Information about Warrington

Warrington

Shown within England
Geography
Status	Borough, Unitary Authority (1998)[1]
Ceremonial county	Cheshire
Historic county	Lancashire (some parts from Cheshire)
Region	North West England
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Area - Total	Ranked 196th 180.64 km²
Admin HQ	Warrington
	GB-WAR
ONS code	00EU
OS grid reference	SJ6088
Coordinates	53°23N 2°35W
NUTS 3	UKD21
Demographics
Population: Total () Density	Ranked / km²
Ethnicity (2001 census)	97.9% White
Politics
New Warrington Borough Council Logo Warrington Borough Council [1]
Leadership	Leader & Cabinet
Control

Warrington is a large town and borough in Cheshire, England. It sits beside the West Coast Mainline, the M6, M56 and M62 motorways, upon the River Mersey and alongside the Manchester Ship Canal.

Historically a part of Lancashire, and today governed by a Unitary Authority, the population of the Warrington borough, including its 18 civil parishes, is 191,084 (2001 Census). 158,195 of these live in the Warrington Urban Area, defined by the ONS, and of these, 80,661 live in the core area.

People born (or living) in Warrington are known as Warringtonians.^[2]

Geography

The Borough of Warrington is bordered by Halton, Vale Royal, and Macclesfield boroughs in the Ceremonial County of Cheshire. It is also bordered by Trafford, Salford, Wigan and St. Helens boroughs, which are not part of Cheshire.^[3]

Neighbouring Districts and Boroughs

North-West: St. Helens North: Wigan North-East: Salford West: Halton Borough of Warrington East: Salford South-West: Halton South: Vale Royal South-East: Trafford, Macclesfield

Subdivisions, suburbs, and civil parishes of Warrington

The Borough of Warrington is subdivided into 18 civil parishes and various suburbs of the central town of Warrington, which is an unparished area:

Civil Parishes

Appleton, Birchwood, Burtonwood and Westbrook, Croft, Cuerdley, Culcheth and Glazebury, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Great Sankey, Hatton, Lymm, Penketh, Poulton-with-Fearnhead, Rixton-with-Glazebrook, Stockton Heath, Stretton, Walton, Winwick, Woolston

Other areas

• Appleton Thorn
• Barracks
• Bewsey
• Blackbrook
• Blakely
• Bruche
• Cinnamon Brow
• Cobbs
• Dallam
• Fairfield
• Gemini
• Gorse Covert
• Grange
• Hermitage Green
• Hollins Green
• Howley
• Hulme
• Kenyon
• Lane End
• Latchford
• Little Town
• Locking Stumps
• Martinscroft
• Omega
• Orford
• Padgate
• Risley
• Sankey Bridges
• Statham
• Thelwall
• Westbrook
• Westy
• Wilderspool
• Wright's Green

Climate

Weather averages for Warrington, United Kingdom
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high F (C)
Average low F (C)
Precipitation inch (cm)
Source: Weatherbase[4] April 2007

History

Warrington has been a major crossing point on the River Mersey since ancient times and there was a Roman settlement at Wilderspool. The River Mersey split the modern-day town between the Celts and Roman Empire. ^[5] In medieval times Warrington's importance was as a bridging point on the River Mersey, and it was a fulcrum in the English Civil War. The armies of Oliver Cromwell and the Earl of Derby both stayed near the old town centre (the parish church area). Popular legend has it that Cromwell lodged in the building which survives on Church Street as The Cottage Restaurant, though it is likely that the actual place was nearby, possibly next door. The Marquis of Granby public house bears a plaque stating that the Earl of Derby 'had his quarters near this site'. Dents in the walls of the parish church are rumoured to be have been caused by the cannons used in the Civil War.

Industrial history

Warrington was a centre of steel (particularly wire), textiles, brewing, tanning and chemical industries.^[6]

Heavy industry declined in the 1970s and 1980s but the growth of the new town around Warrington led to a great increase in employment in light industry, distribution and technology. Travel-to-work patterns are unusual, with many residents working outside the borough and many employees living elsewhere.

IRA bombing

Main article: Warrington bomb attacks

On 20 March 1993, the IRA exploded two bombs in Warrington town centre. The blasts killed two children: three year old Jonathan Ball died instantly, and twelve year old Tim Parry died five days later in hospital. Their deaths provoked widespread condemnation of the organisation responsible. The blast followed a bomb attack a few weeks earlier on a gas storage plant in Warrington.

