2010

Jan 2010

2010 JAN 4 A public inquiry began regarding a United Utilities plan to build an underground storm water storage tank on Stocks Lane Recreation Ground in Great Sankey. The plan was refused on 4 February 2010.

2010 JAN 19 Warrington-born BBC journalist Clare Matheson won the Online Journalist of the Year Award at the 23^rd Workworld Media Awards in London. What is the difference between a journalist who writes online and any other kind of journalist?

2010 JAN 26 The access road leading to the Halliwell Jones Stadium was renamed Mike Gregory Way after the former player who passed away in 2007.

2010 JAN 26 Old Hall’s Foundation for Peace and the Warrington Wolves Foundation launched a two-year partnership project after securing a £394,000 Big Lottery Fund grant. The project will give 60 young people the chance to learn skills that make a positive difference in the community.

2010 JAN 27 Coronation Street cast members Julia Howarth and Warrington-born Steven Arnold visited St Rocco’s Hospice to mark the start of the charity’s silver jubilee celebrations.

2010 JAN The Wire Works project for Winwick Street was put on hold as the developer submitted a planning application to extend the life of the current car park on the site for up to five years.

2010 JAN Warrington-based charity SPARC (Supporting People Achieving Real Choice) received a National Lottery grant of £9,760. The group supports people with learning difficulties in the area of employment, health education and travel training. They are based at Warrington Collegiate on Winwick Road.

2010 JAN The John Holt Cancer Support Foundation, who featured on Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire programme in 2009, received a grant for £22,500 from the Chester-based Morgan Foundation. Link to the charity.

2010 JAN Warrington Borough Council began a study into the creation of a leisure trust that would take over the running of leisure centres and libraries as part of a spending review to save £30 million over three years. Other plans include closing recycling centres in Woolston and Stockton Heath.

2010 JAN Work began on a £75,000 Playbuilder transformation of Elizabeth Park in Thelwall, which would include a zip wire and climbing wall.

2010 JAN Thelwall Mummers, a branch of Thelwall Morris Men raised over £7,000 for the Samaritans in Warrington, St Helens and Halton by performing at different venues across the town. Read more about the group here. 

2010 JAN Grappenhall Heys Walled Garden received a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £33,700 to help restore the Victorian glasshouse.

2010 JAN 31 Two kind-hearted Great Sankey children raised £335 by selling their toys to aid the Haiti earthquake appeal.

2010 JAN Work started on the £30 million Orford Park Project. The site will be transformed into community, sport and health facilities and is due to be completed in January 2012.

2010 JAN Sue Blyth MBE, a dedicated YMCA worker for over 29 years, met Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a community heroes reception at 10 Downing Street. Read more about the Warrington YMCA on the Community page.

Feb 2010

2010 FEB 2 Heavy rainfall caused the River Mersey to flood at high tide at Bridge Foot.

2010 FEB 4 Lesley Sampson, mother of Britain’s Got Talent winner George, was acquitted of fly tipping fan mail in April 2009. The case was dropped because the council failed to produce evidence.

2010 FEB The Environment Agency announced £800,000 of funding to help tackle the flooding problems. The announcement coincided with a public consultation on flooding in the town.

2010 FEB Warrington North MP Helen Jones was cleared of any wrongdoing in the expenses scandal, despite paying back £840.

2010 FEB Parents, medical experts and teaching union NASUWT expressed concern over plans to change study patterns at Birchwood Community High School which would leave schoolchildren eating lunch as late as 1.50 pm.

2010 FEB 7 Irish pop due Jedward from TV’s X-Factor appeared at the Warrington Wolves ground for the first match of the season against Harlequins. The Wolves won the match 58-0.

2010 FEB 7 Warrington-born footballer Steve Kindon was guest of honour at a fundraising event for Help For Heroes organised by Warrington Freemasons. £3,000 was raised from auctions, including a boxing glove worn by Mike Tyson and a framed set of photos of former British heavyweight boxing champion Henry Cooper.

2010 FEB 8 The Warrington Guardian reported that a water pump has been found by archaeologists in the grounds of Walton Hall Gardens. It is thought it served the 19^th century Greenall’s estate. Read more about the archaeological group here.

2010 FEB Pupils at Woolston Community Primary School raised £250 for the Haiti earthquake appeal by baking cakes.

2010 FEB It was announced that Warrington is set to receive £45 million towards new street lighting. This comes at a time when the council is considering switching them off at night to save money!

2010 FEB The former Railway Hotel in Latchford would be turned into three separate units under plans submitted to Warrington Borough Council. See a photo of it in the Latchford Village section on the My Warrington page.

2010 FEB 15 Organisers of Fairtrade Fortnight hoped the public would take part in the ‘big swap’ by changing their usual brand of tea for a Fairtrade version to promote the 15^th anniversary of Fairtrade. Other events included a Mad Hatter’s Fairtrade Tea Party and a Strictly Fairtrade tea dance.

2010 FEB The 6^th Warrington (1^st Thelwall) Scout Group celebrated its 60^th anniversary.

2010 FEB 25 Recycling centres in Warrington were saved from the axe as the council backed down on plans to close Woolston and Stockton Heath sites. At the same time the Rangers Service was also saved from £51,000 of cuts.

2010 FEB 26 J D Wetherspoon’s opened a new pub on the site of the Odeon cinema in Buttermarket Street. The former Yates’s Wine Lodge was renamed The Looking Glass in memory of Lewis Carroll who was born in Daresbury, just outside Warrington. Wetherspoons also has The Friar Penketh on Barbauld Street.

2010 FEB Oasis Warrington 21^st Century Church in Callands applied for a change of use for an empty business unit as the base for their meetings. The plan was rejected on 13 May 2010.

