A TALENTED young writer, whose poem This is Warrington has gone viral on social media, said he would not have wanted to grow up anywhere else.

Thousands of people have watched Joseph Pike’s poem online, which celebrates the good and not-so-good aspects of the town, including its music, its clubs and even its takeaways.

And 19-year-old Joseph said he could not be prouder to be from Warrington.

It took him half an hour to get the words on the page.

He said: “I had read this poem by John Cooper Clarke which was an advert for Fred Perry and I thought I would do an advert for Warrington instead.”

Joseph recently left Lymm to study English literature and philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and said he was surprised by how much he missed his hometown.

He added: “It is an honest reflection of my childhood in the town, of the ups and downs, the nice bits and the less nice bits. I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up anywhere else.

“It’s very different living in Edinburgh, which was one of the inspirations for the poem. I miss home a lot now I’m at university and I come back to visit quite often. You appreciate it more when you’re away.

“Sometimes Warrington gets judged by people but I think it’s one of the most cultural towns around. We’ve got a music scene you can’t compare to anywhere else but we go unnoticed.”

The former Lymm High and Priestley College student only began writing poetry in November for his blog and hopes to work as a writer when he graduates.

The poem has had 50,000 views. Read it online at tinyurl.com/hdsbbu9.