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Widnes ( ) is an
industrial town An industrial city or industrial town is a town or city in which the municipal economy, at least historically, is centered around industry, with important factories or other production facilities in the town. It has been part of most countries' i ...
in the Borough of Halton,
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464.
Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn. Upstream to the east is Warrington, and 4 miles downstream to the west is Speke, a suburb of Liverpool. Before the Industrial Revolution, Widnes was a small settlement on marsh and
moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...
. In 1847, the chemist and industrialist John Hutchinson established a chemical factory at Spike Island. The town grew in population and rapidly became a major centre of the
chemical industry The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials (oil, natural gas, air, water, metals, and minerals) into more than 70,000 different products. The ...
. The demand for labour was met by large-scale immigration from Ireland, Poland,
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
and Wales. The town continues to be a major manufacturer of chemicals, although many of the chemical factories have closed and the economy is predominantly based upon service industries. Widnes and
Hough Green Hough Green is a residential area of the town of Widnes, within the borough of Halton, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Historically, it was part of Lancashire until 1974. From 2014, Hough Green became a part of the Liverpool City R ...
railway stations are on the Liverpool–Manchester line. The main roads through the town are the A557 in a north–south direction and the A562 east–west. The disused Sankey Canal terminates at Spike Island. The Silver Jubilee Bridge crosses the River Mersey west of Warrington. In 2017, the
Mersey Gateway Bridge The Mersey Gateway Bridge is a toll bridge between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire, England, which spans the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal. The crossing, which opened in October 2017, has three traffic lanes in each direction and is ...
opened to relieve congestion at the older bridge. The
Catalyst Science Discovery Centre The Catalyst Science Discovery Centre and Museum is a science and technology science centre, museum in Widnes, Halton, North-West England. The centre has interactive exhibits, reconstructed historical scenes, an observatory, a live-science theat ...
is the United Kingdom's only museum dedicated solely to the Chemical Industry and is inside Hutchinson's former administrative building. The town's sport stadium hosts Widnes Vikings rugby league club. The motto of Widnes is the Latin phrase ("Industry Enriches").


History


Toponymy

The most usual explanation for the origin of the name Widnes is that it comes from the
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
words ''vid'', meaning wide, and ''noese'', meaning nose and that it refers to the
promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the so ...
projecting into the River Mersey. However, the Widnes promontory is not particularly wide and another possible explanation is the first part derives from the Danish ''ved'', meaning a wood and possibly referring to a tree-covered promontory. Earlier spellings of the name have been Vidnes, Wydnes and Wydness.


Early history

There is little evidence of any early human occupation of the area although a flint
arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
head was discovered at Pex Hill, suggesting there was some human presence in the
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
. Pex Hill is a disused quarry, located to the north of the town. Roman roads by-passed the area but some Roman coins were found where the Ditton railway station stands today. In the 9th century Vikings had invaded the country and Widnes was at the extreme south of the Danelaw. The River Mersey derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon ''maeres ea'', which means boundary river, the boundary being that between the Danelaw and the Saxon kingdom of Mercia. At the beginning of the 20th century it was believed that some earthworks on Cuerdley Marsh had been constructed by the Vikings but an archaeological investigation in the 1930s found nothing to confirm this. Following the
Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
, William the Conqueror granted the Earldom of Lancaster to Roger the Poitevin who in turn granted the barony of Widnes to Yorfrid. Yorfrid had no sons and his elder daughter married
William fitz Nigel William fitz Nigel (died 1134), of Halton Castle in Cheshire, England, was Constable of Chester and Baron of Halton within the county palatine of Chester ruled by the Earl of Chester. Origins Traditionally, he succeeded his father Nigel as bar ...
, the second Baron of Halton. On Yorfrid's death the barony of Widnes passed to that of Halton. The current St. Luke's, a
Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
church, was built in Farnworth. Its date of origin is uncertain but it is likely to be around 1180.Stephen Richard Glynne, James Augustus Atkinson, Chetham Society, ''Notes on the Churches of Lancashire'', 1893.Foster, Alan, ''A History of Farnworth Church, its Parish and Village'', 1981. In 1500 the South Chapel was added to the church and in 1507 a grammar school was established in Farnworth; both were endowments from Bishop William Smyth. Until the middle of the 19th century the area consisted of the scattered hamlets of Farnworth, Appleton, Ditton, Upton and Woodend. Nearby were the villages of Cronton and Cuerdley. In the 1750s the Sankey Canal was constructed. This linked the area of St. Helens with the River Mersey at Sankey Bridges, near Warrington and was in operation by 1757. It was extended to Fiddler's Ferry in 1762 and then in 1833 a further extension to Woodend was opened. In the same year the
St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway was an early railway line owned by a company of the same name in Lancashire, England, which opened in 1833. It was later known as St Helens Railway. It ran originally from the town of St Helens to the area whi ...
was opened. The railway connected St Helens with an area in Woodend which was to become known as Spike Island. The termini of the canal and railway were adjacent and here
Widnes Dock Widnes Dock was the first rail-to-ship facility in the world. It was built in 1833 between the end of the Sankey Canal and the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway in Widnes. History The remains of the dock are to be found on Spike Island. The ...
, the world's first railway dock, was established. Despite these transport links and the emergence of the chemical industry at nearby Runcorn and elsewhere in the Mersey Valley, the Industrial Revolution did not arrive at Widnes until 14 years later, with the arrival at Spike Island of John Hutchinson.


