THE fascinating heritage of the town is celebrated in the latest book by Culture Warrington’s heritage manager Janice Hayes.

Warrington History Tour provides an insight into the history of this industrial town and shows just how much it has changed during the course of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Readers are invited to follow the historian as she guides them through Warrington’s streets and alleyways, pointing out the well-known and less well-known landmarks along the way.

She said: “It’s the 170th anniversary of the museum and library’s foundation this year so this is part of my role as Culture Warrington’s heritage manager to help people appreciate that there is a lot of heritage to be found around the town centre.

“Even though it seems to be changing rapidly there is still a lot to explore and this book is a guide for a real walk as well as a virtual one.

“Just like the vast crowd that turned out to see the museum’s foundation stone laid on the current building in 1855 I would like lots of people to explore and appreciate the heritage we still have.”

Janice hopes families will follow the trail that has been set out in the book, which is pocket sized so readers can take it with them as they visit the town’s historical landmarks and locations.

She added: “I think it’s really important that younger Warringtonians find out these stories as they will be the future guardians of our heritage.

“Equally older family members can show them how things have changed over the last decades and in the case of Time Square very rapidly.”

Warrington History Tour is Janice’s 15th book in a remarkable career.

She added: “I have always lived in Warrington and although I’m conscious just how much of the centre has changed in recent years there are actually many more clues to the past in our streetscape than people think – but sometime you have to look above the street level to see the beautiful architecture and the different building styles.

“I also hope that people will rediscover the street names which seem to have got lost with the pedestrianisation of the centre.

“I’m lucky to be able to explore all the fantastic old photographs of the town in the museum and local studies collection but I’ve included modern views of the scenes to show what has changed over time.”