DISCOVER WARRINGTON, Cheshire
Warrington is a large town and borough within the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It sits beside the West Coast Mainline, the M6, M56 and M62 motorways, and alongside the Manchester Ship Canal. People born (or living) in Warrington are known as Warringtonians.
The Borough of Warrington is bordered by Halton, Vale Royal, and Macclesfield boroughs in the Ceremonial County of Cheshire. It is also bordered by Trafford, Salford, Wigan and St. Helens boroughs, which are not part of Cheshire.
 HISTORY OF WARRINGTON
Warrington has been a major crossing point on the River Mersey since ancient times and there was a Roman settlement at Wilderspool. In medieval times Warrington's importance was as a bridging point on the River Mersey, and it was a fulcrum in the English Civil War. The armies of Oliver Cromwell and the Earl of Derby both stayed near the old town centre (the parish church area).
Popular legend has it that Cromwell lodged in the building which survives on Church Street as The Cottage Restaurant, though it is likely that the actual place was nearby, possibly next door. The Marquis of Granby public house bears a plaque stating that the Earl of Derby 'had his quarters near this site'. Dents in the walls of the parish church are rumoured to be have been caused by the cannons used in the Civil War.
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY: Warrington was a centre of steel (particularly wire), textiles, brewing, tanning and chemical industries. Heavy industry declined in the 1970s and 1980s but the growth of the new town around Warrington led to a great increase in employment in light industry, distribution and technology. Travel-to-work patterns are unusual, with many residents working outside the borough and many employees living elsewhere.
IRA BOMBING: On 20 March 1993, the IRA exploded two bombs in Warrington town centre. The blasts killed two children: three year old Jonathan Ball died instantly, and twelve year old Tim Parry died five days later in hospital. Their deaths provoked widespread condemnation of the organisation responsible. The blast followed a bomb attack a few weeks earlier on a gas storage plant in Warrington.
Tim Parry's father founded The Peace Centre (formerly the Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Peace Centre) as part of a campaign to reconcile communities in conflict. The centre opened on the seventh anniversary of the bombing in 2000.
OTHER HISTORY: Warrington is notable in political history for being the first place to field a candidate for the then newly-formed SDP-Liberal Alliance; former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins stood for Parliament in 1981 but lost to Labour candidate Doug Hoyle by a small number of votes.
However, many people, particularly Americans, will remember Warrington best as the location of Burtonwood RAF base, one of (if not the) largest RAF bases in England and the largest US Air Force base outside the United States. During World War II, Burtonwood was visited by major celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope who arrived to entertain the GIs. The base was closed in 1993.
There was a further RAF training camp at Padgate, a Royal Naval air base at Stretton and an army base at the Peninsula Barracks in O'Leary Street, now used by the Territorial Army.
CULTURE IN WARRINGTON
Warrington has a concert hall (the Parr Hall), an arts centre (the Pyramid), a museum, an art gallery, and various public libraries throughout the borough. Warrington Central Library was the first rate-supported library in the UK. The Victorian swimming baths closed in July 2003. There is a cinema at Westbrook, and another is being considered as part of a town centre redevelopment.
There are several parks and designated nature reserves at Woolston Eyes, Risley Moss, Rixton Claypits, and Paddington Meadows. There is also ten-pin bowling located at Winwick Quay, and indoor paintball. An indoor karting centre is located near to Bank Quay. A Laser Quest arena and a snooker club can also be found in Warrington, both located close to the town centre. Gulliver's Theme Park is located off the M62 near Westbrook.
A number of festivals, carnivals, and walking days are held annually in the Warrington area. Warrington Walking Day - originally a Sunday School festival - is held on the closest Friday to the last day of June, and the town centre is closed to traffic as churches walk together through the streets.
Other festivals, besides the many walking days, include: Glazebury Gala, Appleton Bawming of the Thorn, Croft Carnival, Culcheth Community Day, Howley Carnival, Lymm May Queen, Lymm Dickensian Festival, Penketh Carnival, St George's Day Parade, Thelwall Rose Queen, Winwick Carnival, and Westy Carnival.
Warrington also has many musical groups, including Warrington Male Voice Choir and the North Cheshire Wind Orchestra.
SPORTS IN WARRINGTON
The town's premier sports team is the Warrington Wolves Rugby League club, nicknamed "The Wire" because of Warrington's history of wire making. The club moved in 2003 to the Halliwell Jones Stadium, leaving its home for over a century, Wilderspool. Football is represented by Warrington Town FC at Cantilever Park, next to the Manchester Ship Canal. Warrington Athletic Club are based at Victoria Park, where a new eight-lane synthetic track was built in 1998, after the original track was destroyed in a fire the previous year. Warrington Wasps are the representative Basketball team for the 12 Secondary Schools in Warrington.
Speedway racing, then known as Dirt Track racing was staged in Warrington in the pioneer era from 1928 to 1930. The track entered a team in the 1929 English Dirt Track League and the 1930 Northern league. Efforts to revive the venue in 1947 failed to materialise.
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SHOPPING IN WARRINGTON:
In spite of its proximity to significant retail areas in Manchester, Liverpool, Chester and the out-of-town Trafford Centre, Warrington continues to have one of the larger shopping centres in North West England. Despite this competition, Warrington has seen an increase in its customer trade, due in part to the modernisation of the town centre. It has a shopping mall (Golden Square) first opened in 1974, which has been extended to include a Debenhams store, and a new bus station.
The old Cockhedge Textile Mill was demolished and replaced by another shopping mall. The main shopping streets are Buttermarket Street, Horsemarket Street, Sankey Street and Bridge Street. Where these four streets intersect at Market Gate, there is an award-winning redevelopment with a large fountain and "guardians" (known locally as "the skittles") designed by Howard Ben Tré. The town also has a large indoor market, and several other small shopping malls, such as Hatters Row.
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