Coming of the chemical industry

John Hutchinson built his first factory in 1847 on land between the Sankey Canal and the railway making alkali by the
Leblanc process The Leblanc process (pronounced leh-blaank) was an early industrial process for making ''soda ash'' (sodium carbonate) used throughout the 19th century, named after its inventor, Nicolas Leblanc. It involved two stages: making sodium sulfate from ...
. This was an ideal site for the factory because all the raw materials could be transported there by the waterways and railway, and the finished products could similarly be transported anywhere else in the country or overseas. Further chemical factories were soon built nearby by entrepreneurs including John McClellan, William Gossage,
Frederic Muspratt Frederic Muspratt (2 February 1825 – November 1872) was a chemist and industrialist who established a chemical factory in Widnes, Lancashire, England. He was born in Liverpool, the third son of James Muspratt and his wife Julia Josephine né ...
, Holbrook Gaskell and Henry Deacon. The town grew rapidly as housing and social provision was made for the factory workers. Soon the villages of Farnworth, Appleton, Ditton and Upton were subsumed within the developing town of Widnes. Woodend became known as West Bank. The substances produced included soap, borax, soda ash, salt cake and bleaching powder. Other industries developed including iron and copper works. The town became heavily
polluted Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
with smoke and the
by-product A by-product or byproduct is a secondary product derived from a production process, manufacturing process or chemical reaction; it is not the primary product or service being produced. A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be consid ...
s of the chemical processes. In 1888 the town was described as "the dirtiest, ugliest and most depressing town in England" and in 1905 as a "poisonous hell-town". The demand for workers meant that, in addition to people from other areas of the United Kingdom, including Ireland, large numbers of workers came from other countries. From the late 1880s significant numbers arrived from Poland and Lithuania who were fleeing from persecution and poverty in their home countries. Immigrants also came from other areas, in particular Wales. In 1890 the chemical companies making alkali by the Leblanc process combined to form the
United Alkali Company United Alkali Company Limited was a British chemical company formed in 1890, employing the Leblanc process to produce soda ash for the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. It became one of the top four British chemical companies merged in ...
, later one of the constituent companies of ICI. This involved practically all of the chemical industries in Widnes, which was considered to be the principal centre of the new company. However, during the 1890s the chemical business in Widnes went into decline as more efficient methods of making alkali were developed elsewhere.


Recent history

During the early decades of the 20th century there was a revival in the local economy, particularly as the United Alkali Company began to manufacture new products. Improvements were being made to the structure of the town, in particular the opening of the Widnes–Runcorn Transporter Bridge in 1905 which gave the first direct link over the Mersey for road traffic. In 1909 the town became the first in Britain to have a regular covered-top double-decker bus service. By 1919 the health of the residents of the town was improving. In the 1920s, and 1930s there was further diversification of the chemical industry and the products it manufactured. Slums were being replaced by more and better homes. After World War II more slums were cleared and there was ongoing growth and variation in the chemical industry. By the 1950s the town had 45 major chemical factories. In 1961 the Silver Jubilee Bridge opened as free crossing, replacing the outdated Transporter Bridge. In 2017 a further crossing, the
Mersey Gateway Bridge The Mersey Gateway Bridge is a toll bridge between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire, England, which spans the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal. The crossing, which opened in October 2017, has three traffic lanes in each direction and is ...
, opened to relieve congestion. This crossing was tolled. When the Mersey Gateway Bridge was opened, the Silver Jubilee Bridge was closed for maintenance. Now both bridges are operating, but as tolled crossings. In recent years many of the old heavy chemical factories have closed to be replaced by more modern factories. Much of the land previously polluted by the old dirty chemical processes has been reclaimed, and there have been improvements in the cleanliness and environment of the town.


Governance

From
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
times Widnes was part of the hundred of West Derby in Lancashire. Modern local government in the town of Widnes commenced with the creation of the Widnes Local Board in 1865, prior to which the town had been part of the administrative district of Prescot. In 1892 the town received a Charter of Incorporation forming the
Municipal Borough of Widnes The Municipal Borough of Widnes was a municipal borough centred around the town of Widnes in Lancashire, England from 1892 until 1974. The district was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 when it merged with Runcorn Urban Dist ...
. In 1974, as part of the
Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, Widnes Borough Council was abolished and its territory amalgamated with Runcorn to form the borough of Halton within the county of Cheshire. In 1998 the borough of Halton became a unitary authority. In 2009 the council entered into an agreement with the five metropolitan district councils of Merseyside to form the Liverpool City Region. In 1885 Widnes became a parliamentary constituency and elected its first Member of Parliament. The UK parliamentary constituency is Halton and the current Member of Parliament is
Derek Twigg John Derek Twigg (born 9 July 1959) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Halton in Cheshire since the 1997 general election. Early life Twigg attended Bankfield High School (now Ormiston Ch ...
. The local authority is the borough of Halton and the town is divided into nine electoral wards. For elections to the European Parliament, Widnes was in the
North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
constituency.


Geography

Widnes is situated on the north bank of the River Mersey. The whole town is low-lying with some slightly higher areas in Farnworth and Appleton. To the south of the town a spur projecting into the river forms the West Bank area of Widnes; together with a spur projecting northwards from Runcorn these form Runcorn Gap, a narrowing of the River Mersey. Runcorn Gap is crossed by Runcorn Railway Bridge, carrying the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Main Line, and the Silver Jubilee Bridge, carrying the A533 road which then curves in a westerly direction towards Liverpool becoming the A562. The density of housing is generally high but there are some open green areas, including Victoria Park in Appleton and two golf courses which are geographically near the centre of the urban development. Most of the chemical and other factories are close to the north bank of the River Mersey. Ordnance Survey, ''Explorer'' 275 map A second road bridge, the Mersey Gateway, opened in October 2017, carrying a six-lane road connecting Runcorn's Central Expressway with Speke Road and Queensway in Widnes. Drainage of the Widnes area is into the Mersey via Ditton, Steward's and Bower's Brooks. The
bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...
of the area is rock from the
Sherwood Sherwood may refer to: Places Australia *Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Sherwood, South Australia, a locality *Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland *Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district from ...
sandstone group. There are a few outcrops of sandstone but elsewhere the bedrock is covered by
drift Drift or Drifts may refer to: Geography * Drift or ford (crossing) of a river * Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States * In Cornwall, England: ** Drift, Cornwall, village ** Drift Reservoir, associated with the village ...
. Most of this consists of till except near the bank of the Mersey where it is recent alluvium. When borings were made in the 1870s prior to the building of chemical works a deep gorge measuring around 100 feet (30 m) was found in the bedrock which was filled with glacial deposits. From this it was concluded that before the Ice Age the Mersey had flowed in a more northerly course, and when it was blocked by glacial deposits it had made a new channel through Runcorn Gap. Being close to the west coast and the Irish Sea, the climate is generally temperate with few extremes of temperature or weather. The mean average temperature in the years 1971 to 2000 was 9.4 to 9.7
°C The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...
, which was slightly above the average for the United Kingdom as was the average amount of annual sunshine at 1391 to 1470 hours. The average annual rainfall was 741 to 870 mm, which was slightly below the average for the UK. The average number of days in the year when snow is on the ground is 0 to 6, which is low for the United Kingdom. The average number of days of air frost is 2 to 39, which is also low.