2010 FEB The council released a list of sites, including Bewsey Old Hall and Lymm Youth Club, which could be sold off to raise money.

2010 FEB 27 The Greenwood family from Warrington won £46,000 on the Ant and Dec Push the Button show on ITV1.

2010 FEB 28 The Warrington branch of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment Association held a service in Queens Gardens to mark the 110^th anniversary of the Battle of Pieter’s Hill, one of the most significant battles in the Boer War in Africa.

Mar 2010

2010 MAR 4 Unions expressed their fury at Warrington Borough Council’s decision to save £30 million from the budget over the next three years as the council reveals it spent £28 million on consultancy fees in the past three years.

2010 MAR 9 Identical twins Mark and Ian Lees took part in a celebrity cook-off with I’m A Celebrity winner Gino D’Acampo on ITV1’s This Morning programme.

2010 MAR Public services union Unison condemned plans to transfer NHS admin work to India to save money.

2010 MAR 13 Paul Keepe, the owner o the former Mississippi Show Boat in Howley and Showbar and Secrets Nightclub in Friars Gate, died, aged 61.

2010 MAR 15 Warrington Museum closed for a refit – but staff are reluctant to move a figure of a Buddhist monk, which is said to be cursed! Apparently, all staff that touched it in the past have had car accidents.

2010 MAR 15 Bolton comedian Peter Kay performed at the Pyramid to raise funds for the Haiti earthquake appeal.

2010 MAR 17 The fire authority approved plans to change the working pattern of Birchwood Fire Station from 24-hour cover to 12-hour cover with retained firefighters being called in at night. Residents had campaigned against the plans since 2 February.

2010 MAR 18 Justice Secretary Jack Straw visited the Warrington Wolves Foundation and later gives a speech at the Peace Centre in Great Sankey.

2010 MAR 24 The Budget promised £100 million to repair potholes after the winter freeze – Warrington is to receive over £250,000.

2010 MAR (25) Dr Liam Fox, shadow defence secretary, showed support for Armed Forces Identity Cards to be used as official proof of age. He hoped to see a pioneering scheme launched here in Warrington rolled out nationwide.

2010 MAR 25 Comedian Frank Skinner visited George Formby’s grave in Warrington cemetery as part of a TV programme about the ukulele-playing entertainer.

2010 MAR 26 Skate Academy, a new roller-skating rink, opened in the former Kwik Save building on Academy Street.

2010 MAR 27 The Letter Box Study Group met at the Gateway on Sankey Street. They have 700 members and share stories about post boxes from around the world. Exciting, eh?

2010 MAR 29 Rosie Winterton MP, local government and regional economic development minister, visited the head office of the North West Development Agency at Centre Park, Arpley Meadows to discuss last week’s budget.

Apr 2010

2010 APR Cheshire Police purchased a new helicopter, which will be used to cover the Warrington area.

2010 APR 5 The annual Lymm Duck Race took place. 

2010 APR 7 Defence minister Bob Ainsworth visited Sure Start Children’s Centre in Latchford to help Nick Bent kick off his campaign to become MP for Warrington South.

2010 APR Warrington Wolves player Vinnie Anderson showed his support for the Stroke Association’s awareness campaign one month after his father-in-law died from the condition.

2010 APR It is announced that £1 million is wasted in Warrington each year on prescription medicines that are not needed or not taken by patients.

2010 APR 8 Warrington Borough Council announced that following a ballot of all tenants, the council’s housing stock will be transferred to Golden Gates Housing Trust. Turnout for the ballot was 63.13%, with just 8.1% voting against transfer, meaning the group will become a registered social landlord.

2010 APR 13 Asco supermarket on Sankey Street closed down after less than 5 months of trading.  

2010 APR 14 Human remains were discovered by Environmental Agency workers alongside the River Mersey in Latchford. They were later confirmed to be Culcheth resident Sarah Kershaw, who went missing in 2005.

2010 APR 14 A herd of 12 cows was on the loose in Bruche, Howley and Latchford. Some of the cows were later seen near McDonalds at Riverside Retail Park. Link to the Warrington Guardian news story.

2010 APR 16 Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg visited the Wolves Foundation at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in his first public appearance since the historic first televised leaders’ debate. Baroness Shirley Williams was also in town.

2010 APR 16 Education minister Ed Balls visited Penketh High School with Warrington South Labour candidate Nick Bent.

2010 APR 20 Shadow business minister Kenneth Clarke visited Stockton Heath in an election campaign walkabout.

2010 APR A consultation began on the future development of Bennett’s Recreation Ground in Padgate.

2010 APR 27 – May 9 Circus Mondao visited Church Street, Howley. The circus is one of the few remaining in the country to feature animals. The Captive Animals’ Protection Society (CAPS) called on families to boycott the show.

2010 APR 27 Former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe visited Stockton Heath on the election campaign trail.

2010 APR Stockton Heath Parish Council quashed rumours that Ackers Pit is to be sold off.

2010 APR St Oswald’s church officials in Winwick announced that the building is under threat from deathwatch beetles. The oak beams had been gnawed at and the damage could cost £1 million to put right.

2010 APR 30 Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills visited Mojo Bar on Cairo Street for the launch party of Golden Square’s fashion website www.go-style.co.uk.

May 2010

2010 MAY 1 Jenny Williams from Warrington took up the challenge to go naked for the latest photo shoot of American Spencer Tunick. An exhibition of photos will go on display to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the Lowry gallery in Salford Quays.

2010 MAY 2 Stockton Heath Primary School celebrated its first 100 years. The original building was demolished in 1997. See photos on My Warrington page.