Tim Parry's father founded The Peace Centre (formerly the Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Peace Centre) as part of a campaign to reconcile communities in conflict. The centre opened on the seventh anniversary of the bombing in 2000.

Other history

Warrington is notable in political history for being the first place to field a candidate for the then newly-formed SDP-Liberal Alliance; former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins stood for Parliament in 1981 but lost to Labour candidate Doug Hoyle by a small number of votes.

However, many people, particularly Americans, will remember Warrington best as the location of Burtonwood RAF base, one of (if not the) largest RAF bases in England and the largest US Air Force base outside the United States. During World War II, Burtonwood was visited by major celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope who arrived to entertain the GIs. The base was closed in 1993.

There was a further RAF training camp at Padgate, a Royal Naval air base at Stretton and an army base at the Peninsula Barracks in O'Leary Street, now used by the Territorial Army.

Politics and administration

Historically part of Lancashire, Warrington was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1847 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. Warrington acquired county borough status on reaching a population of 50,000 in 1900. Between then and 1974, Warrington formed the County Borough of Warrington. As part of proposed local government reforms in England, in 1969 the Redcliffe-Maud Report suggested merging Warrington with either the Merseyside or Greater Manchester metropolitan counties. Lobbying by the borough council prevented this. Because Warrington would have been non-contiguous with Lancashire, under the local government reforms of 1974, Warrington, incorporating Lymm Urban District and part of Runcorn Rural District from Cheshire, and part of Warrington Rural District, was made a borough within Cheshire County Council.

On April 1, 1998 Warrington became an independent unitary authority, though it is still served by Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, and forms part of Cheshire for ceremonial purposes. The current borders of Warrington Borough cover the former County Borough of Warrington, Lymm Urban District, Warrington Rural District and part of Golborne Urban District, part of Runcorn Rural District and part of Whiston Rural District.

Warrington has applied unsuccessfully for city status, the most recent attempt being after the opening of the Peace Centre as a "City for Peace".

The political makeup of the borough council is as follows:

• 6 Labour Wards: Birchwood, Burtonwood and Winwick, Latchford East, Orford, Poplars & Hulme, and Rixton & Woolston.
• 9 Liberal Democrat Wards: Appleton, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Sankey North, Sankey South, Hatton/Stretton & Walton, Latchford West, Poulton North, Stockton Heath & Westbrook.
• 1 Conservative ward: Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft
• 6 "split" wards: Bewsey and Whitecross (2 Labour, 1 Liberal Democrat), Fairfield & Howley (2 Labour, 1 independent), Lymm (2 Liberal Democrat, 1 Conservative), Penketh & Cuerdley (1 Conservative, 2 Labour), Poulton South (1 Labour, 1 Liberal Democrat), and Whittle Hall (2 Liberal Democrat, 1 Labour)

At Westminster, Warrington is represented by two Labour Party MPs. Helen Jones representents Warrington North, and Helen Southworth represents Warrington South.

Demographics

Based on ONS statistics

Population and Ethnicity

Warrington has a total population of 191,080, of which 49.1% are male and 50.9% are female. The average age of the population is 38.06 years, which is slightly below the regional and national averages. In the borough, the majority of people are of white ethnicity (97.9%). The key minorities are mixed race (0.6%), black ethnicity (0.2%), and Asian origin (0.8%), other racial origins account for 0.5% of the population.

Housing and social situation

As at the 2001 census (the last available data), the borough of Warrington had 80,593 households. Of this 80,593 households, 76% are owner occupied, 17.6% are rented from the council, 4.8% are rented from other sources and 1.6% of houses have residents who live rent free. Warrington has a population density of 10.7 residents per hectare, and 31.9% of residents describe the borough is a comfortably well off area, 4.3% of households are deemed overcrowded. Of the total population, 5.8% of residents are on some form of benefits.

