Widnes
Widnes maps (2 available)
Map of Cheshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
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Widnes books (10 available)
- 48 photos on Widnes appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Widnes
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Widnes and Cheshire
Widnes memories
Read and share memories of Widnes and Cheshire inspired by Frith photos
My dirty old town
I was born in Widnes in 1939 and lived there until I married my Dutch husband in 1969. I go back about once a year and always do quite a few long walk-abouts, as I can't find my way anymore by road. Some things have hardly changed but I can't recognise downtown Widnes. I attended The Commercial College,worked at several firms in Ditton Road and then at Laporte and Bowmans(Croda), used to go dancing in Warrington and Runcorn and still have quite a few friends, family and colleagues that I keep in touch with. I'm 68 now and hope to be paying another visit to Widnes this summer. I'll be visiting Victoria Park and the old Town ...read more here
Contributed by Lyn Wolff-Jones
childhood in widnes
Resident from 1941 to 1949-born Widnes Nursing Home (now Nursery School)-baptised at St.Bedes R.C.Church and attended the attached school from age 4.
Swam in pond in Victoria Park. Attended double feature picture shows with my mother at the Rex?
Father worked at Widnes Foundry. Lived at nr.3 Fir Street and rode the 'fastest three wheel cycle in our street.'
Travelled many times on the Transporter Bridge.
Have revisited the town in 1966, 1986 and 2003.
Contributed by Terence Gale
Cheshire memories
My dirty old town
I was born in Widnes in 1939 and lived there until I married my Dutch husband in 1969. I go back about once a year and always do quite a few long walk-abouts, as I can't find my way anymore by road. Some things have hardly changed but I can't recognise downtown Widnes. I attended The Commercial College,worked at several firms in Ditton Road and then at Laporte and Bowmans(Croda), used to go dancing in Warrington and Runcorn and still have quite a few friends, family and colleagues that I keep in touch with. I'm 68 now and hope to be paying another visit to Widnes this summer. I'll be visiting Victoria Park and the old Town ...read more here
A memory of Widnes contributed by Lyn Wolff-Jones
childhood in widnes
Resident from 1941 to 1949-born Widnes Nursing Home (now Nursery School)-baptised at St.Bedes R.C.Church and attended the attached school from age 4.
Swam in pond in Victoria Park. Attended double feature picture shows with my mother at the Rex?
Father worked at Widnes Foundry. Lived at nr.3 Fir Street and rode the 'fastest three wheel cycle in our street.'
Travelled many times on the Transporter Bridge.
Have revisited the town in 1966, 1986 and 2003.
A memory of Widnes contributed by Terence Gale
Extracts From Widnes & Cheshire books
The original parish
church that served this
area was the one at
Farnworth that dated
from Norman times.
Widnes was then just a
sleepy little hamlet of a
few houses on the banks
of the Mersey. With the
enormous growth in
population here in the
19th century many new
churches were needed so
St Paul’s was built in the
1880s.
An extract from from"Widnes and Runcorn Photographic Memories".
The Town Hall was built in 1887 in a style described as ‘French Renaissance’. The building was used briefly in the 1980s to
house the Halton Chemical Industry Museum. Today Widnes has Europe’s only museum dedicated solely to the chemical
industry - it is called Catalyst and occupies the former offices and laboratories of what was once Britain’s largest soap
manufacturing firm, Gossages Soaps.
An extract from from"Widnes and Runcorn Photographic Memories".
St Bede’s Church, built in
1847, is situated in an area
once known as Appleton.
It was so-called because of
all the apple orchards here
- in fact it was said that on
one day alone eight tons of
apples were once picked
here to be sent to market in Liverpool.
An extract from from"Widnes and Runcorn Photographic Memories".
Established on 34
acres of land that had
previously belonged
to the Appleton House
estate, Victoria Park
opened to the
public in 1900.
The gates shown
here were donated
by Widnes Foundry
and actually date
from 1897.
An extract from from"Widnes and Runcorn Photographic Memories".
The library has one of the
largest collections of railway
books of any public library
in Britain - there are around
6,000 books on the subject.
From the beginning it
had a lending department
and reading rooms with
a separate reading room
for ladies. There was no
children’s library although
‘boys were allowed to read
newspapers in the corridor’.
An extract from from"Widnes and Runcorn Photographic Memories".