2010 MAY 3 Culcheth Community Day took place.

2010 MAY 4 Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown visited Golden Square shopping centre on the election trail.

2010 MAY 8 TV and radio presenter Timmy Mallett visited Liberty Galleries at the Forge Shopping Centre, Stockton Heath, as part of the 40^th anniversary of The Railway Children film. Six paintings and three limited edition prints by him were unveiled at the gallery. He became famous as a Piccadilly Radio presenter in the 1980s and for his Wacaday TV show, which ran from 1985 to 1992.

2010 MAY The developers of Omega Business Park on the former Burtonwood Air Base announced plans to appoint a house builder to build homes on the site as they reviewed the master plan approved in 2006.

2010 MAY 11 Paul Deighton, chief executive officer of the London organising committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) visits the Halliwell Jones Stadium. It was announced in March 2008 that three Warrington venues would be used to train Olympic athletes, including the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

2010 WED 12 MAY mywarrington website 5th birthday

2010 MAY (13) Plans to demolish Legh Street baths and build a health centre on the site were scrapped by NHS Warrington to plug a budget deficit of £24 million. The plans were later put back on the agenda after consultation with the developers (Sep 2010).

2010 MAY 14 TV comedian, actor and presenter Stephen Fry, who suffers from bipolar disorder, boosted the 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust ‘Stamp Out Stigma’ campaign by mentioning it on his Twitter site. Read more about the campaign here.

2010 MAY 14-15 The 14^th Grappenhall Beer Festival took place in the old barn at Grappenhall Community Centre on Bellhouse Lane.

2010 MAY 16 The Lancashire Lads Memorial Garden and Garden of Remembrance was officially opened at the Peninsula Barracks on O’Leary Street. The garden is in memory of those who have served their country from 1945 to the present day.

2010 MAY 17 Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agreed by just two votes to continue power sharing at Warrington Borough Council. Labour had the largest number of seats at the local elections but not the biggest overall majority. Labour 27 seats, Lib Dems 24, Conservative 6.

2010 MAY Stockton Heath Dramatic Society celebrated its 60^th anniversary. 

2010 MAY /JUNE The former Lymm post office was painted pink and turned into a film location for a BBC drama based on the tale of the launch of a pink-themed taxi company. Meanwhile another BBC crew were filming in the village for the daytime show To Buy or Not to Buy. Filming continued into June 2010.

2010 MAY 22 18-year-old former Penketh High School student Danielle Hope won the BBC1 Over the Rainbow show to star in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End musical The Wizard of Oz, to be staged next year.

2010 MAY 22 Over 6,000 residents have signed a Facebook campaign opposing the council’s plan to enter into a long-term lease with a company for Walton Hall Gardens. The deal would see the hall turned into a hotel. The council said it would go ahead with the plans despite the opposition.

2010 MAY 28 Panama Jacks nightclub on Bridge Street was rebranded as Oscars.

2010 MAY 28-29 Warrington Market and Golden Square shopping centre host Warrington Food Festival.

2010 MAY Warrington band Exile Parade performed at the Zebra Music Festival in Chengdu, China in front of 20,000 people and an estimated live television audience of 100 million. Follow them online.

2010 MAY Lymm and District Round Table announced they had raised £8,000 for local charities last year. Link to their site here.

2010 MAY Coronation Street scriptwriter Christine Marshall from south Warrington showcased her short film Pram at the Cannes Film Festival. 

2010 MAY 31 The annual Warrington Horse Show took place at Hall Lane Farm in Daresbury.

Jun 2010

2010 JUN 6 The 22^nd annual service to commemorate the men and women who served at HMS Blackcap in Stretton took place at the St Cross Church in Appleton Thorn.

2010 JUN 6 BBC show Occupation received a BAFTA for best serial Drama.

2010 JUN 12 The annual Birchwood Carnival took place in Birchwood Forest Park.

2010 JUN 12 The annual Lymm May Queen festival took place.

2010 JUN 13 The annual Civic Sunday event took place. The procession from the Town Hall to the Parish Church of St Elphin marks the beginning of the new Mayoral year.

2010 JUN 14 Protesters descended on the Town Hall to hand in a 7,000-name petition protesting against the council’s plans for Walton Hall Gardens. The council agreed to a public consultation.

2010 JUN The Trans Pennine Trail, which passes through Warrington on its route from Hornsea to Southport, celebrated its 21^st anniversary. A baton relay was staged across the route.

2010 JUN The official handing over of the keys ceremony took place at the new Culcheth High School, which opens in September.

2010 JUN 14 Tributes have been paid to Marine Steven Birdsall, aged 20, from Great Sankey, who died today in Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham. He was shot on Sunday 13 June 2010 by insurgents while protecting a group of Royal Engineers in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He attended Great Sankey High School.

2010 JUN 18 The 5^th St Rocco’s Hospice Starlight Walk took place as 2,000 women walked the 13-mile route to raise funds for the charity. This year the charity celebrated its silver jubilee.

2010 JUN 19 The annual Thelwall Rose Queen festival took place. This year’s event included, for the first time, a walking float and pram float.

2010 JUN 19 The annual Bawming of the Thorn ceremony took place, raising £3,647 for village projects.

2010 JUN 20 Walter Chadwick’s fairground set up on Orford Park for Orford Park Community Festival and Orford Walking Day.

2010 JUN 22 Firefighters attend a scene near Oughtrington Lane close to St Peter’s Church in Lymm as 17 acres of hay were alight.

2010 JUN 22 Halo nightclub at Bridge Foot closed down due to the economic climate.

2010 JUN The government announced that the North West Development Agency, based at Centre Park, Arpley Meadows, will cease to exist in April 2012, just 4 weeks after business secretary Vince Cable visited the offices to say it would remain open.

