Halton & Widnes

To people of a certain age, Spike Island is inextricably linked to one thing, the Stone Roses, top rockers from the early 1990s who once played a now legendary gig on the site. But of course, its history goes back much further than that.

Spike Island is the spiritual home of the chemical industry and it was on the back of soap, bleaching powder and borax that Halton made its name. Bordered by the River Mersey, and served by the Sankey Canal, it was the perfect site for pioneers like John Hutchinson and William Gossages to set up their first mammoth works.

By the mid 1970s, however, the industry had gone, leaving behind an eyesore, a corner of Widnes that was unloved and abandoned, contaminated and forgotten. Finally the council stepped in and by the early 1980s Spike Island had been transformed into an impressive mix of grassland and mixed woodland, a haven of peace and tranquillity, where the closest you come to noise is the occasional forlorn honk of a Canada goose flying overhead.

This is also the spot where the River Mersey starts to widen, loosening its belt as it makes its way towards Liverpool Bay and the open sea. As I strolled along the shoreline of the Mersey, the mud was sun-baked and cracked in places, testament to the fact that we’d just been through one of the hottest Aprils on record

I headed for Catalyst, a museum dedicated to the chemical industry and partly housed inside what’s left of Gossages original factory. There are three floors with enough interactive exhibits to keep youngsters happy for an hour or two, while you can take in displays about the area’s fascinating history. The rooftop observatory, with its views over the Mersey, is also worth a visit. And as I ascended in the glass elevator, which runs up the outside of the buildings, my first swallow of the summer flew by.

Spike Island is also bordered by Widnes Warf, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, where new walkways and viewing platforms have also made this saltmarsh much more accessible. And it’s here that I watched a kestrel hovering majestically in the breeze, scanning the grass for signs of life and dinner. (Not for nothing is the kestrel known as a ‘wind cuffer’ in other parts of the Northwest.) The reserve is also home to much rarer birds of prey, including short-eared owls and even the occasional osprey.

I made my way back along the canal, where the smell of blackthorn blossom was intoxicating, so intoxicating in fact that I took forty winks, lying blissfully under the midday sun. The dogs chose a spot in the shade instead.

Skirting round the edge of Widnes, you get a much better idea of how industrial this area once was, with tantalising glimpses of majestic redbrick warehouses and impressive factory, their walls still blackened by Victorian soot.

Across the river, past a handily placed sand bank where shelducks were enjoying the spring sunshine, sits Wigg Island Community Park, another former industrial site that has been reclaimed. A new visitor centre opens later in the summer, while three hides look out across Astmoor saltmarsh.I picked up a sandwich at the museum café (there are also picnic tables at the Spike Island Visitor Centre) and headed off for Pickering Pastures, another regeneration success story.

Pickering Pastures were once salt marsh grazed by cattle, but after the last war the land became a waste tip, a dumping ground for the flotsam and jetsam of industrial and domestic life in Widnes.

The land was reclaimed in the early 1980s by the council. A thick layer of clay was plastered over the top and this formed the bedrock for the grassy meadows that cover the Local Nature Reserve today.

There’s roughly a mile of paths snaking round the site, with information boards telling you what to look out for at different times of the year, and a bird hide looking out on to Hale Marshes at one end.

Signs warn against venturing too close to the river’s edge, which runs along one side of the park - deep mud and strong currents along this stretch of the river means it pays to stick to the paths.

The park’s great for birdlife, insects and especially wild flowers, and as I walked round I spotted the first wispy heads of cow parsley rocking in the wind, while in the shady lee of silver birch and oak, bluebells bobbed in the breeze. There were yellow carpets of birdsfoot-trefoil too, while amongst the trees came the occasional splash of colour from a red campion.

Wherever you look along this stretch of the Mersey, you can’t miss the steel of the 1960s Silver Jubilee Bridge that links Runcorn to Widnes, and runs alongside the Victorian splendour of the turreted railway bridge, which once transported so many of the chemicals that had been distilled and extracted here.

Now this industry has all but gone but with a bit of a help, nature has reclaimed the land where the factories once stood. It’s easy to think that greening old industrial sites is something new, but Spike Island and Pickering Pastures were begun nearly a quarter of a century ago. They’ve now matured, so what better time to enjoy them.

Information

Spike Island
Mersey Road, off Waterloo Road, Widnes. Tel: 0151 420 3707
The visitor centre holds regular exhibitions on the history of Spike Island and its wildlife.

Catalyst
Mersey Road, Widnes. Tel: 0151 420 1121. Website: www.catalyst.org.uk
Open 10am-5pm. Tues-Fri and 11am-5pm at weekends. Admissions is £4.95, £3.95 concs.

Pickering Pastures
Mersey View Road, Halebank. Tel: 0151 425 4706
There’s a visitor centre with toilets.

Wigg Island Community Park
Astmoor Road, Runcorn. Tel: 01928 583905

By car: From the M56 join the A533 towards Halton / Runcorn.

By public transport:There are a number of buses into Widnes from both Liverpool and Warrington, and there are direct rail links to Liverpool Lime Street from Widnes and Runcorn stations, and to Manchester from both Widnes and Runcorn East. Details from Traveline on 0870 608 2608 or by visiting www.halton.gov.uk/transport

There are free events taking place at Halton’s parks and nature reserve all year round. Further details at www.halton.gov.uk