The "New" Town of Warrington [image] Geography Status: Unitary, Borough Region: North West England Traditional county: Lancashire Ceremonial county: Cheshire Area:
- TotalRanked 196th
180.64 km²Admin. HQ: Warrington Grid reference: SJ 60 88 ONS code: 00EU Demographics Population:
- Total (2003 est.)
- DensityRanked 69th
193,204
1,070 / km²Ethnicity: 97.9% White Politics [image]
Warrington Borough Council
http://www.warrington.gov.uk/Leadership: Leader & Cabinet Executive: Labour MPs: Helen Jones, Helen Southworth [image]
Warrington is a large town and borough in North West England, between Manchester and Liverpool. It was traditionally in Lancashire, but was transferred to Cheshire in 1974. Since April 1, 1998 it has been an independent Unitary authority and administrative county. It has crown and county courts, housed in a modern building.
At the 2001 Census the population was 191,084
Landmarks in the town are the Town Hall (1750) and its Victorian golden gates (iron, painted in gold leaf), the "Guardians" artwork in the town centre by Howard Ben Tré, a statue of Oliver Cromwell next to 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), and the old Fish Market, with nearby a Mad Hatter's Tea Party statue (Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) was born in nearby Daresbury). Fiddlers Ferry Power Station in the borough is visible from many miles away.
Warrington has grown rapidly in modern times (it was part of the Warrington-Runcorn New Town) and is seeking city status, and to that end it has developed a cultural quarter centred on Palmyra Square. It also has one of Britains lowest unemployment rates, due to the considerable growth Warrington has incurred, since 1997.
A brand new urban village is set to be built in 2004, in West Warrington, called Chapelford Urban Village. It is to be built on a site near to World War Two's largest air base, Burtonwood, which is now out of use. It is the largest Brownfield land redevelopment in North-West England. In total, Chapelford Village will have 2,000 new homes hitting all sections of the market, from low-cost and shared ownership, to large, four and five bed detached.
Omega is also set to be built in Warrington, near to where Chapelford Urban Village is being developed. Omega is a £1 Billion redeveopment which will take between 25 and 30 years to complete. It will attract world class businesses, and will also incorporate social living as well as high quality employment.
People from Warrington are known as "Warringtonians."
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) at Cromwells Lodgings (now a restaurant) and the Marquis of Granby public house. Dents in the walls of the Parish church are rumoured to be have been caused by the cannons used in the Civil War.
The bridging point at Warrington was vital to the town's future growth. The Red Lion Inn on Bridge Street is an example of a building built exclusively for people using the bridge.
By the 1890s, when Warrington acquired County borough status on reaching a population of 75,000, it was a centre of Steel (particularly wire), textiles, Brewing, Tanning and chemical industries.
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.
The town was historically in Lancashire, and when local government was reformed in the 1970s, it was originally proposed to attach it to either Merseyside or Greater Manchester. Lobbying by the borough council prevented this, but since it would have been left with no geographic connection to Lancashire, it was made into a district of Cheshire instead. Due to a change in composition, the council changed its mind at the last minute, but to no avail. In another local government reform in the 1990s, Warrington became a Unitary authority.
On the 20th 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 Irish terrorist 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.
Warrington is notable in political history for being the first place to field a candidate for the newly-formed SDP-Liberal Alliance. Former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins stood for MP 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 the war, Burtonwood was visited by major celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope who arrived to entertain troops. The base was closed in 1993.
There was a further RAF base at Padgate, a Royal Naval air base at Stretton and an army base at the Peninsula Barracks in O'Leary Street.
Warrington still remains a major transport centre, sitting at the intersection of three of Britain’s biggest motorways, the M56, the M6 and the M62. It also sits on the West Coast Main Line, one of Britain's busiest railway lines.
Other festivals, besides the many walking days, include:
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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 Altrincham, Manchester, the Trafford Centre, Liverpool, St Helens, Runcorn and Chester. A new real-time passenger information system has been installed.
The River Mersey runs through the heart of the town dividing it into two. There are only two main thoroughfares crossing the Mersey in Warrington: at Bridgefoot and at the Kingsway Bridge. Another crossing is planned from Lower Walton to Arpley. Warrington is also divided by the Manchester Ship Canal but there are three swing bridges and a high-level cantilever bridge providing crossing points, and another high-level crossing is planned between Warrington and Runcorn. The picturesque Bridgewater Canal runs through the Borough from the scenic village of Lymm to Walton Lea Gardens, a local park/leisure area.
Some of these parishes continued in existence and are governed by Parish Councils. The District also included a part of the Parish of Bold.
New wards were introduced for the 2004 elections. 30 Labour, 21 Liberal Democrat and 8 Conservative Councillors were elected, a total of 57 Members who represent 22 wards.
| Districts of England - North West England | [image] |
| 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 |