2010 JUN The Blessed John Henry Newman Roman Catholic Church opened on Knutsford Road in Latchford, the first new catholic church in the town for about 50 years. It combines the parishes of Our Lady’s and St Augustine’s.

2010 JUN Warrington Borough Council announced it is considering a Warrington Youth Zone in the town centre, which would include sport and activities.

2010 JUN 23-27 Planet Circus presented The Globe of Death show at Victoria Park.

2010 JUN 25 Labour Party leadership contender and former foreign secretary David Miliband visited town to give a speech at Holy Trinity Church.

2010 JUN 26 Residents, parents and pupils were given one last look inside Culcheth High School building before it was demolished. The new building opens in September.

2010 JUN 26 Grappenhall Walking Day took place.

2010 JUN 26 Padgate and Woolston Walking Day took place.

2010 JUN 27 St John the Evangelist Church in Higher Walton celebrated its 125^th anniversary.

2010 JUN 27 Warrington Borough Transport discontinued all Sunday evening bus services from today due to cuts in funding from Warrington Borough Council.

2010 JUN The Samaritans celebrated the 40^th anniversary of their first Warrington phone call. The charity was started in London in 1953 by vicar Chad Varah.

Jul 2010

2010 JUL 1 The funeral of Marine Steven Birdsall took place. He died on 14 June 2010 after being shot the previous day while serving in Helmand province.

2010 JUL Sandy Lane Nursery in Orford received an ‘outstanding’ achievement from OFSTED after an inspection in April.

2010 JUL 2 The annual Warrington Walking Day took place. The event was introduced by Rector Horace Powys sometime between 1832 and 1834 as a counter-attraction to Newton Races.

2010 JUL 3 The annual Croft Carnival took place at Croft Park.

2010 JUL 5 Six schools in the district were set to lose £80 million of investment as the new government freezes the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme set up by the previous Labour government. Culcheth High School is safe, but six others promised cash will see it taken back. They are William Beamont, Penketh, Lysander, Sir Thomas Boteler, Green Lane and Fox Wood Special Schools. The cash freeze was announced by the Government in May.

2010 JUL (5) Warrington Wolves star Matt King shaved off his trademark hair to raise £1,245 for local charity Families United.

2010 JUL 5 Private Thomas Sephton from Great Sankey, died, aged 20. The member of the 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment was on foot patrol in Helmand province on 4 July 2010 when he was injured by a roadside bomb. He died the following day after being flown home to the UK. He attended Great Sankey High School.

2010 JUL 6 TVs Secret Millionaire Charlie Mullins re-visited town to perform the official opening ceremony of the new John Holt Cancer Support Foundation headquarters on Palmyra Square. Link to the charity.

2010 JUL 8 Sir Thomas Boteler High School hosted its third annual music festival, Boteler Out Loud.

2010 JUL 8-11 The 3^rd annual Stockton Heath Festival took place, which included Stockton Heath Walking Day on Saturday 10th July.

2010 JUL 10 The annual Glazebury Gala took place.

2010 JUL 10 Manchester charity Animals in Distress presented a fun dog show at Penketh Carnival on Greystone Recreation Ground.

2010 JUL 10 The annual Stockton Heath Walking Day took place.

2010 JUL 11 The 19^th annual Disability Awareness Day took place at Walton Hall Gardens, attracting over 28,000 visitors. The event began in 1992.

2010 JUL Warrington Borough Council was forced to pay out £83,475 after its failed appeal against turning Bewsey Old Hall into seven separate apartments.

2010 JUL Some of the town’s historic sites were listed on the English Heritage at-risk register, including the Town Hall, Bridge Street, Buttermarket Street, the north barn at Hurst Hall in Glazebury, Bank Quay transporter bridge, Bewsey Old Hall, Bowl Barrow off Highfield Lane in Winwick and the entrance to Bradlegh Old Hall in Burtonwood. Some of these were featured in 2008 and 2006 and the council is looking at ways to fund their protection.

2010 JUL Lymm Parish Council received a Big Lottery Fund – Awards for All grant of £6,350 towards the cost of a new kitchen and disabled toilet at the village hall.

2010 JUL Essential strengthening work began on Liverpool Road bridge near Bank Quay Station.

2010 JUL Results of a public consultation over the revamp of Bennetts Rec in Padgate were published. Suggestions include better pathways, more parking provision, improvements to nature sites, site safety and access and promotion of the heritage of the site.

2010 JUL Everton football star Jack Rodwell performed the opening ceremony on the new Cuerdley 18-hole True Fit golf course.

2010 JUL 15 Helen Newlove announced she will become the ‘voice of the people’ as she takes up her seat in the House of Lords to become Baroness Newlove of Warrington in the County of Cheshire. She has campaigned tirelessly against alcohol-related violence since her husband Garry was murdered in Fearnhead in August 2007.

2010 JUL 16 Warrington Wolves beat top of the table Wigan Warriors by 23 points to 16 in the first-ever televised rugby league match in 3D on Sky Sports. Sorry Sky, but the technology isn’t quite up to perfection yet – but ok for its novelty value.

2010 JUL 17 Joseph’s Amazing Racing Pigs took part in Winwick Carnival in honour of the legend of the Winwick Pig. Read the story of the Winwick Pig on the History page.

2010 JUL 17 The sixth annual Burtonwood Bridge Five Mile Road Race took place.

2010 JUL 17 The annual Stretton Walking Day took place in the village. The event dates back to the early 1880s.

2010 JUL 17-18 The 4^th annual Warrington Music Festival took place in the Old Fish Market at Golden Square.

2010 JUL 18 Warrington Youth Carnival took place in Queens Gardens. Events included music, a climbing wall, BMX challenges, jewellery making and a recyclable fashion show.

