Borough of Warrington
—  Borough & Unitary authority area (1998)  —
Warrington Town Hall
Official logo of Borough of Warrington Coat of Arms of the Borough Council
Warrington shown within England
Coordinates: 53°23′N 2°36′W / 53.383°N 2.6°W / 53.383; -2.6
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	North West England
Ceremonial county	Cheshire
Admin HQ	Warrington Town Hall
Founded	8th century (exact date unknown)
Town charter	12th century (exact date unknown)
Unitary Authority status	1998
Government
• Type	Unitary authority
• Governing body	Warrington Borough Council
• Mayor	Mike Biggin[1]
• MPs:	Helen Jones (L) David Mowat (C)[2]
Population (2010 est.)
• Total	198,900 (Ranked 82nd)
• Ethnicity	96.9% White 1.2% South Asian
Time zone	Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)
Postcode	WA 1-5 and 13
Area code(s)	01925
ISO 3166-2	GB-WRT
ONS code	00EU
OS grid reference	SJ605885
NUTS 3	UKD21
Website	www.warrington.gov.uk

Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens. The population of the borough is 198,900^[3]. Its population has more than doubled since its designation as a New Town in 1968.

Historically a part of Lancashire, Warrington was founded by the Romans at an important crossing place on the River Mersey. A new settlement was established by the Saxons and by the Middle Ages, Warrington had emerged as a market town at a bridging point of the river. A local tradition of textile and tool production dates from this time.

The expansion and urbanisation of Warrington largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution, particularly after the Mersey was made navigable in the 18th century. The West Coast Mainline runs north to south through the town, and the Liverpool to Manchester railway (the Cheshire Lines route) west to east. The Manchester Ship Canal cuts through the south of the borough (west to east). The M6, M56 and M62 motorways form a partial box around the town.

People born (or living) in Warrington are known as Warringtonians.^[4] The modern Borough of Warrington was formed in 1974 with the amalgamation of the former County Borough of Warrington, part of the Golborne Urban District, the Lymm Urban District, part of the Runcorn Rural District, the Warrington Rural District and part of the Whiston Rural District.

History[link]

Warrington has been a major crossing point on the River Mersey since ancient times and there was a Roman settlement at Wilderspool.^[5] In medieval times Warrington's importance was as a bridging point of 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 near the building which survives on Church Street as The Cottage Restaurant. 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 have been caused by the cannons from the time of the Civil War. On the 13 August 1651 Warrington was the scene of the last Royalist victory of the Civil War when Scots troops under Charles II and David Leslie, Lord Newark, fought Parliamentarians under John Lambert at The Battle of Warrington Bridge.

Industrial history[link]

The expansion and urbanisation of Warrington largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution, particularly after the Mersey was made navigable in the 18th Century. As Britain became industrialised, Warrington embraced the industrial revolution becoming a manufacturing town and a centre of steel (particularly wire), textiles, brewing, tanning and chemical industries. The navigational properties of the river Mersey were improved, canals were built, and the town grew yet more prosperous and popular. When the age of steam came, Warrington naturally welcomed it, both as a means of transport and as a source of power for its mills.

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.

IRA bombing[link]

On 20 March 1993, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated two bombs in Warrington town centre. The blasts killed two children: three-year-old Johnathan Ball died instantly, and twelve-year-old Tim Parry died five days later in hospital. Around 56 other people were injured, four seriously. 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 Colin Parry founded The Peace Centre (formerly the Tim Parry Johnathan 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. He and his family still live in the town.

Other history[link]

In 1981, Warrington was the first place to field a candidate for the then newly formed Social Democratic Party; former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins stood for Parliament but lost to Labour Party candidate Doug Hoyle by a small number of votes.

Many people, particularly Americans, remember Warrington best as the location of Burtonwood RAF base. During World War II, it served as the largest US Army Air Force base outside the United States, and was visited by major celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope who entertained the G.I.s. It continued in use by the USAAF and subsequently USAF as a staging post for men and materiel until 1993.

There was a further RAF training camp at Padgate, a Royal Naval air base at Appleton Thorn (RNAS Stretton) and an army base at the Peninsula Barracks in O'Leary Street, now used by the Territorial Army.