Demography


Population growth

Widnes was a small settlement until industrialisation in the 1860s. Thereafter it underwent a huge expansion, and the population doubled between 1851 and 1861.


Religion

In the 2011 census, of the people living in Widnes, 79.9% declared themselves to be Christian, significantly higher than the national average in England of 59.4%. 13.9% stated that they had "no religion" and 5.3% made no religious claims. Those stating their religions as Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Islam, Sikh or other amounted to 0.8%. The
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
churches are administered by the Diocese of Liverpool. The longest established church is
St Luke's Church, Farnworth St Luke's Church, Farnworth, Widnes, is a church in Farnworth, which was once a separate village but which is now part of the town of Widnes, Cheshire, England. The church dates back to the 12th century and it contains a number of items of ...
. The other Anglican churches are St Mary's in West Bank, St Paul's in Victoria Square, St John's in Greenway Road and St Ambrose in Halton View Road. The Anglicans share the building of St Michael's in Ditchfield Road with Hough Green Methodist Church. The Anglicans also share the building of All Saints' in Hough Green Road with the Catholic Church of St Basil's. The Roman Catholic churches in Widnes are part of the Archdiocese of Liverpool. There are eight churches in Widnes, namely St Bede's in Appleton, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in Mayfield Avenue, St John Fisher in Moorfield Road, St Marie's in Lugsdale Road, St Michael's in St Michael's Road, St Pius X in Sefton Avenue and St Raphael's in Liverpool Road. Owing to a shortage of Catholic Priests and the "Leaving Safe Harbours" project in effect throughout the Archdiocese St Marie's was closed, the last Mass was celebrated on 6 January 2007. The church is a listed building, but it has been placed on the Buildings at Risk list by the campaign group Save Britain's Heritage and was identified by the Victorian Society on their 2008 annual list as being one of the ten most endangered
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
buildings in Britain. Trinity Methodist Church is in Peelhouse Lane and there are Methodist churches in Farnworth and Halebank. There is a Baptist church in Deacon Road and an Evangelical Christian church in Ditton. The Foundry in Lugsdale Road is a Pentecostal church and the
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
have a Kingdom Hall in Moorfield Road. The Widnes National
Spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...
Church is in Lacey Street.


Ethnicity

In the 2011 census, of Widnes's 61,464 residents, 97.9% were White, with 96.6% identifying as White British. Mixed/multiple ethnic groups made up 1.0%, Asian/Asian British 0.8%, Black/African/Caribbean/Black British 0.2%, and Other/Arab 0.1%. 98.7% had English as a first language.


Economy

Widnes is an industrial town and its major industry is still the manufacture of chemicals, although there has been diversification in recent years and the economy predominately relies on service industries. In 2006 a new freight park, known as the 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway, was opened in the West Bank area of the town. This provides a link for freight arriving by road, air or sea to be transferred to the rail network. In 2010 the first phase of Stobart Park, a "multimodal logistics service for warehousing and distribution", and part of the Stobart Group, was opened. This consists of a refrigerated warehouse for Tesco. In 2014 work began on the new Mersey Gateway bridge which was completed and open to the public in October 2017. A new six lane toll bridge over the River Mersey between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes was built to relieve the congested and ageing Silver Jubilee Bridge. The new bridge and access roads are a major strategic transport route linking the Liverpool city-region including Liverpool John Lennon Airport and the Port of Liverpool to North West England. There has been considerable development of shopping areas in the town. The Greenoaks Centre, a mall which was opened in 1995 is adjacent to the long-established Widnes Market which has both a market hall and an open market. Also adjacent is a Morrisons supermarket. In the Simms Cross area a large Asda superstore opened in 2004, replacing its old store in nearby Ditton. A new shopping development, known as Widnes Shopping Park, opened on 18 March 2010, the flagship store being a Marks & Spencer shop. Other businesses involved in the development are Next, New Look, Boots, River Island and British Home Stores. The
Outfit Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
out-of-town chain outlet incorporates fashion brands, including
Dorothy Perkins Dorothy Perkins is an online British women's fashion brand based in the United Kingdom. Formerly a store chain, it sold both its own range of clothes and branded fashion goods until February 2021, when it became part of Boohoo.com, having been ...
, Miss Selfridge,
Topman Topman is a UK-based multinational men's fashion retail brand founded by Burton Group (later renamed Arcadia Group) in 1978. Along with its women's clothing counterpart Topshop and the rest of Arcadia Group, Topman went into administration i ...
, Wallis and Burton. Other businesses included in the development are
Wilko Wilko may refer to: People * Wilko Johnson (1947–2022), English musician * Wilko de Vogt (born 1975), Dutch football goalkeeper, mostly played for Dutch clubs * Wilko Risser (born 1982), Namibian-German football forward, mostly played for German ...
, Costa Coffee, Halfords, Gala Bingo and
KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
. In Autumn 2011 construction began of a Tesco Extra 24-hour store. The glass fronted 120,000 sq ft store has been built on the old B&Q site next to Ashley Way and was opened in March 2012. The store was built on stilts allowing a car park to be built underneath the store for around 600 cars.