2010 JUL 19 Work began on a £500,000 makeover for Warrington Central Station. All we need now is lifts at Birchwood Station and we are getting close to life in the 21^st century!

2010 JUL 20 The final assembly at Longbarn Primary School took place prior to the school being closed down.

2010 JUL The council approved a controversial plan to extend a landfill site in Risley. Collier Industrial Waste Ltd can now develop the site and process waste until 2018.

2010 JUL Figures released show that the damage caused by last winter’s freezing conditions amount to over £400,000, with over £250,000 being provided by central government for repairs.

2010 JUL 21 Baroness Helen Newlove wrote a guest column in The Sun newspaper.

2010 JUL 22 The funeral of Private Thomas Sephton, aged 20, from Great Sankey, took place at the Parish Church of St Elphin. He died on 5 July 2010, the day after he was injured in Helmand province in Afghanistan.

2010 JUL 24 The 30^th annual Howley Carnival took place.

2010 JUL Knights in Battle re-enactment society showed pupils at Lysander High School what it was like to be a knight in days gone by. See Warrington Market page for photos of their visit to the market’s 750^th anniversary event in 2005.

2010 JUL Culcheth Royal British Legion was presented with certificates that honoured outstanding achievement in the D-Day landings in the Second World War.

2010 JUL 24 Birchwood fire station held an open day to publicise fire safety.

2010 JUL 20-25 Four Warrington schools received awards at the annual Tatton Show for their garden creations. Woolston CE Primary School received a gold award, with honours for Evelyn St, St Oswald’s and Appleton Thorn schools. Making Space charity in Allen Street received a bronze award.

2010 JUL 27 – Aug 7  Scouts from Warrington joined others in the 13^th World Scout Moot in Kenya, part of which involved building a dam to improve life for villagers. The Warrington team raised £44,000 to fund the trip. Read more about the event here http://scouts.org.uk/wsm2010.

2010 JUL 31 Laura Harrison sang at the BBC Proms concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. Her contribution celebrated the work of American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, famous for Sweeney Todd and West Side Story.

2010 JUL Fifteen staff from Golden Gates Housing completed the Three Peaks Challenge to raise £4,500 for Birchwood charity, Brainwave. The event involves climbing the three highest peaks in the UK within 24 hours: Ben Nevis, Scotland (1,344m), Scafell Pike (England, 978m) and Snowdon in Wales (1,085m). They achieved it with just two minutes to spare.

2010 JUL 29 Hotel group Contessa pulled out of plans to convert Walton Hall into a 5-star hotel.

Aug 2010

2010 AUG VPX (Victoria Park Experience) took place throughout the month. The event included coaching for skating, skateboarding, bike riding, sport, dance and DJ-ing.

2010 AUG 2 Warrington Borough Council hosted Fun Day Monday in Time Square and market areas. Market stalls, donkey rides and children’s entertainment were part of the attractions.

2010 AUG 4 Warrington Borough Council hosted National Play Day in the town centre. Activities included face painting and children’s entertainment.

2010 AUG 7 The second annual St Rocco’s Hospice Dragon Boat Race took place at Warrington Rowing Club on the Mersey at Howley.

2010 AUG Asco supermarket, which took over the vacant Woolworth’s store in December 2009, went into administration.

2010 AUG Part of the Greenalls site on Loushers Lane was sold off for office space.

2010 AUG 7 Burtonwood village held its first scarecrow competition. Visitors walked round the village to score each of the nineteen scarecrows and raised funds for St Michael and All Angels Parish Church.

2010 AUG 8 Warrington Wolves beat Catalans Dragons 54-12 to reach the Carnegie Challenge Cup Final at Wembley for the second year in a row. They meet Leeds Rhinos on Saturday 28 August 2010.

2010 AUG 8 The annual Lymm Rushbearing Festival took place. Read more about the ceremony here.

2010 AUG Stockton Heath Methodist church received a ££2,000 grant from the Veolia Environmental Trust towards the upgrade of the church hall.

2010 AUG Alexander Park in Stockton Heath received a Green Flag Award. Meanwhile, Walton Gardens’ Walton Lea Project receives a Green Pennant Award for the sixth year.

2010 AUG 9-14 The Youth For Christ organisation hosted family fun days across the borough. The days included Penketh (Aug 9^th), Stockton Heath (10^th), Dallam (11^th), Lymm (12^th), Birchwood (13^th) and Orford on the 14^th.

2010 AUG 10 Christine Cullen, wife of former Warrington Wolves coach Paul Cullen, died after a long battle with cancer. She was 48.

2010 AUG 14 Scott Street Carnival took place on St Peter’s Way Park. All proceeds were donated to Green Lane Special School.

2010 AUG TV actor Max Beesley, who appears in Sky drama Thorne visited the Café Salar in Lymm. He previously appeared in Hotel Babylon as Charlie Richards.

2010 AUG 17 Arsonists set fire to the bandstand in Walton Hall Gardens, totally destroying it.

2010 AUG Labour Party leadership candidates Ed Balls and Ed Milliband visited the town.

2010 AUG 28 Warrington Wolves beat Leeds Rhinos 30-6 in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley. The club makes history for itself – it is the first time they have had back-to-back Final victories in the competition, having beat Huddersfield 25-16 last year.

2010 AUG 28 Warrington Borough Council hosted an Armed Services Day on Bridge Street and Horsemarket Street in support of Help for Heroes.

Sep 2010

2010 SEP 2  Two people were arrested and released on police bail over the murder of Shafilea Ahmed in 2003 in the Lake District. 