Employment and education

At 2005, the borough of Warrington had 63.6% employment, with only 2.9% of all economically active people unemployed. 2.3% of the population are students in full-time higher education. 31.1% of the total population are economically inactive (due to retirement, ill health, or full-time carer status). According to borough statistics, of the population (in the Borough of Warrington in 2005). 26.9% are unqualified (either due to leaving school early or failing the end of school examinations). 46.4% have level 1 or 2 qualifications (level 1 being 1+ GCSE (A*-G)or "O" Level or equivalent, level 2 being 5+ GCSEs (grades A-C), 1+'A' levels/ AS levels (A-E) or equivalent). 19.7% have received level 3+ qualifications (meaning 2+ A-levels (A-E), 4+ AS-levels (A-E) or equivalent minimum).

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Halton and Warrington at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added[7]	Agriculture[8]	Industry[9]	Services[10]
1995	3,636	14	1,361	2,261
2000	4,768	10	1,433	3,324
2003	5,774	18	1,399	4,356

In spite of its proximity to significant retail areas in Manchester, Liverpool, Chester and the out-of-town Trafford Centre, Warrington continues to have one of the larger shopping centres in North West England. Despite this competition, Warrington has seen an increase in its customer trade, due in part to the modernisation of the town centre. It has a shopping mall (Golden Square) first opened in 1974, which has been extended to include a Debenhams store, and a new bus station. The old Cockhedge Textile Mill was demolished and replaced by another shopping mall. The main shopping streets are Buttermarket Street, Horsemarket Street, Sankey Street and Bridge Street. Where these four streets intersect at Market Gate, there is an award-winning redevelopment with a large fountain and "guardians" (known locally as "the skittles") designed by Howard Ben Tré. The town also has a large indoor market, and several other small shopping malls, such as Hatters Row. In the surrounding modern suburbs, there are several shopping areas, from small groups of shops to malls such as Birchwood Mall. IKEA chose Warrington as the location for their first store when they came to the UK, which is located next to the large out-of-town shopping area of Gemini, which has a large Marks and Spencer (the biggest outside London) , Toys "R" Us, and Next outlets.

Transport

Main article: Transport in Warrington

The town has two main railway stations: Bank Quay on the London to Glasgow and Chester - Warrington - Newton-le-Willows - Manchester lines, and Central on the Liverpool - Widnes - Manchester line and the Transpennine route. Bank Quay is much altered, but Central (built 1873) is of some architectural merit, featuring polychromatic brickwork. Both main railway stations have suffered from years of underinvestment but have undergone some refurbishment. There are also railway stations in the suburbs at Padgate, Sankey and Birchwood.

The town lies close to the M62, M6 and M56 motorways and midway between Liverpool and Manchester airports.

Warrington Borough Transport, one of the few municipal bus companies to survive in public ownership, runs most bus services within the town. First Group and Arriva Northwestern provide bus links to surrounding towns and cities such as Manchester, the Trafford Centre, Liverpool, St Helens, Runcorn, Widnes and Chester. A new real-time passenger information system has been installed. A new bus station known as Warrington Interchange opened in 2006 at the Golden Square Shopping Centre.

The River Mersey runs through the heart of the town dividing it in two. There are only two main thoroughfares crossing the Mersey in Warrington: at Bridge Foot and at the Kingsway Bridge. The Manchester Ship Canal runs through the south of the town; three swing bridges and a high-level cantilever bridge provide crossing points, and another high-level crossing is planned downstream nearer to Runcorn. Although shipping movements on the ship canal are far less frequent than in years past, they can cause severe delay to local road traffic. The picturesque Bridgewater Canal runs through the borough from the scenic village of Lymm to Walton Hall and Gardens, a local park/leisure area.

Culture

Warrington has a concert hall (the Parr Hall), an arts centre (the Pyramid), a museum, an art gallery, and various public libraries throughout the borough. Warrington Central Library was the first rate-supported library in the UK. The Victorian swimming baths closed in July 2003. There is a cinema at Westbrook, and another is being considered as part of a town centre redevelopment. There are several parks (see also Parks in Warrington) and designated nature reserves at Woolston Eyes, Risley Moss, Rixton Claypits, and Paddington Meadows. There is also ten-pin bowling located at Winwick Quay, and indoor paintball. An indoor karting centre is located near to Bank Quay. A Laser Quest arena and a snooker club can also be found in Warrington, both located close to the town centre. Gulliver's Theme Park is located off the M62 near Westbrook.