In October 1987, Swedish home products retailer IKEA opened its first British store in the Great Sankey area of the town, bringing more than 200 retail jobs to the area.^[6]

Governance[link]

Historically part of Lancashire, Warrington was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1847 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. Warrington acquired county borough status upon reaching a population of 50,000 in 1900 and until 1974 was known as the County Borough of Warrington. As part of proposed local government reforms of England, in 1969 the Redcliffe-Maud Report suggested merging Warrington with either Merseyside or Greater Manchester metropolitan counties. Lobbying by the borough council averted this. But, since these County boundary changes were to make Warrington non-contiguous with Lancashire, under the local government reforms of 1974, Warrington, incorporating Lymm Urban District and part of Runcorn Rural District from Cheshire, and part of Warrington Rural District, was made a borough within Cheshire County Council.

On April 1, 1998, Warrington became an independent unitary authority, though it is still served by Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, and forms part of Cheshire for ceremonial purposes, such as the Lord Lieutenancy. The current borders of Warrington Borough cover the former County Borough of Warrington, Lymm Urban District, Warrington Rural District and part of Golborne Urban District, part of Runcorn Rural District and part of Whiston Rural District.

Warrington has applied unsuccessfully for city status, the most recent attempt being after the opening of the Peace Centre as a "City for Peace".

As of 4 May 2012 the political makeup of the borough council is as follows:

• 2 Liberal Democrat Wards: Appleton; Grappenhall & Thelwall.
• 13 Labour Wards: Bewsey & Whitecross; Birchwood; Burtonwood & Winwick; Fairfield & Howley; Great Sankey South; Latchford East; Orford; Penketh & Cuerdley; Poplars & Hulme; Poulton North; Poulton South; Rixton & Woolston; and Westbrook
• 1 Conservative Ward: Hatton, Stretton & Walton
• 6 "split" Wards:, Culcheth, Glazebury & Croft (2 Conservative, 1 Labour); Great Sankey North (1 Labour, 1 Liberal Democrat); Latchford West (1 Labour, 1 Liberal Democrat); Lymm (2 Liberal Democrat, 1 Conservative); Stockton Heath (1 Labour, 1 Liberal Democrat); and Whittle Hall (2 Labour, 1 Liberal Democrat).

Current councillor party composition after the Warrington Council election, 2012:

By consequence, the council is run by Labour.^[7]

At Westminster, Warrington is represented by two MPs. Helen Jones (Labour) represents Warrington North, and David Mowat (Conservative) represents Warrington South.

Geography[link]

The Borough of Warrington is bordered by Halton, Cheshire West and Chester, and Cheshire East boroughs in the Ceremonial County of Cheshire and by the metropolitan boroughs of Trafford, Salford and Wigan in Greater Manchester and St. Helens in Merseyside.

Neighbouring Districts and Boroughs

	St. Helens	Wigan	Salford
	Halton		Salford
		Borough of Warrington    East
	Halton	Cheshire West and Chester	Cheshire East, Trafford

Subdivisions, suburbs, and civil parishes of Warrington[link]

The Borough of Warrington is subdivided into 18 civil parishes and various suburbs of the central town of Warrington, which is an unparished area:

Civil parishes[link]

Appleton, Birchwood, Burtonwood and Westbrook, Croft, Cuerdley, Culcheth and Glazebury, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Great Sankey, Hatton, Lymm, Penketh, Poulton-with-Fearnhead, Rixton-with-Glazebrook, Stockton Heath, Stretton, Walton, Winwick, Woolston

Other areas[link]

Appleton Thorn, Bewsey, Blackbrook, Bruche, Callands, Cinnamon Brow, Cobbs, Dallam, Fairfield, Gemini, Gorse Covert, Grange, Hermitage Green, Hollins Green, Howley, Hulme, Kenyon, Latchford, Locking Stumps, Martinscroft, Old Hall, Omega, Longford, Orford, Paddington, Padgate, Risley, Sankey Bridges, Statham, Thelwall, Westbrook, Westy, Wilderspool, Woolston, Wright's Green

Climate[link]

Warrington has a temperate maritime climate with warm summers and cool winters. Rain is spread across the year with thunderstorms occurring only in the summer months. Summer heat waves are rare but can cause temperatures to exceed 30'c. Summers are always snow and frost free and rarely experience high winds. Winters are generally mild with most days recording above 0'c and free of lying snow. However during occasional lengthy cold snaps night-time temperatures can fall to -12'c with lying snow lasting for weeks. Ground frost regularly occurs from late October until late March. High winds are not uncommon in winter although rarely above gale force 7.

