Friday 8th September 2017. 19.30 start.

As part of the 2017 “Heritage Open Days” (which will take place across the country between the 7th and 10th of September), the St Marie’s Heritage Group are planning a special event. We will welcome former parishioners, heritage buffs & lovers of singing into our beautiful, atmospheric venue to discuss attendees’ favourite hymns and to sing them together.

10 attendees (who’ve volunteered in advance of the event) will explain why a certain hymn is their favourite, what it reminds them of and how it makes them feel, before everyone joins in to sing the hymn together.

Is there a certain hymn that you of going to school at St Marie’s? Or one that was sung on your wedding day? Perhaps you remember a specific hymn that always sounded beautiful when the congregation at St Marie’s sang it together?

As always, tea, coffee & biscuits will be available and there will be plenty of time to see familiar faces and catch up with old friends.

To book your place at the event, please contact Matthew Roberts via mroberts@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk or (01928) 592 405.

Places will be limited so please reserve yours early to avoid disappointment.

If you would like to be one of the 10 people to pick a hymn and talk about what it means to you, please let us know. Favourite Hymns will also be distributed on a first come, first served basis.

We hope to hear from you all soon!

Former May Queens

The St Marie’s Heritage Group were delighted to welcome former parishioners back into St Marie’s for a recent May Procession Reminiscence Event.

The event proved to be a great success as attendees swapped anecdotes about the various roles they had during processions, the clothes that they wore and the sacrifices their families made so that they could join in. A few hymns were sung too and there was a great deal of laughter and conversation.

Perhaps more importantly, the event provided guests with the opportunity to see old friends & acquaintances and come together over a cup of tea and chocolate hobnob.

Incredibly, the event saw the reuniting of the 1947 May Queen (Ann Newton) and her Train Bearer (Dan Moran) a mere 70 years after their procession (see photo below).

The St Marie’s Heritage Group decided prior to the event to only promote it through the Parish Newsletter. This was because we’d had a few recent events which had “sold out” within 24 hours of being promoted online. People would read about them in the Parish Newsletter and then feel frustrated to find out the events were already full. We will return to promoting events online in future though.

Thanks very much to everyone who attended (especially the volunteers from The St Marie’s Heritage Group). We hope you enjoyed the event as much as we did.

Here’s the feedback we collected on the day:

Was there anything you particularly liked?

– Was a great afternoon.
– Roger’s delivery and bringing together the many aspects of this topic.
– Lovely, memorable day. Met my May Queen after 70 years! Special.
– Very fulfilling event. Bringing back lots of happy memories and meeting people who have been in the Parish of St Marie’s in the early years.
– It was lovely to firstly come into my old church and to recall happy memories of school days. People spoke about their recollections. A truly magical event.
– Everything was wonderful and I felt a tear in my eye.
– I very much enjoyed listening to everyone else’s memories.
– Bringing back such lovely memories and meeting old friends.
– Nice to get a cup of tea.
– Most enjoyable seeing all old photos from the past. First visit back to St Marie’s since it closed. Lovely afternoon.
– Memories.
– Sharing photographs. Igniting memories. Thank you.
– Made very welcome. Lovely stories.
– It was lovely to reminisce and brought lots of happy memories, nice to meet school friends.
– Really enjoyed meeting people who I haven’t seen for years, especially as I was May Queen in 1946 and met up with one of the train bearers, Danny Moran.
– It was lovely to reminisce and brought back lots of happy memories. It was the first event I have attended but will definitely return.
– It was nice to hear forgotten memories.
– Almost like having a family get-together, rekindling memories of St Marie’s.
– I particularly liked the events of the matron of Honour and Queen and the Boys, dress up as well, in white pants and shirts.
– It was a very enjoyable afternoon meeting old friends I had not seen for many years and brought back many happy memories.
– Meeting people
– Loved everything especially photos
– The photographs. Discussions.
– I enjoyed the event listening to everyone’s stories.
– Hearing stories of what went on in the background. IE Having dresses made, being chosen as a May Queen, Pages etc.
– Meeting old friends from school days and seeing the way some had changed and others I recognised immediately.
– Meeting people who you haven’t seen for a while, and enjoy thinking about times gone by.
– Enjoyed meeting old friends. I loved looking at all the photos and listening to all the speakers.
– Lovely to see old friends again.
– Very good.
– Group and individual contributions were very interesting and brought back lots of memories of what it was like to be part of the May processions at St Marie’s, Widnes. Great discussions. It was lovely to see people who you hadn’t seen for years and photographs were a great help for this.
– Looking at all the old photographs from the processions (all black & white) and listening to all the comments.
– I enjoyed it very much.

Was there anything you particularly disliked?

No responses.

Any ideas for future Heritage Events at St Marie’s?

– Maybe. A microphone!!!
– More of the same. It’s important to keep the memories of St Marie’s alive.
– More events of the same.
– More aspects of school life in St Marie’s
– We need to carry on in the future with these meetings. Very enjoyable.
– Christmas event – carols
– Carol concert

Roger welcomes attendees to the event

Roger interviews 4 former May Queens

Mary shows us the official “May Queen Walk”

Moving the statue of Our Lady proved a challenge for Peter & Roger.

Would you like to learn about several different heritage organisations in Halton? Perhaps one of the groups could help you to learn more about the heritage aspects that are important to you?

Would you welcome another opportunity to visit the lovely St Marie’s? Or would be interested in finding out more about the great work of the Halton Heritage Partnership?

