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Districts

Today the Borough of Warrington incorporates twenty-two distinct wards and has a population of nearly 200,000. If you live in Warrington you might not be aware just how large the town is and how many districts there are. The town is still growing and more houses are being built to accommodate its expanding population.

Warrington now stretches from Culcheth in the north to Birchwood in the east, Penketh in the west and Stockton Heath and Lymm in the south. Between these are the town's central districts - the older areas of Howley and Latchford to the newer suburbs such as Cinnamon Brow - as well as a scattering of smaller villages. 'Beating the Bounds' outside the Ferry Inn Penketh 1911 before walking the parish boundary
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Some districts have not been part of the Borough of Warrington for long. Warrington has always been a 'border' town. The river divides the town between the north and the south, and for many decades the town straddled the counties of Cheshire and Lancashire.
Many of the districts have their own unique history and character. Some of the old landmarks stand firm beside the new. The historic Lymm Cross and St. Oswald's Church in Winwick testify to the many centuries of history that have unfolded there. Some local traditions and festivals are still maintained, such as the annual parish Walking Days and the Rushbearing religious celebration in Lymm and Bawming the Thorn in Appleton.
Lymm Cross, around 1910
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As Warrington grows and old villages become new suburbs and fields become sites for new housing, the lines are blurring between the various districts.

Grappenhall Village
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Vera was born in Rock Road, Latchford in 1918. She saw many changes in her lifetime living in the village.

"From my mother's bedroom window you could see Irlam Steel Works: it was all meadows between. I remember the council houses being built at the corner of Reynolds Street, Griffiths Street, Lower Wash Lane and Westy Lane, now Grange Avenue.

I remember all the large houses around Latchford. There was Raddon Court where the Reynolds lived; they owned the tannery in Little Wash Lane. Opposite the Reynold's Tannery was Parkinson's Tannery. Next in Grange Avenue you had Bowden's Farm with Big Barns Piggery, then fields. It was all meadows for miles, no Kingsway Bridge."

 

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