Demography[link]

Based on ONS statistics

Population and ethnicity[link]

Warrington has a total population of around 200,000, of which 49.1% are male and 50.9% are female. The average age of the population is 38.06 years, which is slightly below the regional and national averages. In the borough, the majority of people are of White British ethnicity (97.9%). The key minorities are mixed race (0.6%), black ethnicity (0.2%), and Asian origin (0.8%), other racial origins account for 0.5% of the population.

There are around 100 churches or other Christian communities, two mosques, and a Sikh temple Guru Nanak Gurdwara which is the only Sikh place of worship in Cheshire.^[9]

Housing and social situation[link]

As at the 2001 census (the last available data), the borough of Warrington had 80,593 households. Of this 80,593 households, 76% are owner occupied, 17.6% are rented from the council, 4.8% are rented from other sources and 1.6% of houses have residents who live rent free. Warrington has a population density of 10.7 residents per hectare, and 31.9% of residents describe the borough is a comfortably well off area, 4.3% of households are deemed overcrowded. Of the total population, 5.8% of residents are on some form of benefits.

Employment and education[link]

At 2005, the borough of Warrington had 63.6% employment, with only 2.9% of all economically active people unemployed - although a substantial rise began in 2008 due to the recession. 2.3% of the population are students in full-time higher education. 31.1% of the total population are economically inactive (due to retirement, ill health, or full-time carer status). According to borough statistics, of the population (in the Borough of Warrington in 2005). 26.9% are unqualified (either due to leaving school early or failing the end of school examinations). 46.4% have level 1 or 2 qualifications (level 1 being 1+ GCSE (A*-G) or "O" Level or equivalent, level 2 being 5+ GCSEs (grades A-C), 1+'A' levels/ AS levels (A-E) or equivalent). 19.7% have received level 3+ qualifications (meaning 2+ A-levels (A-E), 4+ AS-levels (A-E) or equivalent minimum).

Economy[link]

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Halton and Warrington at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

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 the 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. In the surrounding modern suburbs, there are several shopping areas, from small groups of shops to malls such as Birchwood Mall. IKEA chose Warrington as the location for their first store when they came to the UK; the store is located in the large out-of-town shopping area of Gemini, which has a large Marks and Spencer (the biggest outside London), Toys "R" Us, and Next outlets.

Developments[link]

The Omega Development Site close to the M62 on the northern edge of Warrington is a major business park to be developed in stages over the next 30 years. The site for this is the 575 acres (2.33 km²) of space on the former Burtonwood Airbase.

Other developments in Warrington include the Wire Works on Winwick Street which is set to transform the gateway into the town centre with a mixture of retail, cafes, bars, apartments, and an 8-screen cinema.

These and other developments have been delayed by the economic climate.

Transport[link]

Warrington after the coming of the railway, 1851

The town has two main railway stations. Bank Quay is on the main West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central and the Manchester Piccadilly to North Wales via Chester line. Central is on the Liverpool to Manchester line (via Widnes and Warrington) with through services to the North East and to East Anglia. Bank Quay is much altered, but Central (built 1873) is of some architectural merit, featuring polychromatic brickwork. Both have undergone some refurbishment including new entrances. There are also railway stations in the suburbs at Padgate, Sankey, Glazebrook and Birchwood.

The town lies close to the M62, M6 and M56 motorways and midway between Liverpool and Manchester airports. It also has four Primary A roads A49, A50, A56 and A57. The A580 (East Lancs Road) runs along the north of the town.

Warrington Borough Transport, one of the few municipal bus companies to survive in public ownership, runs most bus services within the town. First Group and Arriva Northwestern provide bus links to surrounding towns and cities such as Manchester, the Trafford Centre, Liverpool, St Helens, Runcorn, Widnes and Chester. A real-time passenger information system is installed but is not entirely reliable. A new bus station known as Warrington Interchange opened in 2006 at the Golden Square Shopping Centre.

The River Mersey runs through the heart of the town dividing it in two. There are only two main thoroughfares crossing the Mersey in Warrington: at Bridge Foot and at the Kingsway Bridge. Before the M6 was built, these routes were very busy with through traffic.

The Manchester Ship Canal runs through the south of the town; three swing bridges and a high-level cantilever bridge provide crossing points, and another high-level crossing is planned downstream nearer to Runcorn. Although shipping movements on the ship canal are far less frequent than in years past, they can cause severe delay to local road traffic. The picturesque Bridgewater Canal runs through the borough from the scenic village of Lymm to Walton Hall and Gardens, a local park/leisure area.

