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Warrington named the worst place in Britain for culture


Dizzy

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As the title says..... Warrington has been named the worst place in Britain for culture by a study by the Royal Society of Arts.

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well what do you expect it has all been demolished or stands empty awaiting demolition.

 

the council seems to want a modern city but instead of being imaginative the council is going with what is currently in.

 

take the new market development, ;ools very modern but in 20 years time things have moved on and it will just be out of date

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The real story is following shortly - to be fair the report is complete poppy cock - OK not enough has been done to preserve some of our Listed buildings e.t.c

But if you actually read the article (The one in the Times anyway) It states Warrington has no canals!!

Well excuse me - The Sankey St Helens Canal was the first built, the Bridgewater canal is pretty historic and the Manchester Ship canal is pretty big!!

If they can't even get the fact right the report and league table is not worth the paper it is written on!

Sometimes I wish my friends in the media would check their facts instead of churning out headlines which could damage a town's economy!

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A towns culture isn't just about its bricks and mortar but about the arts and its creative people too. Get to the museum a week on Friday for the opening of the Warrington Open Art exhibition and you will see a great many creative folk showing and viewing local works of art and photography. I imagine a towns culture is a difficult thing to measure

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I couldn't read The Times one Gary as it was subscription only.   How weird that they think we have no canals here. shall I send them some of my photos :lol:

I agree PJ and I can't see how they could really measure 'culture' or compare unless they carried out detailed research every day over a long period. 

But however they did it we still came LAST. 

 

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And that is after Culture Warrington said last year "We are punching above our weight here, we really are, and we are making headway, both regionally and nationally."

 

http://www.cheshirelife.co.uk/out-about/places/warrington_brings_art_and_culture_to_the_centre_stage_1_3429365

 

In this article they missed a golden opportunity to mention the Parr Hall, and the organ recital which was scheduled for the 12th March, 2014.

 

They listed Five things you should know about Warrington -

1.   Warrington was chosen as the site of the UK's first IKEA store which opened in October, 1987.

2.   Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope were among the stars who visited the Burtonwood Airfield to entertain the servicemen at the US Army Airforce's biggest base outside America.

3.  Warrington Walking Day, held towards the end of June, sees thousands of people from Churches of all denominations parade through the streets.

4. The glitzy Golden Gates at the Town Hall were originally designed for Sandringham House but were rejected by Queen Victoria .............

5. The town has a history of wire manufacture, and until their rebranding as the Wolves, the town's successful Rugby League side were nicknamed The Wire.

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Weren't the Guardians at Market Gate supposed to be art ? Or did WBC get conned ? What about the parks ,Town Hall ,Walton Gardens ,Bewsey Old Hall, the Cultural quarter & Britain's first public library ,not to mention the museum & the Academy that once counted the brightest brains in Britain among its lecturers & scholars ?

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The various barges and narrow boats and the history behind them and the different people who use them on a daily basis.

More culture than most walks of life.

I just find the whole process of judgement strange,  I bet a wider variety of people use roads on a daily basis than use canals.

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I read The Times article tonight in the printed version.  Pretty good that we came last really like you have also said on your news article Gary.

Coming bottom means Warrington may well be in the line for more heritage funding.  Quote "The Heritage Lottery Fund, which commissioned the study, will use the index to decide where new projects most urgently need funding"

So for starters maybe funding will be given for the renovation of the Walton Hall/Gardens Glasshouse and other things at last now.

Maybe even more could be done to show people the importance and heritage value of out little old canals here like the Sankey Canal,  Bridgewater and even the Manchester Ship Canal.  It's surprising just how many people have no idea when or why they were created.

Of course WBC do have a lot to answer for as Warrington has so much to offer in the way of heritage and history but they choose not to embrace it as well as they could.  Even when they have things on it a case of look for yourself rather than get it out there and tell everyone.

