've solved it, click here to see if you were right. |
|
|
|
And I can only assume that the workers knocking down the building next to the park in the photo, left, are Manchester United supporters! This area now has new flats - although they were abandoned half-finished in June 2009. Something to do with that credit crunch thing... Photos 23 Sep 2006 | |
| Buckley Street runs alongside the Warrington Wolves Halliwell Jones rugby stadium. The church was opened in 1879. It is described at http://www.freewebs.com/limc/ as an Independent Methodist church. |  |
|
|
< The top image shows two views of the Rylands/Seddon Atkinson factory on the corner of Winwick Street and John Street. The top section was taken on 9 May 2003, with the lower section 17 December 2005. The site has now been cleared for future development
(taken 3 Jan 2006). |
|
|
|
The Wire Works is the name of the proposed development which will transform this derelict piece of land in the north of Warrington town centre. Meanwhile, T P TEXTILES used to trade on the site, but relocated to Latchford in 2008. Can you remember what else was in this area? Read on. |
|
|
|
On the corner of Winwick Street and Tanners Lane there used to be a petrol station which eventually changed over to a car centre. The image on the right shows the complete row of businesses which stood here for many years. Rex Jones Cycles at one end, the Rainbow Cafe in the middle to the right of the Modus sign. But do you know what stood on this site a hundred years ago? It was Tanners Lane Tannery, which covered the whole site of the current temporary car park and backed onto the coal yard of the Warrington & Newton Railway off Back Dallam Lane. Foundry Street is to the left of Rex Jones' shop. |
|
|
|
Warrington Collegiate Institute on Winwick Road is seen here before its £27million redevelopment. Part of the land is now occupied by a hotel and a public house. I attended my first computer course at the collegiate back in 1998 where I learned my internet skills, without which you wouldn't be reading this today. The image, left, top, is the classic view of the old
building which dates, I believe, from 1974, and has since been
demolished. It was known as Warrington
Technical College in those days. The original workshops and
laboratories opened on 3 September 1956, 50 years before the new
development (left) was due for completion. |
|
|
 |
During the second week of August 2006, an urn artwork in Queens Gardens was accidentally damaged by a council truck during routine maintenance. It is currently in storage and it is hoped it can be repaired and set back in place. The image, left, shows the damage, and right how it normally looks. |  |
|
You might have played a certain trivia game and had this question posed to you: Where in the UK is the only junction featuring a pub, a church, a post office and a police station at its crossroads? The answer would be the junction of Liverpool Road, Station Road and St Mary's Road in Sankey, Warrington. However, it is no longer true. The post office closed in 2005, and is now a general store. |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The Chapel House pub. |
St Mary's church. |
The old post office. |
The police station. |
|
All photos taken 6 June 2006. |
|||
|
Sankey
railway station is also known as Sankey for Penketh. The main station
building is the |
||
|
|
|
|
The
station viewed |
The
main station building from |
Sorry,
this clock isn't |
|
|
|
|
|
The
drinking fountain |
This
legal notice still stands |
Opposite
view from |
|
Notice |
||
|
|
In the southeast of England during the summer of 2006 there was a bit of a panic about a water shortage. No such problem here in Bewsey, Warrington! This is what happens when it floods on the River Atherton (known locally as the Stinking Brook, for obvious reasons, although, to be fair, it has been cleaned up recently). In London, however, their best idea to get water is to tow an iceberg from the Arctic! Have they not realised that it's a bit warmer in this part of the world and their massive chunk of ice might end as a cupful by the time it reaches the Thames! Time to think again, London. Why don't you develop underground storage areas to catch the water when it does rain? And why did it take you so long to finish that football stadium? The name Bewsey means "beautiful site". |
|
Photo taken 10 Aug 2004 |
| This is the control centre
for Crown Cars. It used to be part of Fairclough's Flour Mill at Bank
Quay off Liverpool Road. I call it the Big Pink Eye and the story is
that the artist, Anthony Turk, wanted to paint something else on the building but
wasn't allowed. So because he was upset he painted the eye instead. In
2009, he revealed a mural of marine life at Sankey Leisure swimming
pool. He hopes to replace the Big Pink Eye with something else in
time. See the online edition of Warrington
Worldwide magazine (issue 113 March 2009 for the story on page 16).
Photo taken 22 Apr 2003 |
|
|
Fiddler's Ferry pencil |
Fiddler's Ferry is in west Warrington. To find out why it is called Fiddler's Ferry, see On The Waterfront (River Mersey). My thanks go to David Potts at Groundwork Mersey Valley and Warrington Borough Council Ranger Service for permission to use their artwork and extracts from their text. The copyright owner of the original painting used for David's drawing is not known. If you are the owner, or know who is, contact me for a full credit. |
The image on the left is one of my favourites - one of those 'there at the right time shots'
Can you see a face in the tree in the image on the right?