A number of festivals, carnivals, and walking days are held annually in the Warrington area. Warrington Walking Day - originally a Sunday School festival - is held on the closest Friday to the last day of June, and the town centre is closed to traffic as churches walk together through the streets.^[11]

Other festivals, besides the many walking days, include:

• Glazebury Gala
• Appleton Bawming of the Thorn
• Croft Carnival
• Culcheth Community Day
• Howley Carnival
• Lymm May Queen
• Lymm Dickensian Festival
• Penketh Carnival
• St George's Day Parade
• Thelwall Rose Queen
• Winwick Carnival
• Westy Carnival

Warrington also has many musical groups, including Warrington Male Voice Choir and the North Cheshire Wind Orchestra.

Sports

The town's premier sports team is the Warrington Wolves[2] Rugby League club, nicknamed "The Wire" because of Warrington's history of wire making. The club moved in 2003 to the Halliwell Jones Stadium, leaving its home for over a century, Wilderspool. Football is represented by Warrington Town FC[3] at Cantilever Park, next to the Manchester Ship Canal. Warrington Athletic Club are based at Victoria Park, where a new eight-lane synthetic track was built in 1998, after the original track was destroyed in a fire the previous year. Warrington Wasps are the representative Basketball team for the 12 Secondary Schools in Warrington.[4]

Speedway racing, then known as Dirt Track racing was staged in Warrington in the pioneer era from 1928 to 1930. The track entered a team in the 1929 English Dirt Track League and the 1930 Northern league. Efforts to revive the venue in 1947 failed to materialise.

Education

Warrington is home to two colleges: Priestley College, and Warrington Collegiate. The University of Chester has a campus at Padgate that was formerly part of Warrington Collegiate. Most of the high schools have their own post-16 provision (sixth-form).

There are high schools throughout the borough. They are located in: Birchwood, Culcheth, Appleton (known as Bridgewater High School Warrington), two in Latchford (Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School and Cardinal Newman Roman Catholic High School), Sankey, Lymm, Padgate, Penketh, Westbrook (St. Gregory's Roman Catholic High School), Orford (William Beamont High School), and Woolston^[12]. There are also 74 primary schools in the borough, all of which feed into at least one of the above.^[13].

Landmarks

Sites of interest in Warrington include:

• The Town Hall (and its golden gates), formerly a private residence, Bank Hall (built 1750). ^[14]
• The Academy, a dissenters' institute where Joseph Priestley taught and which is now, after being moved from its original location, the offices of a local newspaper.
• "Cromwell's Cottage" (17th century), which Oliver Cromwell is said to have visited.
• The 14th century Parish Church of St Elphin, largely a Victorian rebuild with a 281-foot spire, the sixth largest in the UK.
• St Wilfrid's Church, Grappenhall, Grade I listed medieval church.
• Holy Trinity Church, 1758, at Market Gate.
• The row of late Victorian terracotta shops on Bridge Street.^[15]
• The Woolworth's Building in Sankey Street (at least the upper storeys).
• The Art Deco style Mr Smith's nightclub which was originally a large cinema.
• The industrial modernist Unilever Soapworks.
• The Cheshire Lines railway warehouse, currently (2007) being redeveloped as apartments.
• The Warrington Transporter Bridge, a listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.^[16].
• The Barley Mow, established in 1561, the oldest pub in Warrington.
• The Parr Hall, home to one of the few remaining Cavaillé-Coll organs.
• Fiddlers Ferry Power Station
• Bewsey Old Hall, a rebuilt medieval manor.
• IKEA store which is located near the Gemini retail park. The first of the IKEA chain to be built in the UK. ^[17]

