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Spike Island is a
park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
in
Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...
, Halton, North West England. It is an
artificial island An artificial island or man-made island is an island that has been Construction, constructed by humans rather than formed through natural processes. Other definitions may suggest that artificial islands are lands with the characteristics of hum ...
between the
Sankey Canal The Sankey Canal in North West England, initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and later the St Helens Canal, is a former industrial canal, which when opened in 1757 was England's first of the Industrial revolution, and the first modern ...
and the estuary of the
River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...
containing parkland, woodland, wetlands and footpaths. It is next to 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 ...
, an interactive science and technology museum. Spike Island was at the centre of the British chemical industry during the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
. In 1833,
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, Chesh ...
, the world's first rail-to-ship dock, was built on the island. In 1848, John Hutchinson built the first chemical factory in Widnes on the island. The chemical industry in Widnes grew rapidly thereafter. By the 1970s no working chemical factories remained, and from 1975 onwards the island was cleaned up and turned over to public recreation. A famous concert by the
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
the Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...
, subsequently the subject of an eponymous film (2012), took place on the island in May 1990.


History

Spike Island is an artificial island created in 1833 when the
Sankey Canal The Sankey Canal in North West England, initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and later the St Helens Canal, is a former industrial canal, which when opened in 1757 was England's first of the Industrial revolution, and the first modern ...
was extended from Fiddler's Ferry power station to the
River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...
at Widnes. The extension separated a section of Widnes previously called Woodend from the remainder of the town. The canal passes from the West Bank Locks on Spike Island to
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
and then into St. Helens town centre. The canal fell into disuse and closed in 1963. The canal footpath now forms part of the
Trans Pennine Trail The Trans Pennine Trail is a long-distance path running from coast to coast across Northern England on a mixture of surfaced paths, with some short on-road sections, and with gentle gradients (it runs largely along disused railway lines and c ...
.
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, Chesh ...
, built in 1833, was the first rail-to-ship dock in the world. Uniquely the dock allowed goods, such as coal, to be taken off a train and deposited directly into a boat for transport along the River Mersey to other parts of the UK and abroad. Goods and raw materials could also be brought in by boat and deposited directly onto a train for onward travel to local factories. The dock was topped up with water from the nearby reservoir to prevent its level becoming too low when the River Mersey was at low tide. Widnes Dock was last used commercially in 1931 but the island remained in use as a railway sidings. The island had a network of interlinked railway lines which, being at the end of the line, were ideal for marshalling trains and freight storage. The railway lines became known as "Marsh Sidings". They were taken over by
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
in 1948 and remained in use until 1968. Large ships are unable to sail far up the River Mersey because the water level is too low. Consequently Widnes dock was accessed by Mersey flat boats which could transport goods downstream to the
Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of ...
or along the canal network. The dock could hold up to 40 vessels, and have a single Mersey flat loaded with 70 tons of coal from a railway wagon, and en route to Liverpool in 40 minutes. The Mersey flats were small flat-bottomed sailing barges that originated on the Mersey but were later used on rivers elsewhere. They were a common sight in the 19th century. The wreck of a Mersey flat called the ''Eustace Carey'' can be seen at Spike Island at low tide. Beginning in 1848, John Hutchinson built the first chemical factory in Widnes on Spike Island. It was called "Hutchinson's No 1 Works" and was constructed along the Sankey Canal near Widnes Dock. Thereafter chemical factories proliferated in the town. Around the year 1860 Hutchinson built Tower Building, which he used as the administrative headquarters of his chemical business. Later it became the head office of the
Gossage Gossage is a family name of soapmakers and alkali manufacturers. Their company eventually became part of the Unilever group. During World War II, all soap brands were abolished by British government decree in 1942, in favour of a generic soap. Whe ...
soap company, which at one time was the largest soap company in the UK and handled half of the UK's soap exports. Today, Tower Building houses 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 ...
. Hutchinson was described by his contemporaries as "the father of Widnes" because of his influence on the growth of the chemical industry in the town. The island was at the centre of the British
chemical industry The chemical industry comprises the companies and other organizations that develop and produce industrial, specialty and other chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, the chemical industry converts raw materials ( oil, natural gas, air, ...
during the 19th century and part of the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
. The chemical industry for the first time allowed the mass production of soap, bleaching powder, glass and fertilizer, amongst other products. The population of Widnes grew rapidly; however, the industry also brought exceptional levels of pollution. The town was described as one of the dirtiest and most dangerous places to work in England, and in 1905 as a "poisonous hell-town". In the 20th century, changes to the industry and new environmental laws led to the decline of the chemical industry. By the 1970s, Spike Island contained abandoned chemical factories, rail lines, disused canal and industrial dockage, and extensive chemical
pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...
. Between 1975 and 1982, the island was reclaimed and returned to green spaces. All of the chemical works were removed and only two former
pyrite The mineral pyrite ( ), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue ...
kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...
s remain.


