FOR those who can remember, and for those who cannot, imagine the Warrington of 80 years ago.

November 27 is Lancashire Day, and in 1945 Warrington was known as the gateway to the County. Long before the motorways, the A49 was the main road north.

Our town was a thriving industrial hub. There were very few goods that made our lives run smoothly that were not produced locally.

For those of you who do not remember, there are numerous books on the subject – all are worth a read.

For the teachers reading this, why not include our town’s history in your curriculum? After all, it is a very interesting subject and just as worthy as more remote topics.

Another feature of our town that can easily be forgotten is the military presence.

The Peninsula Barracks was home to the headquarters of The South Lancashire Regiment, while Padgate Camp was the premier training base for the RAF during the war.

Every serviceman and woman who served in the RAF passed through the camp, including many household names of the time.

Burtonwood, the American air base, was a vast complex that was vital for the war effort. There is a museum on site which is well worth a visit.

We must not forget the Royal Navy’s involvement at Risley, where they maintained the batteries for the submarines of the day, long before nuclear.

Also at Risley was the ordnance factory, another vast complex where they made military weapons and munitions.

This was a very dangerous job, mainly done by women, some of whom were blinded, lost limbs, or were killed.

Over the ensuing 80 years, the town has changed beyond recognition, with industry being replaced by technology and innovation.

In 1974, the Government of the day altered the structure of our country for administrative purposes, and in doing so caused confusion in towns like Warrington.

With Warrington not becoming part of Merseyside or Greater Manchester, it could not remain a detached part of Lancashire.

Therefore, it was decided that the new Cheshire County Council would administer services such as police, fire and ambulance, along with other administrative tasks.

This led a lot of the population to believe that the boundaries had been moved, and Warrington was now in Cheshire.

This of course was not the Government’s intention – in fact, the following quotes enforce this:

In March 1996, the Duchy of Lancaster’s Office said: “Legislation enacted for the creation of the administrative county was for the purpose of local government and did not affect the geographical boundaries of the County Palatine.”

And in January 1997, it said: “The River Mersey forms the southern boundary of the Palatine in the Warrington area.”

No doubt this copy will cause some of you to put ‘pen to paper’ to express your opinion.

What a great privilege to have freedom of speech, but there can be no denying that our wonderful town is firmly in Lancashire.

DES WILCOX

Warrington