2010 SEP 2 Vandals strike at Oakwood Avenue Junior School in Padgate as over £10,000 of play equipment is destroyed in a blaze which started in one of the wooden out-buildings.

2010 SEP 4 Warrington Borough Council hosted the Annual Farmers Market in the town centre.

2010 SEP 5  The annual Woolston Show took place in Woolston Park. Attractions included a circus skills workshop, donkey rides, dog show, vegetable competition and a fairground. Read about the history of the park in Warrington Green 2.

2010 SEP Shoppers and traders were disgusted with the announcement that council employees can use the market car park at heavily discounted rates. They will pay 60p per day, a fraction of the £5.70 cost for more than four hours.

2010 SEP The council announced they will need to make an extra £20 million of cuts in public spending over the next three years, on top of the £30 million already announced.

2010 SEP Fair 4 All Fairtrade stall in the market was named as Divine chocolate company’s Stockist of the Month. The prize is a bucketful of gold coins (made of chocolate).

2010 SEP Businesswoman Sue Thomason launched Beautiful magazine, which is aimed at women who are size 12 and over. Read more at www.beautifulmagazine.co.uk

2010 SEP Former Warrington Wolves player Paul Derbyshire is diagnosed with motor neurone disease. He served the club for 18 years.

2010 SEP Rixton Methodist Church on Chapel Lane becomes The Bikers Church after members of the Christian Motorcyclists’ Association began to hold meetings there.

2010 SEP Warrington Borough Council approved planning permission to convert the former tram shelter outside St Elphin’s Park into a new entrance at the beauty spot. See photos, right. See On The Buses page for the story of the trams. ADD IMAGES.

2010 SEP 4 Grappenhall Community Centre hosted a village fete to celebrate the re-opening of the Bellhouse Lane centre.

2010 SEP It is announced that the life of Arpley landfill site at Liverpool Road, Sankey Bridges could be extended for a further 12 years until 2025. It was due to close in 2013. Residents began a campaign against the plan.

2010 SEP 6 Birchwood College opened. The official opening ceremony was performed by the Mayor, Clr John Joyce, in November 2010.

2010 SEP 7 The former Bruche Police Training centre site was used as the base for an emergency services training exercise to test how they would respond to a biological or chemical attack.

2010 SEP 11 Cairo Street Unitarian Chapel opened its doors to the public for National Heritage Week. 

2010 SEP 11 The 62^nd annual Hatton Show took place in Daresbury. Attractions included Golborne Brass Band, Cheshire Wood Turners, a pet show, a horse show and a real ale tent.

2010 SEP 11 Fearnhead Fun Day took place at Lysander High School. Attractions included Warrington Pipe Band, Cheshire Cadets, street dancers, gymnastics, boxing and cheerleading.

2010 SEP 11-12 Warrington Fire Station on Winwick Road hosted a charity car wash day in aid of Help the Heroes and The Firefighters Charity, followed by an Open Day on the Sunday.

2010 SEP 16 A new toy shop, The Entertainer, opened its new store in Golden Square. Meanwhile, Marks and Spencer unveils its revamped store and Poundland opened in the former Woolworth’s/Asco store on Sankey Street.

2010 SEP 18 Warrington Market hosted a vintage day and craft fare.

2010 SEP 18 The Piano Bar opened on Bold Street. Entertainment included a live pianist and vocalist.

2010 SEP 18 Fairfield and Howley Neighbourhood Project held its first open day at the former St Elphin’s Fairfield Primary School on Fairfield Street. The event featured birds of prey and karate demonstrations.

2010 SEP 18 Warrington Wolves were beaten 34-22 by Huddersfield Giants to end their run in the 2010 Super League play-offs.

2010 SEP Warrington’s Museum of Policing at Arpley Street received a grant of £21,000 to make improvements.

2010 SEP It is revealed that Warrington Borough Council has paid out around £2.5 million in personal injury claims in the past three years.

2010 SEP Warrington Borough Council announced plans to regenerate areas around the market and Bridge Street into office space.

2010 SEP Warrington history lecturer Dr David Harrison of Liverpool Hope University published his book The Transformation of Freemasonry, which includes stories of how the Freemasons movement played a part in education at Warrington Academy.

2010 SEP Lakes Centre Nursery on Sandy Lane, Orford, received an ‘outstanding’ award in every category in a recent Ofsted report.

2010 SEP An application by Howards Environmental Services to build a recycling plant on land off Folly Lane, Bewsey, was refused by Warrington Borough Council.

2010 SEP It is announced that Stockton Heath Festival has made a profit for the third year in a row. The four-day event cost £29,500 to host and brought in revenue totalling £31,000.

2010 SEP 24 Warrington charity fundraisers took part in the 10th annual Macmillan Cancer Support ‘world’s biggest coffee morning’ event.

2010 SEP 25 Warrington Borough Council hosted the Warrington Disability Partnership Mobility Show in the town centre.

2010 SEP 25-26 The Harvest of the Talents event took place at Christ Church, Croft. The event included dancing, art and crafts, pottery and corn weaving. It also featured a barn dance at Croft Memorial Hall on the Saturday night.

2010 SEP 26 Circus Starr performers put on a show on Church Street car boot site to raise funds for Claire House Children’s Hospice.

2010 SEP 26 Warrington Wizards defeated Huddersfield Underbank Rangers 23-18 to be crowned 2010 Champions of the Co-operative Rugby League Conference National Grand Final at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

2010 SEP 26 The Halliwell Jones Stadium hosts the Co-operative Conference National League One grand final between Halifax and Featherstone. Halifax won the match 23-22. However, a fire was deliberately started in toilets beneath the west stand which delayed the start for an hour and a man was seriously assaulted after the game on Dallam Lane, requiring hospital treatment.

2010 SEP A four-year-old child from Great Sankey received a reply from the Queen when she asked her to attend her princess-themed 5th birthday party.

Oct 2010

2010 OCT 1 Former Liverpool and England World Cup footballer, Roger Hunt MBE, officially opened the new £28 million Culcheth High School.

2010 OCT 3 The New Balance English Half Marathon took place, leaving Victoria Park and following a route around south Warrington streets. Over 2,500 runners took part to raise money for local charities.

2010 OCT 3 The annual Duke of Lancaster’s Regimental service took place at the Parish Church. The usual parade from the town hall to the church was cancelled due to bad weather. The event dates back to 1938 and takes place on the first Sunday of October each year.

2010 OCT Commonwealth Games flyweight boxing champion Stephen Smith visited St Barnabas Primary School to talk to pupils about his achievements.

2010 OCT Department of Transport figures show that Warrington had a 50% higher rate of road casualties than towns of a similar size in 2009. Six were killed and 87 were seriously injured out of a total of 989.

2010 OCT Steven Broomhead, chief executive of Warrington-based Northwest Development Agency, announced his retirement. The agency itself will be scrapped by the government in 2012. Mr Broomhead is also the chairman of Warrington Wolves and has previously served on Warrington Borough Council.

2010 OCT 18-19 Bolton comedian Peter Kay returned to the Pyramid arts centre to perform two sell-out shows.

2010 OCT Warrington’s Fairtrade steering group was named overall winner of the national 2010 Fairtrade Fortnight Awards. Events included a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and a Strictly Tea Dance.

2010 OCT The annual Oughtrington Community Centre fun run took place. Part of the race included the Spud Run through Spud Wood in the village. Read more about Spud Wood in Warrington Green 2.

2010 OCT 19 A new Guinness World record was set at the Parr Hall when local resident Sandra Whitfield sees her image made out of 9,852 slices of toast to celebrate her 50th birthday.

2010 OCT Warrington resident Eric Lowe received the Government Code and Cypher School award for his work in morse code on HMS Warspite during the Second World War.

2010 OCT A £30,000 revamp of Warrington Baptist church was unveiled by the Mayor, Clr John Joyce.

2010 OCT 21-23 Oktoberfest 14 beer festival took place at the Pyramid arts centre. The event, hosted by Warrington Rotary Club, has so far raised £160,000 for charities. This year’s event raised £17,000.

2010 OCT Plans to upgrade thousands of street lights in Warrington were scrapped by the government.

2010 OCT 26 A fashion show formed part of the first Ladies Evening at the Peace Centre in Great Sankey to raise over £2,500 for the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace.

2010 OCT A planning application was submitted which would transform derelict land behind St Mark’s Church in Dallam into sports pitches and playgrounds. The Dallam Park Project would also improve links to Sankey Valley Park.

2010 OCT 31 The first Mercian Marathon took place between Warrington and Chester town halls. The marathon was the idea of Warrington soldier Private Amir Unsworth, an army physical trainer with the Mercian Regiment, who has served in Afghanistan. Proceeds went to the Mercian Benevolent Fund.

Nov 2010

2010 NOV Boxing legend Frank Bruno launched this year’s Poppy Appeal in Warrington where he met the Mercian Regiment at the Royal British Legion.

2010 NOV It was announced by the government that a Local Enterprise Partnership will replace the Northwest Development Agency in the Cheshire and Warrington areas.

2010 NOV Lord Hoyle and Sue Johnston each received a Doctor of Letters from Chester University for their services, Lord Hoyle for services to the borough and Sue Johnston for services to television, drama and the performing arts.

2010 NOV Liberal Democrat Jo Crotty resigned as councillor for Bewsey and Whitecross. A by-election will takes place on 9 December 2010.

2010 NOV The Coach House Brewing Company, based in Howley, won a gold award for their Blueberry Classic Bitter at the SIBA North Beer Competition in Manchester.

2010 NOV 5 Warrington Wolves player Jon Clarke graduated from the University of Chester with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport and Exercise Science.

2010 NOV 5 Latchford-born jockey Paul Hanagan was named Champion Jockey after winning at Doncaster. He had won 191 of 1,102 rides this season.

2010 NOV 11 The town stood silent for the annual two-minute silence for those who gave their lives in the wars.

2010 NOV 13 TV comedian Al Murray visited Asda Cockhedge to sign his new book The Pub Landlord’s Great British Pub Quiz Book.

2010 NOV 14 Remembrance services took place across the borough to remember those who lost their lives in the wars.

2010 NOV 15 TV comedian Dave Spikey visited Waterstones in Golden Square to sign his new book Under the Microscope.

2010 NOV 15 Warrington Borough Council announced that plans to outsource the planning department are to be scrapped and the service will remain in-house. The executive committee heard that moving the service outside of the council does not offer value for money, when compared to running it from the town hall.

2010 NOV A group of mums from St Elphin’s Primary School launched the Yummy Mummy calendar to raise money for Help for Heroes. Link to the charity here.

2010 NOV Plans are once again put on the table to redevelop the site of the former Holy Trinity vicarage on Palmyra Square into a five-storey restaurant and apartments complex. The vicarage would be demolished. A similar scheme to include a restaurant with offices on upper floors was put forward in 2009.

2010 NOV A group of youngsters from 2137 Squadron of the Air Training Corps in Lymm visited the Omaha Beach cemetery in France as part of a battlefield tour to remember those killed in the Second World War.

2010 NOV 18 The town’s Christmas lights switch-on at Golden Square was performed by yet another reject from the X-Factor TV series. This year it was Treyc Cohen.

2010 NOV Former public toilets on Winwick Road opposite Tesco were sold by the council to a property developer for £37,000. It begs the question, what on earth are they going to do with the building? ADD IMAGE.

2010 NOV 19 Warrington Wolves assistant coach James Lowes announced he is leaving the club to pursue other ventures (at Leeds Rhinos, in fact, the day after). The 41-year-old took over when Paul Cullen left and reverted to assistant when Tony Smith arrived in 2009.

2010 NOV 22 Warrington Wolves announced the appointment of Willie Poching as the new assistant coach to Tony Smith.

2010 NOV 23 Latchford History Group launched its new book Bridge to Bridge at St Hilda’s Mission church on Slater Street. The publication charts the history of Knutsford Road from Warrington Bridge to the village centre.

2010 NOV The John Holt Cancer Support Foundation, which featured on Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire programme, received a grant of £9,800. Link to the charity.2010 NOV 27 BBC Radio Manchester’s Takeover Taxi scheme called into town to give listeners a one-minute audition in the back of a taxi in order to win the chance to present a one-hour radio show on 3 January 2011.

2010 NOV 28 ‘Voice of the Balls’ Radio 2 announcer Alan Dedicoat hosted the annual BBC Children in Need quiz at the British Legion Village Club in Culcheth for the eighth year in succession.

2010 NOV 29 Golden Gates Housing Trust officially took over the housing stock from Warrington Borough Council. The Trust will invest £530 million over the next 30 years to improve the quality of over 8,700 properties. 2010 NOV 30 Thousands lined the streets of Warrington to greet soldiers from the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment as they returned home from their tour of duty in Afghanistan.

2010 NOV 30 Snow in Warrington. Sankey canal at Bewsey froze over. ADD IMAGE.

Dec 2010

2010 DEC 1 Coronation Street regular Katherine Kelly (Becky McDonald in the soap) was on hand to launch a new production line at distillers G & J Greenall in Birchwood.

2010 DEC 2 Credit where due: thanks to Warrington Borough Council for gritting the footpaths on the side streets in my area of Warrington during the icy weather.

2010 DEC Warrington Wolves and the council announced they were bidding to host one of the games in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

2010 DEC 3 Culcheth Primary School Christmas Fair took place. Attractions included Santa’s reindeer, tombola, raffle and maggot racing!

2010 DEC 4 Newchurch Parish Church in Culcheth announced a £22,000 revamp to the parish hall. Parts of the building date back to 1821 when it was used as the village school. The work was completed in March 2011.

2010 DEC Golden Square shopping centre hosted a Santa training day as it emerged in a national survey that parents were avoiding grottos because stand-in Santas didn’t look or sound right.

2010 DEC Children from Cobbs Infant School dressed up in Victorian costumes to raise money for the school.

2010 DEC Hatton Parish Council purchased the red BT phone box outside the Hatton Arms pub and, after consulting the public, turned it into a book exchange.

2010 DEC Warrington Wolves Halliwell Jones Stadium received a licence to hold wedding ceremonies. The first marriage service took place in August 2011.

2010 DEC The Looking Glass pub on Buttermarket Street received the Loo of the Year Award for 2010.

2010 DEC 8 The Hoop and Mallet pub in Callands celebrated 25 years of existence by charging 1985 prices. A £2.55 pint of lager was on sale for 85p and bitter was reduced from £2.20 to 75p.

2010 DEC 8  Former Mayor, Councillor and Honorary Freeman, Violet Ivy Edwards died aged 85. Read more about the honour here.

2010 DEC After a funding crisis in the NHS, a revised plan to build a new Garven Place medical centre on the site of Legh Street Baths is finally approved. Work started in 2011 and the centre should be open in 2012.

2010 DEC Greenalls Band from Great Sankey won first prize in the North Wales Brass Band Championships with its renditions of The Wizard by George Allan and Music for a Festival by Phillip Sparke.

2010 DEC 9 Warrington Hospital’s A&E unit experienced one of its busiest days since opening in the 1970s due to the bad weather. 330 patients attended for treatment.

2010 DEC 10  The Peninsula Barracks on O’Leary Street, Orford, held its annual carol concert, featuring Warrington Male Voice Choir, Lancashire Artillery (Volunteer) Band and Warrington Pipe Band.

2010 DEC 10 Hundreds took part in a Santa Dash to raise money for Birchwood charity Brainwave, the Warrington Guardian charity of the year for 2010. The Brainwave Centre opened on Dewhurst Road in October 2009.

2010 DEC 14  Andrew Leicester, a stallholder on Warrington Market, was named BBC Young Fishmonger of the Year in a BBC Three TV competition. Link here for the BBC North West Tonight story.

2010 DEC 14 A unit in Golden Square shopping centre at Market Gate opened as a police drop-in centre. Dare I say it – welcome to the Cop Shop!

2010 DEC 16 Warrington Lantern Parade took place in the town centre as part of the Christmas festivities, with the Salvation Army Band providing music. Warrington Lantern Parade took place in the town centre as part of the Christmas festivities, with the Salvation Army Band

2010 DEC 17 Snow in Warrington.

2010 DEC – FEB 2011 New York artist Elbow-Toe (Brian Adam Douglas) chose Warrington Museum to showcase his Due Date exhibition of work, the first time he has displayed his creations in the UK.

2010 DEC A letter sent from The Beatles manager Brian Epstein to Warrington resident Norman Partington in 1966 sold for £850 at Bonham’s auction house in London.

2010 DEC Shoppers are annoyed when they see Easter eggs on sale in December. I had to chuckle when an anonymous reader of the Warrington Guardian said “I find it very disturbing. We have just celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ. We shouldn’t be marking his death already”. I won’t spoil it then by saying Jesus wasn’t even born in the winter…