On Top of the World


The Big Wheel had been open for 5 days when I had my ride. The owners of the wheel were kind enough to stop the ride to allow me to take my photos from the top. I am most grateful to them.	Bank Hall dates from 1750 in the reign of King George II, and was once the home of the Patten family. It became the Town Hall in 1872 when the council bought it for £9,000 and the grounds became Bank Park, costing £13,000.

This is a view north over the Town Hall and shows the Halliwell Jones Stadium, the home of the Warrington Wolves Super League rugby team since 2004. The black spire is part of the former St Anne's Church, which is now the North West Face rock climbing venue. On a clear day you can see Winter Hill from this point, from which TV and Radio signals are received in our area.	Golden Square shopping centre was built in the three stages between 1973 and 1983. In 2007 a brand new extension opened, including a 3-storey Debenhams department store. Also seen here with the tall chimney and sloping roof sections are the former Victorian swimming baths, which have been vacant since 2003. In 2008 it was announced that the council plan to replace the building with a health centre.

The building behind the vehicles on the left is Garven Place medical centre. It is named after the Garven family, who occupied the 3-storey house seen on the right behind the waste bins. In the distance is the Parish Church of St Elphin, featuring a 281-foot spire - the 3rd-tallest in England. The white tower to the right of it contains the town clock at the top of Holy Trinity church. The clock was originally in the court house in the old Golden Square.	In the foreground by the white van is Bank House on Sankey Street, the main office for Golden Gates housing, the company that manages the housing stock on behalf of the Borough Council. Originally two houses, it was the former home of William Allcard, engineer on the Grand Junction Railway which ran into Bank Quay. He had a workshop where the car park is now. The small white building opposite Bank House with the triangular roof is the former Cameo/Picturedrome cinema.

A close-up view showing the town clock and the former Garnett's Cabinet Works behind Holy Trinity Church. Town centre looks so different from 100 feet up in the air, and these photographs only give a two-dimensional view of the area. You had to be on the Big Wheel for real to appreciate the scenery in three dimensions. If you didn't ride the wheel then you missed out on a spectacle. If it comes back again, make sure you ride it!	Winmarleigh Street is on the right of this view looking over the former post office on the corner. Half-way down the street is The Pyramid Arts Centre, opened in 2001, with the vacant Borough Treasurers building to its left and the Parr Hall further left. The orangey/red building is the former Post Office on Springfield St. The sorting office was behind it: the large apartment block on the extreme left is called Knightsbridge Court and beyond that is the BT telephone exchange.

This is the former site of the Warrington Guardian newspaper, established by Bolton-born Alexander Mackie in 1853. The old post office on the corner is now an information point for young people, whilst the old newspaper office and print works are now The Gateway, a community base housing the Citizens Advice Bureau, Age Concern and Warrington Housing Association. The building was used by Martin Dawes Communications after the Warrington Guardian moved out in the early 1990s.	The Warrington Guardian offices were built on a field where Warrington Zingari, now Warrington Wolves, played their matches in the early days. The club's headquarters were the White Hart Hotel further along Sankey Street. Sankey Street itself is said to have come into existence because the Patten family allowed the common people to cross their land at this point. Originally their land went right down to the River Mersey a quarter of a mile a way.

The Town Hall Gates or Golden Gates were presented to the town by Frederick Monks when he saw them in a foundry in Shropshire in 1895. They have been painted gold since the 1980s. We have them because Queen Victoria rejected them when Cromwell's statue stood behind them. We also have the statue, at Bridge Foot.	Part of industrial Warrington can be seen here. Bank Quay railway station, seen here in front of Crosfields, was the terminus of the Grand Junction Railway, although the original station building was 300 metres to the north. It now forms part of the West Coast Main Line, and a facelift was announced in 2007, which began in 2008. The Patten Arms Hotel stands opposite the railway station.

A panoramic view of Bank Quay industrial area. Joseph Crosfield (born 1792, died 1844) set up his soap and chemical manufacturing business at Bank Quay in 1814. The Joseph Crosfield & Sons company later became part of Lever Brothers (now Unilever) in 1911. Crosfield Street approaching from the north (right on this photo) is named after him. The original Bank Quay railway station was on the site of the Aldi supermarket car park seen immediately beyond Bank Park on the extreme right of this photo alongside Liverpool Road. Just visible in the mist is Fiddler's Ferry Power Station. In the foreground is Priestley House (renamed Bank Quay House in 2008), the former base of Warrington Social Services and youth employment centre, from where I was directed to my first job at Lowes bookshop further along Sankey Street behind my photo viewpoint (now closed down). Next to it in the centre, foreground, is Warrington Baptist church, formerly Salem Baptist Church, which moved from Golborne Street in the 1960s. The general view looks out towards Runcorn, Widnes and Liverpool.

A view to the west and north west of town looking over Bank Park. The area of green beyond the council truck was the location of a religious tent crusade in the summer of 1980 by Sussex-based preacher Dick Saunders "Way To Life" ministry, with Crosfields Street alongside. A band stand stood on this spot in the early part of the 20th century. The white buildings are on the former site of the Whitecross Wire Works, one of the biggest employers in the town, from which "The Wire" nickname of the Warrington rugby league team originated. The main Royal Mail sorting office is based in the area now, having moved from Springfield Street. Warrington Hospital is just visible to the right of the green building in the centre. On the left is Unilever, with Sacred Heart Church just visible across the road from the factory, with "The Green" (Sankey Green) beyond. The Aldi supermarket at the southern end of Crosfield Street is the second such building on the site - the first Aldi burned down in 2003. Iceland frozen food store is to the right, a company who once featured Warrington-born singer Kerry Katona in their adverts. Their slogan in 2007 was "That's why mums go to Iceland". The site was once the home of National Carriers, with direct links to the railway.


Sankey Street view to town centre showing the Town Hall gates and Bank House, taken from outside Warrington Baptist church. (29 November 2007)	The Town Hall lawn is also the meeting point for churches taking part in Warrington Walking Day on the nearest Friday to 1st July each year. (30 November 2007)	From Winmarleigh Street we get a distant view of the wheel with the YMCA half-way down on the left and the Town Hall and gates in the centre. (30 November 2007)

One of de Koning's trucks. Phone them up if you want to book a fairground ride. (30 November 2007)	Late afternoon and the lights have come on for the first day of operation. (1 December 2007)	And from across the Town Hall lawn with Hilden House in the background. (1 December 2007)

The public entrance to the Town Hall with the wheel showing in front. (1 December 2007)	The children's play area alongside Crosfield Street with the wheel through the trees. (1 December 2007)	The back of the Town Hall showing the wheel to the right. (1 December 2007)

Regent Street between the White Hart pub and Golden Square gives this view of the wheel. (1 December 2007)	The plane flying past is not much higher than I was when I took my photos! (5 December 2007)	The traditional Nativity scene has been positioned in its usual spot behind the Golden Gates. (5 Dec 2007)

From the Town Hall steps we see a dramatic skyline at the end of the afternoon, with The Gateway and the Golden Gates. (5 December 2007)	The chain is a reminder of the days before the war when iron railings adorned the boundary of Bank Park. (5 December 2007)	And one last look from the air. The offices of the Town Hall on the left once housed stables. (5 December 2007)