The answer to my little poser at the top of this page: Grappenhall Village (Church Lane to be precise, viewed from outside the Parish Church of St Wilfrid). In a letter to the Warrington Guardian in early 2006, a disgruntled reader suggested they should be covered over with tarmac because it is too bumpy for him to ride his bike! The week after, a reply was printed telling him to get off and walk! All photos taken 18 May 2004.
|
The earliest
human settlement in the area was in the middle Bronze Age,
approximately 1000 B.C. |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Bridgewater Canal | Stanney Lunt
Bridge over the canal |
Church Lane | The classic
village image of Church Lane |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| St
Wilfrid's Parish Church |
Punishing the
past: the village stocks |
The village
memorial to Queen Victoria |
It looks just as good in 2006! |
|
Link to the Church Website here All photos taken 18 May 2004 |
|||
|
|
Yes! The answer to my home page conundrum about the city nearest to Warrington is Thelwall. "In the year 923 King Edward the Elder founded a cyty here and called it Thelwall". So says the caption on the side of the Pickering Arms. However, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle it is recorded that the burh (a fort, mistranslated as cyty) at Thel Wael was to be repaired and manned as a defence against the Danes. According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names, the name Thelwall means 'a pool by the plank bridge'. The first census of 1881 shows a population of 309 residents. The Pickering Arms itself dates from the 1700s. |
|
|
|
The Thelwall Ferry is an ancient crossing to take people from the village side to Thelwall Eyes, which was once rich farmland. Nowadays, the area is a wildlife reserve for many migrating birds. An Act of Parliament insists that the ferry be operated by the Manchester Ship Canal Company. Originally the area covered by the canal was filled with pathways and roads. It was not possible to replace them all when the canal was constructed so the ferry was brought in instead. |
|
|
|
The view on the left is of Thelwall New Road, with Ferry Lane linking off to the left. On the right of the image is the Pickering Arms pub, shown above. The image on the right is of Thelwall Post Office, on Bell Lane |
|
|
|
This is All Saints Church, part of the Diocese of Chester. It dates from before 1663 as records show that it was repaired in that year. See the church website for more. |
|
|
|
Before the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, Thelwall had its own railway station on the Warrington to Stockport line, which is marked on the 1910 version of the Ordnance Survey map, now reprinted. The journey time in 1929 from Warrington Bank Quay to Thelwall was 13 minutes, passing through Latchford, as shown in the LMS (London Midland Scottish) timetable. The crowning of the Thelwall Rose Queen is held in June each year. |
|
|
|
The Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1894, and
passes through Thelwall. Close by is the River Mersey, and south of
the village is the Bridgewater Canal. These waterways were vital to
the life of the village before the onset of the railways, and later
the motor car.
In September 1959, work started on the construction of Thelwall Viaduct to carry the new M6 motorway over the River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal. The motorway opened in July 1963. However, towards the end of the 20th century, congestion was at a peak, and the government decided to add a second viaduct to the east of the existing carriageway. After many years of construction and further problems, users are now grateful for this second section. But the townsfolk are none too pleased when accidents block the motorway, as traffic is then diverted through the town, causing unparalleled chaos! Ah, the lazy old days of canal travel... You might wish to check out the website of Thelwall Morris Men. |
|
The 'Cheshire Villages Handbook' published by the Cheshire Federation of Women's Institutes in 1990 is a good place to see a brief history of this and many other Warrington villages. See a copy in Warrington Library.
Brickfield Park Puzzle: the picture is in reverse! But how can it be if the you can read 'Brickfield Park' the right way round? It's a little something I do when I wish to display the wording of a see-through sign that is obscured by a tree or something when taken from the normal way round. So I simply take it from the other side and flip the picture in the photo editor. If you look carefully, you can see The North West Face climbing centre in the background the other way round! Compare it to the picture above it. Did you spot it? Back to Brickfield Park
|
|
My thanks to Dorothy who has sent in this wonderful photo of a sunset over Orford back in October 2004. It was taken from her parent's bedroom window and looks towards Fitzherbert Street, close to Orford Park. Dorothy now lives away from Warrington and found the website while searching for information about the town. If you would like one of your own photos of the town featured on the site, attach it to the email address at the top or bottom of the page with a few words about it, giving a brief description of when and where it was taken, and indicate if you want your name adding to your work. |
|
|