Culture[link]

Warrington Museum & Art Gallery

Warrington has a concert hall (the Parr Hall), an arts centre (the Pyramid), a museum (Warrington Museum & 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 (see also Parks in Warrington) 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. Alongside the karting centre is a golf driving range, with an American golf shop attached. Pitch and putt and crazy golf are available at Walton Hall and Gardens. A Laser Quest arena and a snooker club can also be found in Warrington, both located close to the town centre. Gulliver's World Theme Park is located in Old Hall, Apple Jacks Farm Theme Park is situated in Stretton.

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.^[14]

Other festivals, besides the many walking days, include:

• Appleton Thorn Bawming of the Thorn
• Birchwood Carnival and Safari Day
• Croft Carnival
• Culcheth Community Day
• Glazebury Gala
• Howley Carnival
• Lymm May Queen
• Lymm Dickensian Festival
• Lymm Rushbearing
• Penketh Carnival
• Stockton Heath Arts Festival
• Thelwall Rose Queen
• Winwick Carnival
• Westy Carnival

Warrington also has many musical groups, including Warrington Male Voice Choir, Warrington Youth Orchestra, North Cheshire Wind Orchestra, Centenary Theatre Company (Centenary website link) and the award winning barbershop chorus, the Cheshire Chord Company

The first MMR vaccine to be administered in the UK was given by Dr Benjamin Paterson at Warrington General Hospital in 1971.^{[citation needed]}

Sports[link]

Rugby league is the town's premier sport in the form of Warrington Wolves who are nicknamed "The Wire" (which is also a nickname for Warrington itself)^[15] 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 Stadium. Warrington Wolves are the only team to have played every season in the top flight of rugby league. They recently put themselves back on the map as one of the leading rugby clubs in the country by taking home the challenge cup for two years running in 2009 and 2010. This was won by them for the first time since 1973. ^[16] 2011 also saw the Wolves gain the super league leaders shield for the first time. The town is also home to Warrington Wizards who also play their home matches at Wilderspool Stadium. The Wizards are currently in the Rugby League Conference. Warrington is represented in the British Amateur Rugby League Association leagues by;

• Bank Quay Bulls ARLFC
• Burtonwood Bulldogs ARLFC
• Crosfields ARLFC
• Culcheth Eagles ARLFC
• Latchford Albion ARLFC
• Rylands ARFLC
• Woolston Rovers ARLFC

Football is represented by Warrington Town at Cantilever Park, next to the Manchester Ship Canal. The club has several nicknames including Town, Yellows, Wire and Warriors. Warrington Town are currently in the Northern Premier League Division One North.

Rowing in Warrington may well have been taking place for nearly 200 years. It is known that Warrington Regatta is well over 150 years old, often attracting large crowds on the riverbank. The modern Warrington rowing club started in the mid-1980s and is based near Kingsway Bridge. Warrington is home to both recreational and competitive rowers with some of these athletes now winning National Standard events and will be pulling on international vests, Olivia Whitlam along with Richard Egington, were the first rowers from Warrington at the Olympics. The club is now bigger than ever with a large number of juniors, seniors and veterans and is just about to embark on its next project - a new boathouse with state-of-the-art facilities for both the club and local community. Warrington Rowing Club is an accredited Explore Rowing club, which is part of a national strategy led by British Rowing. The purpose of this scheme is to introduce rowing to as many people as possible irrespective of whether they want to take up the sport competitively or on a recreational basis.

Warrington Athletic Club is 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.

Speedway racing, formerly known as Dirt Track racing was staged in Warrington in its pioneering era between 1928 and 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.

Warrington Wolves Basketball team was set up in 2009 and competes in the English Basketball League Division Four.

Warrington has four predominant Rugby Union teams; Warrington RUFC, Lymm RFC, Gentlemen of Moore RUFC and Eagle RUFC, who are based at Thornton Road.

Education[link]

Warrington is home to two colleges: Priestley Sixth Form and Community College and Warrington Collegiate. The University of Chester has a campus at Padgate that was formerly part of Warrington Collegiate. Most of the high schools have their own post-16 provision (sixth-form).