Landmarks

The Silver Jubilee Bridge is a Grade II listed structure with Historic England. It was opened in 1961 and crosses to Runcorn. With a main arch spanning 330m, for many years it was the only crossing of the River Mersey West of Warrington. In 2017 the new Mersey Gateway bridge was opened to relieve congestion at the older bridge and allow easier road access to the Liverpool City region. Reclamation of chemical factory sites and areas formerly polluted with chemical waste has given opportunities for developments. These include Victoria Promenade at West Bank, alongside the River Mersey, and Spike Island, now cleared of industry, which forms an open recreation area leading to footpaths along the former towpath of the Sankey Canal. Adjacent to Spike Island occupying John Hutchinson's former Tower Building is the
Catalyst Science Discovery Centre The Catalyst Science Discovery Centre and Museum is a science and technology science centre, museum in Widnes, Halton, North-West England. The centre has interactive exhibits, reconstructed historical scenes, an observatory, a live-science theat ...
. There are a number of listed buildings, many of them in the more outlying areas but some are scattered throughout the town. The listed churches are the
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
churches of
St Luke's Church, Farnworth St Luke's Church, Farnworth, Widnes, is a church in Farnworth, which was once a separate village but which is now part of the town of Widnes, Cheshire, England. The church dates back to the 12th century and it contains a number of items of ...
(and its adjacent bridewell), and St Mary's, West Bank, the Roman Catholic churches of St Michael's, St Marie's and St Bede's, and the two chapels in the cemetery. The railway stations of Widnes and Hough Green are listed, as are the former
Widnes Town Hall Widnes Town Hall is a municipal building in Victoria Road in Widnes, Cheshire, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Widnes Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building. History After significant industrial growth in the sec ...
and the former
power house Powerhouse or power house may refer to: * Power station, a facility (or former facility) for the generation of electric power Businesses * Powerhouse (shop), a former electrical goods chain in the United Kingdom * Powerhouse Animation Studios, a ...
of the transporter bridge.


Transport

Widnes is on the southern route of the Liverpool to Manchester railway line. There are two stations in the town,
Hough Green Hough Green is a residential area of the town of Widnes, within the borough of Halton, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Historically, it was part of Lancashire until 1974. From 2014, Hough Green became a part of the Liverpool City R ...
and Widnes from which services are operated by
East Midlands Railway Abellio East Midlands Limited, trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. History In March 2017, the Department for Transport a ...
and
Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...
. Northern operate frequent services to Liverpool and Manchester city centre from Hough Green and Widnes. East Midlands Railway link Widnes station at hourly intervals throughout the day to Liverpool, Manchester,
Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...
, Sheffield, Nottingham and Norwich. However passengers to and from London, the Midlands and the South are likely to use Runcorn station and make the short journey across the Mersey Gateway Bridge by bus or taxi. Proposals for Merseyrail to be extended to Warrington have been set as Merseyrail are due some new Battery Electric Trains. This would open up new links as the trains would run on the pre-existing route via Widnes railway station. The two main bus operators providing local services are Arriva North West and Warrington's Own Buses. The A562 road passes through Widnes linking Liverpool to the west with Penketh to the east. The A557 road passes through the town linking Runcorn to the south, via the Silver Jubilee Bridge, with the M62 motorway, some to the north. The Mersey Gateway will replace the Silver Jubilee Bridge by mid-October 2017. Widnes is from Liverpool John Lennon Airport and from
Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...
.


Education

There are nineteen primary schools in the town and three nursery schools. The three
secondary schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
are
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School is a coeducational Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form, located in Widnes in the English county of Cheshire. It is a voluntary aided school administered by the Roman Catholic Archdioces ...
,
Ormiston Chadwick Academy Ormiston Chadwick Academy (from 2014, prior to which it was called The Bankfield School) is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Widnes in the English county of Cheshire. History Bankfield School Bankfield Schoo ...
and Wade Deacon High School. The former colleges, Halton College and Widnes and Runcorn Sixth Form College, merged in 2006 to form Riverside College. There are three
special school Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
s. Also in Widnes is the Woodview Child Development Centre in Crow Wood Lane. Kingsway Learning Centre offers opportunities for Adult Learning, Basic Skills and Skills for Success. As part of the
Building Schools for the Future Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. The programme was ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicia ...
programme, Fairfield High School closed down in 2010 and merged with Wade Deacon High School. The school was founded in 1507 as Farnworth Grammar School by Bishop William Smyth and a school has been on the site since the 16th century. In the 1960s two separate-sex secondary schools amalgamated and the school took the title Fairfield High School from 1974 up until its closure. When it closed in August 2010, the schools pupils were transferred to Wade Deacon High School, though still operating from the same site. This continued until March 2013 when Wade Deacon High School's new build was completed; demolition of the old school began in August 2013 and was completed by the end of that year. The site is currently being developed into a housing estate and a cemetery.