Notable residents

• Actor Steven Arnold was born and still lives in Warrington, he his best known for his role as Ashley Peacock in Coronation Street.
• William Beamont was a Victorian solicitor and local philanthropist, and founded several churches and the municipal library, the first rate-aided library in the UK
• Peter Brimelow, financial journalist and former senior editor with Forbes magazine in the United States, was born in Warrington.
• Singer Ian Brown - lead singer of the Stone Roses - was born in Forster Street, Warrington, and lived there up to the age of six (approximately). He has now settled in Lymm.
• Tennis player Nick Brown was born in Warrington
• Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Care Services Liam Byrne was born in Warrington
• 1960s Fashion Designer Ossie Clark went to Beamont Secondary Technical School in Warrington
• Actor and singer Tim Curry was born in Grappenhall
• Radio and television broadcaster Chris Evans was born and lived in the town for much of his life.
• First class cricketer George Duckworth was born in Warrington and played Test cricket for England. He played first class cricket for Lancashire between 1923 and 1947, he played his 24 tests between 1924 and 1936. Duckworth would have played more tests without competition from Les Ames.^[18]
• First class cricketer Neil Fairbrother was born in Warrington and played Test cricket for England. He played first class cricket for Lancashire between 1982 and 2002 and captained the side in 1992, he played his ten tests between 1987 and 1993. Despite never cementing a place in England’s Test team, he was an integral part of England ODI batting during the 1990s, scoring over 2,000 runs at an average just below 40 and appearing in three World Cups.^[19]
• Artist Luke Fildes (1843-1927) studied at Warrington School of Art
• Performer George Formby lived in Warrington for several years and is now buried in the town's main cemetery.
• Geneticist Neil Jackson of the University of San Francisco grew up in Warrington.
• Author Robin Jarvis grew up in Warrington.
• Hollyoaks actor Darren Jeffries grew up in Warrington and attended school in the town.
• Author/illustrator and designer of Bob the Builder, Curtis Jobling grew up in Warrington.
• Actress Sue Johnston formerly lived in Birchwood.
• Footballer Stephen Jordan was born and grew up in Warrington.
• Singer Kerry Katona was born and grew up in Warrington.
• Watchmaker and inventor Peter Litherland was born and grew up in Warrington.
• Broadcaster Pete McCarthy was born in Warrington
• Filmmaker and animator Ian Mackinnon was born in Warrington.
• William Norman VC, was a local war hero.
• Actor Pete Postlethwaite was born and raised in the town.
• 18th century free-thinker and scientist Joseph Priestley lived and taught in Warrington, at the Academy^[2]
• Singer Edna Savage was born in Warrington.
• Alfred Edward Sephton VC, was a local war hero.
• Professional wrestler Davey Boy Smith ('The British Bulldog') was born in Golborne (previously part of Warrington), trained in Winwick, and was resident in Warrington at the time of his matches in Britain.
• Comedy writer Miles Tredinnick was born in Warrington.
• DJ David "Comedy Dave" Vitty spent much of his youth in Warrington living in Leicester Street and attended North Cheshire College.
• Actress Polly Walker was born in Warrington.
• Pete Waterman of Stock,Aitken & Waterman and PWL lives near to Warrington.
• Tom Harper Halo 3 script writer, currently lives in Warrington

Twin towns

• Lake County, Illinois, USA
• Hilden, Germany
• Nachod, Czech Republic

See also

• Parks in Warrington
• Warrington Dock

References

External links

• Warrington Guardian
• Warrington Worldwide Online Newspaper
• View Warrington
• Golden Gates Housing
• Polish community in Warrington

•  • [ e] The Borough of Warrington, Cheshire
Principal Settlements	Warrington
Civil Parishes	Appleton • Birchwood • Burtonwood and Westbrook • Croft • Cuerdley • Culcheth and Glazebury • Grappenhall and Thelwall • Great Sankey • Hatton • Lymm • Penketh • Poulton-with-Fearnhead • Rixton-with-Glazebrook • Stockton Heath • Stretton • Walton • Winwick • Woolston
Unparished Areas	Warrington

•  • [ e] Districts of North West England

Allerdale • Barrow-in-Furness • Blackburn with Darwen • Blackpool • Bolton • Burnley • Bury • Carlisle • Chester • Chorley • Congleton • Copeland • Crewe and Nantwich • Eden • Ellesmere Port and Neston • Fylde • Halton • Hyndburn • Knowsley • Lancaster • Liverpool • Macclesfield • Manchester • Oldham • Pendle • Preston • Ribble Valley • Rochdale • Rossendale • St Helens • Salford • Sefton • South Lakeland • South Ribble • Stockport • Tameside • Trafford • Vale Royal • Warrington • West Lancashire • Wigan • Wirral • Wyre Counties with multiple districts: Cheshire • Cumbria • Greater Manchester • Lancashire • Merseyside

Coordinates: