Callands
Introduction
Callands is located in north-west Warrington across the Sankey (St Helens) Canal from Dallam alongside Sankey Valley Park and comes under the parish of Burtonwood and Westbrook.
The estate is built on farmland and named after Callands Farm; the farmhouse still stands. The area was once part of the hunting ground of King Henry I. Big Moss Wood and Little Moss Wood are two green areas which are part of the district.
The street names have a Welsh theme – St David’s Drive, Harlech Close, Wrexham Close, Holyhead Close, etc.
View to Callands from Westbrook with Callands Farm house on the right
Callands was built during the new town boom of the 1980s. It features the Hoop and Mallet pub, Callands Primary School, a community centre, a retirement home (Woodleigh) and Kidsunlimited Nursery. Like many parts of outer Warrington, farms originally covered the land. Callands farmhouse still stands on the edge of the district.
Play area of North Park Road
In 1993 and 1994, Granada TV filmed a children’s drama in the area called “Three Seven Eleven”, set in the fictional Barton Wood Primary School (a name based on the nearby district name of Burtonwood). Exterior scenes were filmed around the streets of Callands, and Callands Primary School was the location of the school scenes, but internal filming was done on a set based on the school back at Granada’s Manchester studios. The series was written by Bernard Ashley, Colin Ashley and Marvin Close.
Gemini Retail Park
Gemini is an industrial and retail area in the north of the town close to Dallam, Callands and Winwick Quay.
It is centred around Europa Boulevard and includes the first Ikea. This was the first UK store for the Swedish company who started the flat-pack furniture system we all take for granted now. But how did it start? Quite simply, the boss wanted to take a table home in the back of his car and it was too big, so he took the legs off. The rest is history.
Other stores include Marks and Spencer, Boots, Next, Martin Dawes and car showrooms of Arnold Clark Renault and Warrington Audi. Toys R Us had a store at the retail park until the company went into administration in February 2018, with the store closing two months later.
The first Ikea in the UK was opened at Gemini on 1 October 1987
Marks & Spencer opened at Gemini on 13 June 1994 after shutting their town centre store.
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