Sport

The major sporting body in the town is Widnes Vikings Rugby League Football Club. Cup kings of the 1970s, and 1980s, they were World Club Champions in 1989, after defeating Australian side Canberra Raiders at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
. More recently, they were winners of the
Northern Rail Cup The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the F ...
in 2007 and 2009. Their home ground is
DCBL Stadium The DCBL Stadium (historically known as Lowerhouse Lane and Naughton Park) is a rugby league stadium in Widnes, Cheshire, England. It is the home of Rugby League side Widnes Vikings of the Betfred Championship, and American football side Halt ...
in Lowerhouse Lane, which is owned and run by Halton Borough Council. In addition to being a sporting ground it has facilities for conferences and banqueting. In October 2007 the club was defeated in the National League One Grand Final. Following this, and because of the club's financial situation, its board decided to put it into administration. It was subsequently purchased by Steve O'Connor, a local businessman. The Widnes Vikings are in the Betfred Championship. Widnes Rugby Union Football Club (otherwise known as "the wids"), are an amateur rugby union club based at Heath Rd and administered by volunteers. The players are all club members and pay subscriptions. The club welcomes and encourages the development of rugby within all sections of the local community by promoting links with local schools, local authorities and the Rugby Football Union constituency body. Widnes Cricket Club was founded in 1865 and has its ground in Beaconsfield Road. Moorfield Sports & Social Club in Moorfield Road hosts sports including football, rugby league, cricket and bowls. At Highfield Road there is a private golf club. Widnes Tennis Academy is located on Highfield Rd and shares an entrance with St Peter and Pauls School. This is a privately operated facility consisting of 3 in-door courts, six floodlit outside courts and a gym. It is a Beacon facility and has many links with schools, the local authority and the LTA to promote and develop tennis in the area. It is the home of Lane Tennis Club (Est 1876) which has a number of men's, women's and junior teams playing competitively in the Warrington District League. Widnes is home to a
mixed martial arts (MMA) Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...
gym, the Wolfslair MMA Academy. This was established in 2004 by MMA fans and Anthony McGann and Lee Gwynn. Since then the academy has trained MMA fighters including former UFC
middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...
champion Michael Bisping and former
light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...
champion Quinton Jackson.
Widnes F.C. Widnes Football Club are an English association football club, based in Widnes, Cheshire. They are currently members of the , playing their home matches at the DCBL Stadium, Widnes. They are affiliated to the Liverpool County FA. History Ear ...
play their home matches at Halton Stadium. The club was founded in 2003 as The Dragons Amateur Football Club (The Dragons A.F.C.) and in 2012 it was acquired by the Rugby League team and became known as Widnes Vikings Football Club. In June 2014 the club became independent of the Rugby League team and changed its name to Widnes Football Club. After promotion to the North West Counties Premier Division at the end of the 2016–2017 season the team gained automatic promotion to the Evo-Stik Western Division at the end of the 2017–18 season, becoming the first side since AFC Fylde to achieve back-to-back promotions from the North West Counties Football League. Since May 2013 there has been an ice hockey club
Widnes Wild Widnes Wild are an England, English ice hockey team from the town of Widnes who play at Planet Ice Ice Rink in Widnes. They were formed in 2013. They currently compete in the Moralee Conference of the English Ice Hockey Association National Ice ...
based at the Planet Ice ice rink which plays in the
National Ice Hockey League The National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) is a set of professional ice hockey leagues administered by the English Ice Hockey Association. It is currently the second tier of British ice hockey, below the Elite Ice Hockey League. Formerly called the ...
Laidler Conference.


Culture

The Queens Hall opened in 1957, it was originally Victoria Road Weslyan Methodist Chapel. It was in use as a theatre and concert hall until the opening of
The Brindley The Brindley is a theatre in the town of Runcorn, Cheshire, England. Located by the Bridgewater Canal, the centre is named after the canal's engineer, James Brindley. It opened in autumn 2004; the architects were John Miller and Partners. The bu ...
in Runcorn in 2004. The Queens Hall was demolished (December 2011 – February 2012). Adjacent to the hall, in Lacey Street, is the Queen's Hall Studio, originally built as a
Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...
in 1879. It was a venue for music and live performance but closed in 2004. After years of campaigning by the volunteer group ''Loose'', and with the support of the Community Assets Fund/ Big Lottery Fund and WREN and other donors, it re-opened on 17 April 2010. There is a tradition that the
Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...
song "
Homeward Bound Homeward may refer to: * ''Homeward'' (film), a 2019 film * "Homeward" (song), a song by The Sundays from their 1997 album ''Static and Silence'' * "Homeward" (''TNG'' episode), a ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode from the seventh seaso ...
" was written by American musician
Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
at a Widnes station. A quote from Paul Simon reads as follows: "If you know Widnes, then you'll understand how I was desperately trying to get back to London as quickly as possible. ''Homeward Bound'' came out of that feeling." Also, the song "The Stars of Track and Field" by Scottish indie rock band
Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" come ...
, from the album ''
If You're Feeling Sinister ''If You're Feeling Sinister'' is the second album by the Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian. It was released in 1996 on Jeepster Records in the United Kingdom and in 1997 by Matador Records in the United States. It is often ranked amon ...
'' (1996) makes reference to the town of Widnes in the lyrics, as does the song " Watch Your Step" by
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
from his album '' Trust'' (1981).


Community facilities

The main library in Victoria Square has been refurbished. In addition to the normal services provided by a library, this library holds a large collection of material relating to railways. There is a branch library in the Ditton area of the town. The Queens Hall Studio, now known as the Studio, is in Lacey Street and is a community venue. Live music and theatre events take place, and the ACCESS ALL AREAS project is based there for young people interested in music and associated creative activities, funded by the Big Lottery Fund. Victoria Park is in the Appleton area of the town and has a number of attractions, including a cafeteria and refreshment kiosk, a bandstand, model boating lake, tennis and basketball courts, bowling greens, a skateboarding facility, glasshouses with a pets' corner and a butterfly house. Hough Green Park is in the Ditton area of the town. Crow Wood Park is in the eastern part of Widnes and Sunnybank is a large area of open ground also in the eastern part of the town. There are a number of nature reserves. Pickerings Pasture is an area of wildflower meadows overlooking the River Mersey which was built on the site of a former household and industrial
landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
. The other nature reserves in the town are Clincton Wood and Hale Road Woodlands. Kingsway Leisure Centre, has a swimming pool and a gym in addition to a sports hall. There are a number of football, cricket and rugby league clubs in the town. St Michael's Golf Course was a municipal golf course which was built on reclaimed industrial waste land but high levels of arsenic have been found in the soil and at present it is closed. There is a private golf club in Highfield Road. In October 2011 the Hive Leisure Park opened in a new development as part of the Widnes Waterfront. Its facilities include Reel Cinema, a five-screen multiplex cinema, a
Frankie & Benny's Frankie & Benny's (now trading as Frankie's) is a chain of Italian-American-themed restaurants in the United Kingdom run by The Restaurant Group. , it had 90 outlets nationwide. History In 1924, at the age of 10, Frankie Giuliani left Sicily wit ...
bar and restaurant, Super Bowl UK Widnes containing a 16-lane ten-pin bowling centre, a children's play area, licensed bar, a Nando's restaurant, a Premier Inn,
Brewers Fayre Brewers Fayre is a licensed pub restaurant chain, with 161 locations across the UK as of August 2018. Owned by Whitbread, Brewers Fayre restaurants are known for serving traditional British pub food and for their Sunday Carvery. History The f ...
pub opened in February 2012 and also a brand new Ice Rink operated by Silverblades opened on 21 December 2012