Sorry I realise I'm rambling at lot and probably not making much sense tonight,  I have to type fast cos way too much going on in the Dizzy world today :oops::lol:
 

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Our history is part of our culture and the history of our canals and the reasons why they were developed is a fascinating part of this. When I first came to Warrington we lived in Callands close to Sankey Valley Park and I became very interested in the history of the Sankey (St Helens) canal, and couldn't understand why it (and Bewsey Old Hall) had been allowed to quietly fade from existence.

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I just find the whole process of judgement strange,  I bet a wider variety of people use roads on a daily basis than use canals.

 

Are we not misunderstanding what culture is, it is supposed to be about how people feel, behavior and values.

 

 suppose canals are seen as a place of recreation. If you go to Leeds or Manchester and especially Birmingham, the canals are a feature of the city, were people live and go to restaurants and shops , The St Helens canal is derelict and out of town, the ship canal is an industrial feature, Mersey is unused. Although I can not really comment about parks as Orford park is the only one I have been to recently but they are nothing special.

 

Most people i know see Warrington as dire I do not think it is as bad as that but it could do better

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Warrington is not culturally dire Coffee, there are many cultural events and experiences on in the town all the time.  Could it be that Warrington people lack culture or the will to support cultural events?  I hope not.  Anyway its Octoberfest soon and that will bring 'em out.

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Warrington is not culturally dire Coffee, there are many cultural events and experiences on in the town all the time.  Could it be that Warrington people lack culture or the will to support cultural events?  I hope not.  Anyway its Octoberfest soon and that will bring 'em out.

 

 

But that is the reputation of Warrington

 

Never mind in a few years time we will have a new cinama and council office to boast about, that put Warrington in the top 10

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Question if the people who made up this list actually visited the places or did they just google.

 

Perhaps they just looked at the news pages of the G**********n. Several drugs factories closed down in the last two weeks, various muggings and sluggings, complaints about hospital parking,and appeals for witnesses to petty thefts with pictures that would put anybody with two arms and legs in the frame for doing the job.

 

Perhaps somebody could point them in the direction of the arcives for this forum to see just how much culture there is. topics like the largest ship to sink on it's maiden voyage made in warrington, some of the finds of the elusive indiana james or mark olly's documentary on the area. (did we ever find out what was under that gravestone thingy at winwick church?)

 

Parks a plenty, where else within half a mile of town centre can yopu feel as if you are in the country side and yet still be in walking distance of the main hospital.

 

Maybe the council can get a few of them to spend a week or two in warrington so that they see first hand what they are on about.

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The silence is deafening when it comes to certain aspects of Warrington's Heritage.

There is no mention of the Parr Hall, which was given to the people of Warrington by Joseph Charlton Parr.
In 1926, Warrington Corporation paid more than £2,000 for the 1870 Cavaillé-Coll Organ therein.
This hall is a Grade 2 Listed Building, and the C-C Organ has recently been awarded an Historic Organ Certificate Grade 1 by the British Institute of Organ Studies.
http://www.bios.org.uk/resources/hocs2.php
My recent e-mails to Culture Warrington go unanswered, as did my e-mails some time ago to the Executive Board Member for Leisure, Community and Culture.
The Cavaillé-Coll Organ has been the Cinderella of the cultural quarter for far too long. If and when a decision is made on the future of this organ, it will only then be a contender (or not) for Heritage Lottery Funding.
The Cavaillé-Coll organ in Parr Hall, Warrington, is the only instrument of any size in the United Kingdom by this French master-craftsman that has not been tonally altered to any great extent.
In 1969 the Warrington Corporation decided that an estimate of £9,000 for repairs was not worth the expenditure and proposed its disposal to a local scrap merchant.
When Councillor Harold Edwards became aware of this intended disposal, it was saved only by the efforts of the specially formed Cavaillé-Coll Organ Retention Committee which began to raise money for its repair.
The Corporation eventually gave an undertaking that if sufficient funds could be raised, the organ would be retained.
The future of an artistic treasure such as this should not be decided in such a manner.

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