The high schools throughout the borough are located at: Birchwood, Culcheth, Appleton (known as Bridgewater High School Warrington), two in Latchford (Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School and Cardinal Newman Roman Catholic High School), Sankey, Lymm (Lymm High School), Padgate (Lysander Community High School), Penketh, Westbrook (St Gregory's Catholic High School), Orford (William Beamont High School), and Woolston.^[17] Woolston High School is to be closed in 2012.

There are also 74 primary schools in the borough, all of which feed into at least one of the above.^[18]

There are also a selection of private schools. This includes an all girls high school, Cransley High School, Great Budworth. There are also a mixture of different religious schools.

Landmarks[link]

The park gates at Warrington Town Hall

Sites of interest in Warrington include:

• The Town Hall (and its golden gates), formerly Bank Hall (built 1750), the home of the Philips family and their scion the artist Nathaniel George Philips.^[19]
• The Academy, a dissenters' institute where Joseph Priestley once taught. After being moved from their original location, the building now houses the offices of the local newspaper "The Warrington Guardian". A statue of Oliver Cromwell stands in front.
• "Cromwell's Cottage" (17th century), which Cromwell is said to have visited.
• The 14th century Parish Church of St Elphin, largely a Victorian rebuild with a 281-foot (86 m) spire, the sixth tallest in the UK.
• The Halliwell Jones Stadium home of Warrington Wolves
• Wilderspool Stadium, the former home of Warrington Wolves, now hosts the home games of Warrington Wizards.
• The Parr Hall, home to one of the few remaining Cavaillé-Coll organs.
• The Pyramid Arts Centre on Palmyra Square.
• The Warrington Transporter Bridge, a listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.^[20]
• The Barley Mow, established in 1561, the oldest pub in Warrington.
• Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, Grade II listed building and one of the oldest municipal museums in the UK.
• The Cheshire Lines railway warehouse, now redeveloped as apartments.
• The row of late Victorian terracotta shops on Bridge Street.[18]
• Fiddlers Ferry Power Station
• The industrial modernist Unilever Soapworks.
• The Art Deco style Mr Smiths nightclub (formerly the ABC cinema and before this The Ritz).
• Holy Trinity Church, 1758, Grade II* listed Georgian church at Market Gate.
• Old St Ann's Church, 1869, Grade II* church designed by John Douglas, now a rock climbing centre.
• St Mary's Church, Grade II church designed by E. W. Pugin and Peter Paul Pugin in Buttermarket.
• Bewsey Old Hall, a rebuilt medieval manor house.
• IKEA store which is located near the Gemini retail park. The first of the IKEA chain to be built in the UK.^[21]
• The former Woolworth's Building in Sankey Street (originally Garnett's furniture showroom and currently Poundland).
• St Wilfrid's Church, Grappenhall, Grade I listed medieval church.
• St Oswald's Church, Winwick, Grade I listed medieval church.