Health

There is no hospital in Widnes. For acute medical care patients go to Warrington Hospital which is run by
Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was created on 1 December 2008 from what was formerly known as North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust. The trust comprises Warrington Hospital, Halton General Hospital in Runcorn and Houghton Hall ...
or to Whiston Hospital which is run by
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was formed in 1991, and is based in Whiston, Merseyside. It runs two hospitals: * Whiston Hospital - the primary site and trust headquarters providing emergency and acute inpatient services, ...
. Halton Clinical Commissioning Group is responsible for NHS services in the area. They established the Widnes Urgent Care Centre in 2015 to ease pressure on local accident and emergency units. General practitioner services are provided in health centres and in separate medical practices. There are dental practices providing a mixture of National Health Service and private dental care.


Notable people

;Religion Three men born in or near the village of Farnworth achieved prominent positions in the
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church. They were William Smyth (c.1460–1514) who became
Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West M ...
, then Bishop of Lincoln and who built the grammar school in the village, Richard Barnes (1532–1587) who became
Bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The see is in the city of Car ...
, then Bishop of Durham, and
Richard Bancroft Richard Bancroft (1544 – 2 November 1610) was an English churchman, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1604 to 1610 and "chief overseer" of the King James Bible. Life Bancroft was born in September 1544 at Farnworth, now part of Widnes, Che ...
(1544–1610) who became Bishop of London and then
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
.
John Tiarks John Gerhard Tiarks (5 April 19032 January 1974) was an Anglican bishop whose ecclesiastical career spanned forty five years in the mid twentieth century. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge and ordained in 1927 — h ...
(1903–1974) was a vicar in Widnes in the early 1930s and later became
Bishop of Chelmsford The Bishop of Chelmsford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chelmsford in the Province of Canterbury.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition)'', Church House Publishing (). The current bishop is Guli Francis ...
. ;Science & Industry William Gossage (1799–1877) was a chemical manufacturer who established a soap making business in Widnes. James Hargreaves (1834–1915) was an English chemist who moved to Widnes in 1859 and worked for Gossage. During the late 19th century a number of prominent chemists and industrialists lived in Widnes. Amongst these was Ludwig Mond (1839–1909), co-founder of Brunner Mond. He lived in The Hollies, Farnworth and there his two sons were born, both of whom became notable. There were three generations of Holbrook Gaskell's who were chemical industrialists. The
first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
(1813–1909) was also an art and plant collector. The
second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
(1846–1919) became a director of
United Alkali Company United Alkali Company Limited was a British chemical company formed in 1890, employing the Leblanc process to produce soda ash for the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. It became one of the top four British chemical companies merged in ...
and the
third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...
(1878–1951) was chief engineer of the
United Alkali Company United Alkali Company Limited was a British chemical company formed in 1890, employing the Leblanc process to produce soda ash for the glass, textile, soap, and paper industries. It became one of the top four British chemical companies merged in ...
and was knighted. Henry Deacon (1822–1876) was a chemist and industrialist who established a chemical factory in Widnes. John Hutchinson (1825–1865) was a chemist and industrialist who established the first chemical factory in Widnes in 1847, it manufactured
alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a ...
by the
Leblanc process The Leblanc process (pronounced leh-blaank) was an early industrial process for making ''soda ash'' (sodium carbonate) used throughout the 19th century, named after its inventor, Nicolas Leblanc. It involved two stages: making sodium sulfate from ...
. Henry Brunner (1838–1916) was an English chemist employed in 1861 by John Hutchinson in his chemical business. Ferdinand Hurter (1844–1898) was a Swiss industrial chemist who joined Henry Deacon and Holbrook Gaskell at their alkali manufacturing business, Gaskell, Deacon & Co., in Widnes in 1867.
Neil Mathieson Neil Mathieson (born 1823, died 14 September 1906) was a Scottish chemist and businessman. He was born in Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, Scotland and came to work for John & Thomas Johnson, soap and alkali makers in Runcorn, Cheshire, where ...
(1823-–1906) was a Scottish chemist, he set up his own business, Matheison and Company in 1870 with Frederick Herbert Gossage, son of William Gossage.
Sir John Brunner, 1st Baronet Sir John Tomlinson Brunner, 1st Baronet, (8 February 1842 – 1 July 1919) was a British chemical industrialist and Liberal Party politician. At Hutchinson's alkali works in Widnes he rose to the position of general manager. There he met Ludw ...
, (1842–1919) was also a British chemical industrialist at Hutchinson's alkali works in Widnes where he rose to the position of general manager.
Vero Charles Driffield Vero Charles Driffield (7 May 1848 – 14 November 1915) was an English chemical engineer who also became involved in photographic research. Driffield was educated at Liverpool Collegiate and Sandbach Grammar School. He also attended a priv ...
(1848–1915) was a chemical engineer, he became an engineer at the Gaskell–Deacon Works in 1871.
Sir Robert Mond Sir Robert Ludwig Mond, FRS, FRSE (9 September 1867 – 22 October 1938) was a British chemist and archaeologist. Early life and education Mond was born at Farnworth, Widnes, Lancashire, the elder son of Ludwig Mond, a chemist and industriali ...
(1867–1938) became a chemist and archaeologist and his younger brother
Alfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, PC, FRS, DL (23 October 1868 – 27 December 1930), known as Sir Alfred Mond, Bt between 1910 and 1928, was a British industrialist, financier and politician. In his later life he became an active Zio ...
(1868–1930) became an industrialist, financier and politician serving as a Liberal MP for