Facilities

The island is maintained by
Halton Borough Council Halton Borough Council is the Local government in England, local authority for Borough of Halton, Halton, a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county o ...
, who describe the island as "Open parkland with items of industrial archaeological interest and a canal". There are footpaths, canal walks, cycle paths, woodland, wetlands, views of the River Mersey, views of 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 ...
, birdlife, fishing, industrial heritage, picnic tables, car parking, a multi-purpose sports pitch, a children's play area and the
Trans Pennine Trail The Trans Pennine Trail is a long-distance path running from coast to coast across Northern England on a mixture of surfaced paths, with some short on-road sections, and with gentle gradients (it runs largely along disused railway lines and c ...
passes through the parkland. Mersey riverboats are moored in the Sankey Canal. The canal, although in water, is not navigable past the island. Halton Borough Council has the long-term aim of restoring the canal to use by watercraft and has committed to building a new
swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...
on the island and re-opening the
slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving smal ...
between the canal and Mersey. The council has also committed to finding an alternative water supply for the canal which has lost water formerly supplied by the since decommissioned Fiddler's Ferry power station. The Catalyst Science Discovery Centre is a museum dedicated to science and in particular
chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
. It is next to the island and charts the history of Widnes and Spike Island, offering hands-on displays, static displays and live science lectures. There are 80 interactive exhibits and reconstructed scenes bringing science, maths, engineering and technology to life. Two teaching spaces host a range of workshops and there is a café. There is an observatory on the top floor accessed via a glass-walled lift. The
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...
offers panoramic views of the river, Widnes and the Mersey Gateway Bridge, which was opened in 2017.


In popular culture

Spike Island was the site of a famous outdoor concert by the
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
the Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...
in May 1990. The support acts included DJs
Dave Haslam Dave Haslam is a British writer, broadcaster and DJ who DJed over 450 times at the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester and has since DJed worldwide. He has written for the ''New Musical Express'', ''The Guardian'', the ''London Review of Books' ...
,
Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (; born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Ma ...
and
Frankie Bones Frankie "Bones" Mitchell is a prominent figure in the development of dance music in the United States, widely regarded as the “Godfather of American Rave Culture.” Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Bones played a major role in shaping New York ...
, a Zimbabwean drum
orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
and the reggae artist
Gary Clail Gary Clail (born 1959) is an English singer and record producer, and the founder of the Gary Clail Sound System. He was part of On-U Sound Records (and also the On-U Sound System) and led Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. They had a big hit ...
. The ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' wrote "Spike Island was to be the Roses' defining statement, a celebration of not only their own success, but of an entire youth culture" and also "It was a real moment in time; the beginning of a long hot summer that saw England nearly go all the way in the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
, the peak of a period when
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
and the north-west felt like the centre of the universe." 30,000 people attended the concert; the organisation was described as "amateurish", and this increased the fame of the event. The police informed the organisers that the tide was so high that everyone might have to be taken off the island. As the Stone Roses took to the stage a cloud of red dust formed in front of the stage, triggering
asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...
attacks among some members of the crowd. A film about the concert called '' Spike Island'' was released in 2012. The film is a comedy and coming-of-age drama that focuses on a "wannabee" band who idolise the Stone Roses and set out to deliver their
demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...
personally to the Roses at the concert. Emma Dibdin of ''
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...
'' wrote that within its limited remit it is an affable watch, but the "domestic drama our heroes are running from never resonates". Dibdin added that the "performances are charming, and within the predictable tropes there are genuinely powerful moments." The
Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...
song "
Sorted for E's & Wizz "Sorted for E's & Wizz" is a song written and performed by the England, English band Pulp (band), Pulp for their 1995 album ''Different Class''. Based lyrically on a phrase that lead singer Jarvis Cocker overheard at a rave, the song features ly ...
" is inspired by one girl's memories of the concert.
Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...
remarked that he'd spoken to the girl about the concert and she could remember virtually nothing apart from the drug taking. In 2025, Pulp also released the song "Spike Island" as the first single from their eighth studio album ''
More More may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka Shade, ...
''. A tribute concert on the island by "the Clone Roses" was planned for May 2020, thirty years after the original concert. The event was rescheduled for 2021 as public gatherings were prohibited because of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The music festival took place on 24 July 2021; it was called "Spike Island: The Resurrection" and was headlined by the Clone Roses, with other 1990s tribute bands such as Oas-is, Happy Mondaze and True Order also featuring.


See also

*
List of parks and open spaces in Cheshire This is a list of parks and open spaces in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. It includes urban parks, country parks, islands, woodlands, commons, lakes, walking trails, local nature reserves and other green spaces that are open to the public. Sm ...
*
List of islands of England This is a list of islands of England (excluding the mainland which is itself a part of the island of Great Britain), as well as a table of the largest English islands by area and by population. Islands by type and name Offshore and inshore island ...
*
List of artificial islands This is a list of artificial islands. Table Australia *Areas around the Gold Coast region Bahamas * Ocean Cay Bahrain *New Bahrain International Airport Bolivia :'' See #Peru/Bolivia'' Brazil * Cidade Universitária (Rio de Ja ...
*
Land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...
*
Land recycling Land recycling is the reuse of abandoned, vacant, or underused properties for redevelopment or repurposing. Land recycling aims to ensure the reuse of developed land as part of: new developments; decontamination, cleaning up contaminated properti ...
*
Polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrology, hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as levee, dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclamation, Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a ...
* Mount Manisty *
Stanlow Island Stanlow Island is a small island found on the Manchester Ship Canal outside the Stanlow Oil Refinery. The island was occupied until the 1990s when the locals left due to isolation and the hazards of living nearby the refinery. Notable structures ...
* Wigg Island


References


External links


''Spike Island''
at
Halton Borough Council Halton Borough Council is the Local government in England, local authority for Borough of Halton, Halton, a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county o ...

''Catalyst Science Discovery Centre''
official website of the centre {{Authority control Chemical industry in the United Kingdom Islands of England Landforms of Cheshire Parks and open spaces in Cheshire River Mersey Tourist attractions in Cheshire Widnes