Notable residents[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

• Joseph Priestley, 18th century free-thinker and scientist, who lived in Warrington and taught at the Academy.^[4]
• William Beamont, Victorian solicitor and local philanthropist, who founded several churches and the municipal library (the first rate-aided library in the country}.^[22]
• George Formby (Junior), entertainer, lived for many years in Warrington and is buried in Warrington Cemetery, with his father George Formby (Senior), also an entertainer.^[23]
• Ian Brown, lead singer of The Stone Roses, was born in Warrington and lived in Forster Street. He now lives in Lymm.
• Pete Postlethwaite (1946–2011), actor, was born in Warrington. A studio in the Pyramid Arts Centre has been named after him.
• Sue Johnston, actress and star of Brookside and The Royle Family.
• Chris Evans, DJ and TV presenter, was born and grew up in Warrington.^[24]
• Kerry Katona, singer/actress, lived in Warrington.
• Andrew Whyment, actor, lives in Warrington.
• George Sampson, dancer and winner of Britain's Got Talent in 2008.^[25]
• Pete Waterman, record producer, lives in Warrington, in the village of Winwick.^[26]
• Pete McCarthy, actor, was born in Warrington and is honoured in a plaque on the wall of the Pyramid Arts Centre.
• Steven Arnold, actor, best known for his role as Ashley Peacock in Coronation Street, was born in Warrington.
• Tim Curry, actor, singer and composer, was born in Warrington and lived in Grappenhall.
• George Duckworth, first class cricketer, who played Test cricket for England, was born in Warrington. He played first class cricket for Lancashire between 1923 and 1947.^[27]
• Neil Fairbrother, first class cricketer, who played Test cricket for England, was born in Warrington.^[28]
• Bill Ryder-Jones, former guitarist of The Coral was born in Warrington.
• Rebekah Brooks, journalist, newspaper editor and former chief executive of News International) attended Appleton Hall County Grammar School in Warrington.^[29]
• Bob Fulton, Australian Rugby League player and selector, was born in Warrington.^[30]
• Garry Newlove, victim of high profile murder in August 2007, died after being attacked outside his house in the Fearnhead area of the town.^[31]
• Comedy Dave Vitty, D.J Sidekick and Dancing on Ice (Series 6) Contestant), relocated from Hong Kong and spent much of his childhood in Warrington.
• Nick Robins, broadcaster with BBC Radio, lives in Warrington
• John Bramwell, singer-songwriter (frontman for the band I Am Kloot) was born in Warrington on 27 November 1964.
• Jan Linton, singer/songwriter, was born in Warrington, but re-located to Japan.^[32]
• James Chester, footballer currently playing for Hull City A.F.C. was born in Warrington.
• Stephen Foster, defender and captain of Barnsley F.C., was born in the town.
• Ossie Clark (1942–1996), fashion designer, grew up in Warrington where he attended William Beamont Secondary Technical School.^[33]
• Chris Braide, songwriter and record producer, was born in Warrington and lived in Padgate.
• Darren Jeffries, actor, best known for his role as OB in Hollyoaks.
• Helen Wakefield, broadcaster with local radio and the BBC
• Warren Brown (actor) Regular BBC actor, born and lives in Warrington.
• Neil McGrath (born 4 December 1942, former British racing driver.
• Tim Bowness, singer-songwriter (best known as singer for the band No-Man) was born in Stockton Heath, Warrington on 29 November 1963 and spent both his childhood and his early twenties in the town.
• Luke Fildes (1843–1927), artist, studied at Warrington School of Art.
• William Norman, VC (1832–1896), a local war hero, was born in Warrington.^[34]

Twin towns[link]

• Náchod, Czech Republic
• Hilden, Rhineland, Germany

See also[link]

• List of parks in Warrington
• Warrington Dock

References[link]

External links[link]

• Warrington Borough Council
• Warrington Guardian
• Warrington Worldwide Online Newspaper
• 107.2 Wire FM
• Warrington Wolves
• Golden Gates Housing
• Polish community in Warrington
• Warrington Winwick Quay Business Park

v t e Districts of North West England Cheshire Cheshire East • Cheshire West and Chester • Halton • Warrington Cumbria Allerdale • Barrow-in-Furness • Carlisle • Copeland • Eden • South Lakeland Greater Manchester Bolton • Bury • Manchester • Oldham • Rochdale • Salford • Stockport • Tameside • Trafford • Wigan Lancashire Blackburn with Darwen • Blackpool • Burnley • Chorley • Fylde • Hyndburn • Lancaster • Pendle • Preston • Ribble Valley • Rossendale • South Ribble • West Lancashire • Wyre Merseyside Knowsley • Liverpool • St Helens • Sefton • Wirral

v t e Unitary authorities of England Districts Bath and North East Somerset Bedford Borough Blackburn with Darwen Blackpool Bournemouth Bracknell Forest Brighton and Hove Bristol Central Bedfordshire Cheshire East Cheshire West and Chester Cornwall County Durham Borough of Darlington Derby East Riding of Yorkshire Borough of Halton Borough of Hartlepool Herefordshire Isle of Wight Kingston upon Hull Leicester Luton Medway Middlesbrough Borough of Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire North Somerset Northumberland Nottingham Peterborough Plymouth Poole Portsmouth Reading Redcar and Cleveland Rutland Shropshire Slough Southampton Southend-on-Sea South Gloucestershire Borough of Stockton-on-Tees Stoke-on-Trent Borough of Swindon Telford and Wrekin Thurrock Torbay Warrington West Berkshire Wiltshire Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham Borough York Councils Bournemouth Cornwall Herefordshire Isle of Wight Kingston upon Hull Leicester Middlesbrough Northumberland Nottingham Poole Rutland Shropshire Slough Thurrock Wiltshire

Coordinates: 53°23′14″N 2°36′10″W / 53.38732°N 2.60288°W / 53.38732; -2.60288

The Dancing Man is the name given to the man who was filmed dancing on the street in Sydney, Australia, after the end of World War II. On 15 August 1945, a reporter took note of a man's joyful expression and dance and asked him to do it again. The man consented and was caught on motion picture film in an Australian edition of the newsreel Movietone News. The film and stills from it have taken on iconic status in Australian history and culture, and symbolise victory in the war.