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
1906–1910, for
Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
1910 to 1918 and for Swansea West from 1918 to 1923. Sydney Young, FRS (1857 in Farnworth – 1937) was an academic English chemist. Charles Glover Barkla (1877 in Widnes – 1944) was the winner of the 1917 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in X-ray spectroscopy.
Charles Suckling Charles Walter Suckling (24 July 1920 – 31 October 2013) was a British chemist who first synthesised halothane, a volatile inhalational anaesthetic in 1951, while working at the Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) Central Laboratory in Widnes ...
CBE FRS (1920–2013) was a British chemist who first synthesised
halothane Halothane, sold under the brand name Fluothane among others, is a general anaesthetic. It can be used to induce or maintain anaesthesia. One of its benefits is that it does not increase the production of saliva, which can be particularly useful i ...
, a volatile inhalational anesthetic in 1951, while working at the ICI Central Laboratory in Widnes.
Gordon Rintoul Gordon Rintoul (born 29 May 1955) Order of the British Empire, CBE Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE is the former Museum director, Director of National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland. Rintoul was born in Glasgow, Scotland ...
(born 1955) CBE FRSE was Director of the
Catalyst Science Discovery Centre The Catalyst Science Discovery Centre and Museum is a science and technology science centre, museum in Widnes, Halton, North-West England. The centre has interactive exhibits, reconstructed historical scenes, an observatory, a live-science theat ...
in Widnes between 1987 and 1998. ;Military Born in the village of Farnworth,
Roy Chadwick Roy Chadwick, CBE, FRSA, FRAeS (30 April 1893 – 23 August 1947) was an aircraft design engineer for the Avro Company. Born at Marsh Hall Farm, Farnworth, Widnes, the son of the mechanical engineer Charles Chadwick, he was the chief designer f ...
(1893–1947) was the designer of the
Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
bomber. Thomas Mottershead (1893–1917), also born in Widnes, joined the
Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...
during World War I; he was awarded the Victoria Cross and the Distinguished Conduct Medal posthumously for his gallantry. Another Widnes man, Thomas Wilkinson (1898–1942) of the Royal Naval Reserve, was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously during World War II. Air Marshal Sir
Tap Jones Air Marshal Sir Edward “Tap” Gordon Jones, (31 August 1914 – 20 February 2007) was an officer in the Royal Air Force for 34 years, from 1935 to 1969. He commanded a squadron of obsolescent biplane Gladiator fighters during the Greek Campai ...
, KCB, CBE, DSO, DFC (1914 in Widnes – 2007) was an officer in the Royal Air Force for 34 years, from 1935 to 1969. He commanded a squadron of obsolescent
biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
fighters Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to: Combat and warfare * Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict * Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplan ...
during the
Battle of Greece The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...
in World War II. ;Politics Arthur Henderson (1863–1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician & MP. In 1919 he won a by-election in Widnes He later achieving the unique feat of being elected five times at by-elections in constituencies where he had not previously been the MP.
Jack Ashley Jack Ashley, Baron Ashley of Stoke, (6 December 1922 – 20 April 2012) was a British politician. He was a Labour Member of Parliament in the House of Commons for Stoke-on-Trent South for 26 years, from 1966 to 1992, and subsequently sat in t ...
(1922–2012) was born in Widnes and was a local councillor there. He was then a Member of Parliament for
Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
for many years. He became a
Companion of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes ...
in 1975 and was invested as a
privy council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
lor in 1979. In 1992 he was made a
life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
as Baron Ashley of Stoke, of Widnes in the County of Cheshire.
Gordon Oakes Gordon James Oakes (22 June 1931 – 15 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician. Early life Oakes was born in Widnes, Cheshire, and was educated at Wade Deacon Grammar School, in Widnes and at Liverpool University. A solicitor by p ...
(1931–2005) who was born and educated in Widnes became an MP for
Bolton West Bolton West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Chris Green, a Conservative. Constituency profile The seat is on the outskirts of Greater Manchester with fields making for separate villages ...
1964–1970, for Widnes 1971–1983 and for Halton 1983–1997.
Derek Twigg John Derek Twigg (born 9 July 1959) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Halton in Cheshire since the 1997 general election. Early life Twigg attended Bankfield High School (now Ormiston Ch ...
(born 1959 in Widnes) has been the Labour MP for Halton since 1997. ;Academia Daniel Payne, social historian and expert on the Spanish Civil War, is from Widnes. ;Sport * Johnny Briggs (1862–1902) a distinguished Victorian cricketer, the only man to have scored a hat trick and a century in Ashes cricket, lived in the town 1877-1890s *
Tommy Magee Thomas Patrick Magee (6 May 1899 – May 1974) was an English professional footballer who played as a wing half. He made more than 400 appearances during his 15 years at West Bromwich Albion. He also won five England caps. Career Born in Widne ...
(1899 in Widnes – 1974) footballer who made over 400 appearances for
West Bromwich Albion F.C. West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
*
Tommy McCue Thomas McCue (23 September 1913 – 19 April 1994) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played at representative level for Great Britain (vice-captain 1946 Great Britain Lions tour), England ...
(1913 in Widnes – 1994) rugby league player, 339 games for Widnes Vikings *
Nat Silcock Jr. Nathan "Nat" Douglas Silcock (25 November 1927 – 7 July 1992) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England ...
(1927 in Widnes – 1992) rugby league footballer, 458 games *
Alan Prescott George Alan Prescott (17 June 1927 – 20 September 1998) was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s. He played initially at , and then later at or . In 404 matches for St Helens. ...
(1927 in Widnes – 1998) rugby league footballer, 404 matches for St. Helens *
