Widnes

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Arms of the former Widnes Municipal Borough Council

Widnes is a town in the unitary authority of Halton, Cheshire, England. It was a municipal borough in the traditional county of Lancashire until 1974. It owes its existence to the chemical industry. In 1800 it was a mere collection of houses but by 1900 had a population of around 50,000.

The town's continued growth is mainly due to its location in between the large urban areas of Manchester and Liverpool.

Contents

1 Etymology of the name Widnes
2 The Widnes Vikings
3 Industrial History
4 Crossing the Mersey
5 'Homeward Bound'
6 Education
7 Nightspots
8 Further reading

Etymology of the name Widnes

According to local history books, the name Widnes comes from the old Danish vidnes, meaning "wide nose", and refers to the promontory of land now known as West Bank that juts south into the River Mersey, creating a narrowing in the channel called the Runcorn Gap. Some correspondents have suggested that the name is Norwegian, and there is a similar peninsula named Vidnes in Møre og Romsdal, Norway.

Place-name books suggest the etymology is from Old English wid-naess "wide promontory"; this would make sense as most of the place-names in the region are from Old English; Speke is one of them.

The Widnes Vikings

The area's Norse history is celebrated in the name of the local Rugby League Football Club the Widnes Vikings. The Widnes Vikings were previously know as the "Chemics". Once world champions (1989), subsequently spent time in the Northern Ford Premiership, and have last season again been relegated to the National League One from Super League.

Industrial History

By the 18th Century, a small collection of homesteads on the rocky promontory, known as woodend, was attracting day trippers from near by Liverpool who traveled down river to this quiet country retreat.

The Sankey Canal was built early in the 19th century, later being extended to Fiddlers Ferry and then on to Widnes in 1830. It was built to carry coal from the St. Helens' coalfield to the River Mersey and was the first artificial waterway in England, proceeding the Duke of Bridgwater's famous navigation by several years.

The St. Helens Railway Company built the St. Helens to Runcorn Gap railway in 1933 for the express purpose of carrying coal. Among the original subscribers were James Muspratt who had a stake in the company, and Peter Greenall who had brewing, coal and glass manufacturing interests.

Despite the building of the canal and the railway, it was 15 years before anyone took advantage of the saltfields of Cheshire or the coalfields of south west Lancashire. The reason for this lapse in time could have been the Salt Tax which had been in existence in England since the 11th century.

By 1845, the world's first rail-canal-dock complex had been established on land that was then called 'Widnes Dock', now known as Spike Island. Here at the southern point of the St Helens Canal and Railway, Cheshire salt would be sent to the glass-makers of St Helens in exchange for lancashire Coal from Northwich, Spike Island, a buisy place at the time, only has the canals left nowa days, it's now a nature reserve and a pleasant area were local events are held.

Enter John Hutchinson (1825 - 1865), who was working in St Helens chemical industry. When in 1847, he decided to set up in local business as an alkali producer. He became the principal founder of the chemical industry in Widnes. His first factory, the Leblanc Soda works, was established on the east side of the Sankey Canal. He acquired land and making use of the canal and railway established one of the first industrial estates in the country.

To accommodate the new workforce needed for his works, the industrialist built rows of terraced houses with no facilities at the time, alongside the works. Other Entrepreneurs followed such as William Gossages, Frederick Muspratt, Ludwig Mond and John Brunner. The chemical works were built from wood and, like the houses, were easy to build.

The second half of the 19th century saw a greatest expansion of the chemical industry in Widnes. By 1875 the population had risen to 20,000 and there were fifty factories in and around the town producing such things as soap, borax, soda ash, salt cake and bleaching powder.

Crossing the Mersey

Widnes and Runcorn are divided by the River Mersey. In the West Bank area of the town the Mersey happens to narrow and so for many centuries this made it a natural place to cross the river. At first this was by boat but later a ferry service was set-up to provide this service. In middle of the 19th century (1868 to be exact) a rail bridge was opened between Widnes and Runcorn. This bridge also had a footpath which allowed you to walk between Widnes and Runcorn for the first time, provided you could pay the small fee. This bridge still carries trains today.

In 1905 a second crossing was opened in the form of the Transporter Bridge and it was the largest of its type in the world. This ferried people across the Mersey in a large gondolier that hung beneath the bridge. This gondolier moved between Runcorn and Widnes carrying a large number of people at once.

While a road bridge was possible at this time, it was too expensive. This is because a cheap low-level bridge would have obstructed ships on the Manchester Ship Canal. The only way to avoid this problem was to build a high-level road bridge, similar to the rail bridge. This option would have cost nearly £400,000. This is three times the £130,000 it cost to build the Transporter Bridge. [link]

Widnes and Runcorn had to wait until the sixties for a road bridge. On the 21st of July 1961 the new bridge was opened and after this the Transport Bridge was demolished and the foot path was closed on the rail bridge. In its place, a new footpath was opened on the road-bridge which you can cross for free.

This bridge is still in use today although plans have been approved by Parliament for a new road and footbridge, which is scheduled to be built in 2014.

'Homeward Bound'

Widnes is also known for the railway station where Paul Simon wrote the song Homeward Bound [link]. However, the original station called Widnes Central was one of those stations closed by Dr Beeching in the early 1960s. It was demolished and its site is now forms part of the local dual carriageway, Ashley Way.

Despite the fact that Widnes Central no longer exists, there is a plaque commemorating this event in Widnes Station (formally Widnes North or earlier Widnes Farnworth) which is the sole remaining 'Widnes' station.

Education

The major [centres of education] in the town are as listed below:-

Bankfield High School
Fairfield County High School
Halton College
St Peter & Paul Catholic College
Wade Deacon County High School
Widnes Sixth Form College

Nightspots

The table below lists the notable venues in Widnes.

Vue Bar and Grill (Bar)
The Premier Wetherspoons (Pub)
The Albion (Pub)
The Derby (Pub)
The Tavern (Pub)
The Appleton Arms (Pub)
The Four Topped Oak (Pub)
Rui's (Bar)
Top of the Town (Nightclub)
The Ring o' Bells (Pub)
The Griffin (Pub)
The Crown (Pub)
The Bradley (Pub)
The Ball O' Ditton
The Eight Towers (pub)
The Castle (pub)
Bar Cocoa (Bar)