WHICH famous writer – author of a great cult novel – spent time as a soldier at the Peninsula Barracks in Warrington? Don’t know?

He was born John Wilson in Manchester but was best known under a different name. He would rather have been remembered for the classical music he composed than his writings. Give up? His most famous novel created its own bizarre language, Nadsat, based on Cockney rhyming slang and Russian. Stanley Kubrick made it into a film which was then banned for many years because of its violence. Any inkling?

I will reveal who our elusive author is in a moment...

I love learning about the history of a place. I’m particularly interested in artistic, literary or musical connections.

But if you’ve a juicy nugget to tell me about a science connection, I’m just as intrigued.

It always fascinates me that Joseph Priestley, the scientist who discovered oxygen, once gave lectures here in the very building where I am writing this, the Warrington Academy.

When I wrote a column called Papercuts for this paper a decade ago I used to invite readers to send in their own historical footnotes that might be at risk of being forgotten.

It was fascinating. During the course of those columns, we learned that Beatle George Harrison wrote While My Guitar Gently Weeps at his parents’ house in Appleton. The guitarist bought the bungalow for them when the fans made life in Liverpool unbearable.

We learned that comedy writer Richard Curtis (Blackadder, Four Weddings) once lived in a big house on Windmill Lane in Appleton. His father was a director at Lever Brothers and Curtis sometimes brought his university friend to Windmill Lane during the holidays.

They both went on to comedy superstardom. The university friend, of course, was Rowan Atkinson.

Richmal Crompton, creator of Just William, was educated at St Elphin’s boarding school for the daughters of the clergy. I’m not sure how well known that is.

My point is, we shouldn’t allow these facts to be forgotten.

Warrington has many, well-documented famous sons and daughters, of course.

George Formby. Jockey Steve Donoghue. Stone Roses singer Ian Brown. Calendar Girls author Tim Firth. Actor Tim Curry. Children’s writers Lewis Carroll and Robert Westall. Bob the Builder designer Curtis Jobling. Chris Evans.

Some are more celebrated in Warrington than others.

Are there any others I’ve missed? Let me know.

So, did you guess who the famous author was?

It was none other than Anthony Burgess, author of the brilliantly dystopian A Clockwork Orange, who did his infantry training in the town in 1943.