Vince Karalius Vincent "Vince" Peter Patrick Karalius (15 October 1932 – 13 December 2008), also known as "the Wild Bull of the Pampas", was an English rugby league footballer, and coach. He played as a loose forward, and was part of the Great Britain sq ...
(1932 in Widnes – 2008) English rugby league footballer and coach *
Tony Karalius Anthony Karalius (19 September 1943 – 29 November 2019) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and at club level for Widnes, St Helens ...
(1943 in Widnes – 2019) rugby league footballer, 394 games mainly for St. Helens *
Doug Laughton Charles Douglas Laughton (born 13 May 1944) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for Great Britain (capt ...
(born 1944 in Widnes) professional rugby league footballer, 450 games *
George Nicholls George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...
(born 1944 in Widnes) rugby league player, 484 club games and for Great Britain and England * John Stephens (born 1945 in Widnes) professional rugby league footballer, 393 games * Eric Prescott (born 1948 in Widnes) rugby union and professional rugby league footballer, 503 games *
David France David Harry France, (born 30 June 1948) is an author, football historian and philanthropist. Throughout the past two decades, he has been the driving force behind numerous initiatives related to Everton Football Club including Gwladys Street's H ...
OBE (born 1948 in Widnes) is an author, Everton football historian and philanthropist. * Mick Adams (1951 in Widnes – 2017) professional rugby league footballer, 438 games mainly for Widnes Vikings *
Peter Glynn Peter Glynn (born 7 January 1954) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for England, and at club level for St. Helens and Salford, as a , or , i.e. number ...
(born 1954 in Widnes) rugby league footballer, 402 games mainly for St. Helens *
Paul Sherwen Paul Sherwen (7 June 1956 – 2 December 2018) was an English professional racing cyclist and later a broadcaster on cycling, notably the Tour de France. He raced in seven editions of the Tour, finishing five, and gained a reputation for his abi ...
(born 1956 in Widnes) former Tour de France rider * Mike O'Neill (born 1960 in Widnes) rugby league footballer, 414 games for Widnes Vikings *
Timothy Bostock Timothy Jon Bostock (born 21 January 1962) is a former English cricketer. Bostock was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm off break. He was born in Widnes, Lancashire. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby in Liverpool, e ...
(born 1962 in Widnes) former cricketer *
Andy Currier Andrew S. Currier is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain national representative goal-kicking , he played most of his club rugby with English club Wid ...
(born 1966 in Widnes) rugby league player 312 games, incl. 248 for Widnes Vikings * John Bowles (born 1967 in Widnes) is a professional darts player * Andrew Higginson (born 1977) a professional snooker player, lives in Widnes * Martin Hewitt (born 1980 in Widnes) a mountaineer, businessman and former Captain in the Parachute Regiment *
Gary Taylor-Fletcher Gary Taylor-Fletcher (né Fletcher, born 4 June 1981) is an English former professional footballer. He has scored in each of the top five divisions of English football. He has been known as Gary Taylor-Fletcher since his marriage to Viv Taylor i ...
(born 1981 in Widnes) former professional football player, with over 500 pro appearances *
Stephen Myler Stephen Myler (born 21 July 1984) is an English rugby player. He played most of his career with the Northampton Saints in Premiership Rugby, and he currently plays for Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship . Rugby league career Myler was ...
(born 1984 in Widnes), rugby union player and part of the Myler rugby family *
Lucy Martin Lucy Martin (born 5 May 1990) is a British retired professional road and track cyclist. Career Martin was born in Whiston, Merseyside and grew up in Widnes, Cheshire where she attended Riverside College. She was spotted by British Cycling's Ol ...
(born 1990 in Whiston) retired professional road and track cyclist, grew up in Widnes ;Creative Arts * Nor Kiddie (born 1897 in Widnes) the stage name of Norman Chilton Kiddie, comedian, actor and juggler *
Alan Bleasdale Alan George Bleasdale (born 23 March 1946) is an English screenwriter, best known for social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people. A former teacher, he has written for radio, stage and screen, and has also written novels. ...
(born 1946) an English screenwriter of social realist drama, went to school in Widnes 1957–64 * Michael Kenna (born 1953 in Widnes) an English photographer best known for his unusual black & white landscapes *
Angela Topping Angela Topping (born 2 October 1954) is an English poet, literary critic and author. She has published eight solo poetry collections: ''Dandelions for Mothers' Day'' (1988, 1989), ''The Fiddle'' (1999), ''The Way We Came'' (2007), ''The New Gen ...
(born 1954 in Widnes) a British poet, literary critic and author *
Ian Finney Ian Finney is an English composer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and actor. He was lead guitarist as part of the acoustic pop group The Tempest (band), The Tempest and is now a solo artist. He was brought up in the town of Widne ...
(born 1966) guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, brought up in Widnes *
Jane Weaver Jane Louise Weaver (born 28 February 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She runs the label Bird Records, an offshoot of Twisted Nerve Records. Weaver has performed as part of the Britpop group Kill Laura, the folktronica proj ...
(born 1972) singer, songwriter and guitarist, was brought up in Widnes *
Melanie C Melanie Jayne Chisholm (12 January 1974 - 25 December 2022), better known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer-songwriter and media personality. She is best known as one of the five members of the Spice Girls, during which time she was ni ...
(born 1974) singer,
Spice Girl The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vic ...
known as Mel C or Sporty Spice, went to school in Widnes * David Dawson (born 1982) actor, born and raised in Widnes


See also

*
Listed buildings in Widnes Widnes is an industrial town in the Halton (borough), Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey where it narrows at River Mersey#Runcorn Gap, Runcorn Gap. The town contains 24 buildings that are recorded i ...


References

Citations Sources * * * * *


Further bibliography

* * * * *


External links


Halton Borough Council
{{Authority control Towns in Cheshire Unparished areas in Cheshire Liverpool City Region Borough of Halton