Identity[link]

There has been much debate as to the identity of the dancing man. The identity commonly accepted, though, is that he is Frank McAlary, a retired barrister who claims that he was the man photographed pirouetting in Elizabeth Street, Sydney, on 15 August 1945. A Queen's Counsel, Chester Porter, and a former Compensation Court judge, Barry Egan, both claim to have seen Mr. McAlary being filmed dancing.^[1]

The television programme Where Are They Now, produced by Australia's Seven Network, attempted to solve the mystery of the dancing man's identity. The network hired a forensic scientist who examined the film reel and picture and came to the conclusion that it was indeed McAlary.

The Royal Australian Mint, however, chose to portray Ern Hill as the dancing man on a 2005 issue $1 coin commemorating 60 years since the World War II armistice. Mr. Hill has made a statement that, "The camera came along and I did a bit of a jump around."^[1] The coin, sculpted by Wojciech Pietranik, does not bear any name.

Rebecca Keenan of Film World Pty. Ltd., says the dancer may be one Patrick Blackall.^{[citation needed]} Mr. Blackall has claimed, "I'm the genuine dancing man," and has signed statutory declarations that he is the man in the film.

See also[link]

• V-J Day in Times Square, an image of V-J Day in Manhattan

Notes[link]

References[link]

• "Dancing man still got the moves." St George Leagues Club, Leagues Club Journal. 25 July 2005
• Macy, Richard. "Who is the dancing man?." Sydney Morning Herald, 8 December 2004
• Stephens, Tony. "Famous pirouette of peace stepping up to a war dance" Sydney Morning Herald, 10 August 1995
• Movietone clip with teacher's notes on australianscreen online

George William Sampson (born 29 June 1993) ^[1] is a street dancer and actor from Warrington, England.^[2] He won the second series of Britain's Got Talent on 31 May 2008 at the age of 14.^[3]

[edit] Britain's Got Talent

2007 series[link]

In 2007, a dance teacher called Dominic Chambers told Sampson that there were auditions in the area that would be right up his alley. He only discovered he'd be auditioning for the first series of Britain's Got Talent when he arrived.^[4] In his audition, he danced to "Drop" (Timbaland feat. Magoo & Fatman Scoop), receiving a yes vote from all three judges. However, despite Simon Cowell's enthusiasm, he was unable to convince the other two judges, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, to let Sampson proceed to the live semi-finals. This experience made Sampson determined to re-audition the following year and prove Holden and Morgan wrong. In the intervening time, he continued dancing on the streets of Manchester to improve his technique, and to raise money for his family.

2008 series[link]

In 2008, Sampson successfully got through the first round of Britain's Got Talent series 2 auditions by dancing to "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)". He then came top in the audience's vote in his semi-final with his arrangement of Mint Royale's big beat remix of "Singin' in the Rain", complete with an artificial rain machine on-stage, a formula that had previously been produced in a television advertisement for the Volkswagen Golf GTI.^[5] He subsequently won the audience's vote in the final, beating dance duo Signature (second place) and Andrew Johnston (third place). He broke into tears when his win was announced.^[6] Sampson was due to perform a different routine for the final, to a track by the Bee Gees,^[7] which he described as involving "a lot of movement without me actually doing anything".^[8] An hour before the final started he changed his mind and, after consulting Simon Cowell, opted to re-perform his winning act from the semi-final.^[7]

The Mint Royale version of "Singin' in the Rain" went to number 1 in the UK on download sales alone in the week following Sampson's performance^[9] and Cowell's label Syco was bombarded with requests from fans to make a video for the song. It is the first time Syco has signed up a non-singing act solely to make a video.^[10]

In an interview the day after the final, Sampson told of his return to normality the Monday after the event.^[11] .

