Halton & St Helens VCA would like to offer local people the chance to contribute to a new heritage display that will be housed inside the soon to be re-opened St Marie’s on Lugsdale Road.
St Marie’s , which closed as a church in January 2007, will have a dual role in the future; as office space for Halton & St Helens VCA and as a heritage centre (which pays tribute to the heritage of the building and the role it played in the lives of local people).
The display in question will be a large Timeline and local people’s photographs and written memories will be posted upon it at the appropriate places.
“The stories and memories of local people are every bit as important to us as the bricks and mortar of the building” says Halton & St Helens VCA’s Matthew Roberts. “St Marie’s meant so much to local people. It wasn’t just a place of worship, it was the centre of the community.”
“We want people to bring us their old photos or stories” says Roger Harrison of The St Marie’s Heritage Group. “The more people that contribute, the better a job we’ll have done of keeping the memories alive and preserving them for future generations.”
St Marie’s will also be the venue for heritage talks from special guests and regular tours of the redeveloped building will be offered for people who are keen to visit it once more.
If you have a photograph or a story to share, please feel free to e-mail it to mroberts@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk
Alternatively, you can visit St Marie’s and one of the Halton & St Helens VCA staff team will very carefully scan your photo or document and then let you have it back.
You’ll be able to then revisit St Marie’s in mid September and see your contribution to the display in person.
The St Marie’s Heritage Group discuss ideas for displays inside St Marie’s.
Please submit your contributions before 5pm on Friday 29th August.
St Marie's Heritage Group 
My name is Sheila Mountford nee Beggan, and I attended St Marie’s school and church a long time ago; it was the fifties through to 1960. I made my first communion there and also was confirmed there. My abiding memories are of Sunday school and especially of the May Walks, all in white with a blue ruched ribbon in my hair and carrying Narcissi grown by my father, sometimes I had flag Irises. The church was all decked out in blue flowers and smelling sweetly of incense, all of us children walking slowly in pairs and singing, we had been practising for what seems like weeks. Then came the Whitson Walks, more of the same really. I don’t have much of a memory of my confirmation service except that I was a bit worried over the symbolic slap by the Bishop, but I needn’t have worried. Our school (girls only) was to the rear of the church and the boys was over the road, a shame that they have gone now, I doubt I would be able to recognise anything now; I moved away when I was 17 years old to another parish. The picture of the main alter brought back more memories than I can share here, I am pleased to see that the church is still a magnet for the community.
Thanks Shelia! That’s wonderful. Do you have a photo of yourself (it doesn’t have to be from the time you attended St Marie’s – it could be from today) that we could include with the words you’ve written on the timeline? If so, please e-mail it to mroberts@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk Thanks very much. Matthew