[edit] After Britain's Got Talent

NatWest deal[link]

On 26 June 2008, it was announced that Sampson would become the face of a new 11-18 account for NatWest bank, in a deal reportedly worth £1million.^[12]

[edit] Into the Hoods

On 4 August 2008, Sampson made his stage debut in the West End hip-hop musical Into the Hoods. With some exceptions, he appeared in the show until it stopped on 30 August. Of his new role, he said: "This year is getting better and better - Into the Hoods show is funky and young and I love the music in it – I can't wait to get dancing on that stage!". Into the Hoods was shown at the Novello Theatre in London and features music from the likes of the Gorillaz, Massive Attack, Basement Jaxx and many more. Sampson appeared as one of the lost boys.^[13][14]

Bebo[link]

On 18 November 2008, it was announced that Cowell's record company and Bebo would work together to make an online television show called Follow My Lead which would include some dance move tutorials by Sampson, but also a behind the scenes look of events and rehearsals. They previously worked together to create a similar show on Leon Jackson.^[15]

Debut single and DVD[link]

Simon Cowell initially planned to only release dance videos, but he wanted to do more. He asked the agent of Take That if he could get Sampson to sing, but it turned out he already liked to sing from a young age.^[4] His debut double a-side single titled Get Up on the Dance Floor/Headz Up was released on 24 November 2008, with the proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital.^[16] After an early fault that meant the single couldn't be downloaded from iTunes for two days,^[17][18] the single finally debuted at number 30 in the UK Singles Chart^[19] and remained listed for 4 weeks. The single's position in the charts gradually lowered during that time.^[20]

On 1 December 2008, his dance DVD Access 2 All Areas was released.^[16] The one-hour^{[citation needed]} DVD contains a documentary about his rise to stardom, four music videos in which Sampson sings as well as dances and a behind the scenes look of those videos, dance tutorials and a set of photographs.^[21][22][23]

2009[link]

On 23 January 2009, Sampson helped to promote the new Nokia 5800 phone in London's Regent Street. He handed over the first Nokia 5800 sold^[24] and performed a live dance routine to "Pump Up the Volume" remixed by VV Brown^[25] which he choreographed to go with a touch-sensitive dancefloor.^[26]

On 29 January, he launched the game Battle Strikers at Toy Fair 09.^[27] He also designed a plate for Blue Peter's Mission Nutrition appeal.^[28]

On 7 March and 14 March, he hosted a 'Street Dance Weekend' at the Alton Towers Resort as part of their new family themed weekends along side street crew Flava in which fans could attend workshops to learn one of his routines and dance alongside him.

On 28 May, Sampson was the guest star at the third Britain's Got Talent semi-final and performed before the results were announced. He also was a guest star in Britain's Got Talent the Live Tour 2009 and he said that Nottingham was his favorite on 20 June 2009.

On 26 June 2009, Sampson became a Patron of Dance Aid^[29] organised by the UK Registered Charity, Hope and Homes for Children.^[30][31]

He danced before the Rugby League match between Crusaders and Salford City Reds at Brewery Field on Saturday 11 July from around 5pm. The kick-off for the match was at 6pm. He also danced at half-time. He was also scheduled to make an appearance in Legoland Windsor on 18 July as part of "Legoland Live."^[32]

In September 2009 Simon Cowell dumped Sampson after his career failed to take off.^[33][34][35] In the same month, Sampson was also evicted from his London flat following repeated acts of rowdy behaviour, such as playing music at unacceptably high volumes.^[36][37]

Also in September he starred in the first all British 3D feature film StreetDance 3D (alongside dance groups Diversity and Flawless) in which he plays a character called Eddie, released May 2010.

On 16 November, Sampson featured in the CBBC Newsround special: Whose Side Are You On? as part of the BBC's anti-bullying campaign which saw him speak out about how he was bullied when he was younger. Other stars that appeared in the programme were Joe Calzaghe, Aston Merrygold, Patsy Palmer and Gemma Hunt.

2010[link]

On 5 June 2010, he appeared on "Star King", a South Korean television show which features a variety of talented performers.^{[citation needed]}

2011[link]

On 18 February 2010, it was announced that Sampson would be joining the cast of BBC drama series, Waterloo Road. His character, a 17 year old student named Kyle Stack, first appeared in the second half of the sixth series in February 2011.^[38]

2012[link]

Sampson is to join the cast of Mount Pleasant for its second season in August 2012. He also starred in the feature film StreetDance 2 as Eddie,which was released in 2012.He has also appeared in Friday download series 3 episode 1

Works[link]

Singles[link]

Party With Me Candy Girl Body Language feat. Tha Vill Take you away

Television[link]

DVDs[link]

Filmography[link]