If so, why not book a place at this upcoming Halton Heritage Partnership Sharing Event?

To book your place, please e-mail Claire Broadhurst via clairebroadhurst@nortonpriory.org or (01928) 569 895.

Here’s the official invitation:

Halton Heritage Partnership Sharing Event

You and a guest are invited to join us on Wednesday April 26th 5:00pm-7:00pm at St Marie’s on Lugsdale Road, Widnes WA8 6DB for the latest in our series of Sharing Events.

The event will focus on our revamped Halton Heritage website and you will get an overview of this as well as the chance to have a go yourself.

There will also be an opportunity to meet the Halton Heritage Partners to discuss their latest projects and look at some of the items from their collections.

There is a limit to numbers so we need you to let us know you are coming; please book your place by contacting clairebroadhurst@nortonpriory.org

We look forward to meeting you at the event.

Frank Lawless, Chair, Halton Heritage Partnership

Please contact Claire via clairebroadhurst@nortonpriory.org or (01928) 569 895 if you’d like to book your place.

Kind regards,

Matthew Roberts

Dear Colleagues,

I’m afraid that all of the places for the above talk have now been reserved. We are “SOLD OUT” (if that’s not an incorrect thing to say about a free event).

Sincere apologies to anyone who was interested in attending, but had yet to reserve a place.

We really do have a limited number of seats for the event, so please do not turn up on the day if you haven’t reserved a place.

Many thanks.

Matthew Roberts

Saturday 18th March 2017. 13.45 till 16.45.

The St Marie’s Heritage Group are delighted to invite you to attend the next of our Heritage Events at St Marie’s on Lugsdale Road, Widnes.

We’ll be commemorating St Patrick’s Day weekend by putting on a Heritage Talk which recognises and celebrates the contribution of Irish migrants in helping to create the town of Widnes during the mid-Nineteenth Century.

Local Historian and Author, David Hopkins will be our special guest and he’ll be delivering a session which will enable the audience to appreciate:
– Ireland’s social structure in the year 1840
– The true nature of the disaster that occurred in Ireland’s western counties during the years 1845-51
– The origins of the ‘Irish Diaspora’ and the hardship experienced by Irish migrants travelling to Great Britain, especially from the western counties
– The circumstances that determined Widnes’s future as an industrial town
– Why families of Irish migrants and their first-generation descendants once formed Widnes’s largest single ethnic group

This promises to be a fascinating and enjoyable afternoon.

Please note that with a running time of around 3 hours, this event will be longer than our usual Heritage Talks.

To book your free place at this event, please contact Matthew Roberts via (01928) 592 405 or mroberts@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk

Please note that places (and seats) are limited and your entrance cannot be guaranteed if you haven’t booked a place.

Many thanks.

Matthew Roberts

The St Marie’s Heritage Group were delighted to welcome 80 attendees to their Christmas Concert with The Knight’s Choir on Wednesday evening.

The Knight’s Choir were on superb form entertaining a packed crowd with a fine mixture of songs and Christmas Carols.

Attendees enjoyed a hot drink, mince pies and the opportunity to have a festive sing along. The crowd generously contributed to a collection for The Knight’s Choir and St Marie’s Heritage Group presented them with £100 at the end of the evening.

On behalf of the St Marie’s Heritage Group, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who attended and wish you all a very Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year.

See you in 2017.

The St Marie’s Heritage Group were delighted to welcome almost 40 attendees to St Marie’s on Saturday 19th November who got the chance to listen to Mike McNicholas talk on the First World War.

Mike skillfully took attendees on a tour of World War 1 War graves and the battles that led to so much loss of life. Widnes men who dies were remembered.

Here’s the feedback we collected on the day:

Was there anything you particularly liked?

– The personal stories that Mike told were particularly interesting.
– Excellent. Would have him again. Very knowledgeable.
– Excellent and informative.
– Wonderful presentation. Very moving talk from an informed, caring man.
– A really great talk from a knowledgeable individual who made it ‘come alive’!
– Fab venue, fab people, well done.
– Very good – no complaints
– Very knowledgeable & interesting. We should ask him back again!
– Mike really made it interesting with his anecdotes, some serious, some funny. Very interesting subject. Lovely afternoon. Again!

Was there anything you particularly disliked?

– I am a touch deaf. Louder/Mikes could improves.
– No.

Any ideas for future Heritage Events at St Marie’s?

– Widnes rugby players and their fates in the two wars.
– Repeat of showing Baptism, Marriage details of St Marie’s.
– Another talk by Mike perhaps? (Just an enquiry – do you have access to a radio microphone – it is a shame to miss anything!)
– Christmas fayres and coral singing. Open Days.
– Anything to do with Widnes RL – player – who might have fought in the war?
– Music Event of Religious Music as we sang here in 1950s
– Sports history, boxing, RL etc ?
– A talk about the building of the Church, particularly the Altar – Beautiful.
– Not at moment.

Places are still available for our next event, a Christmas Concert with The Knights Choir on Wednesday 14th December. E-mail mroberts@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk or call (01928) 592 405 to book your free place.

The St Marie’s Heritage Group are proud to invite you to attend our next event; a Christmas Concert with The Knight’s Choir.

It’s on Wednesday 14th December starting at 19.30. As always, places are free, but please do book a place as numbers are limited.

The Knight’s Choir require little in the way of introduction. They are famous in Widnes and surrounding areas for their beautiful performances in Church Services. At our Christmas Concert they’ll be singing a mixture of traditional Christmas Carols and famous Christmas songs (such as “White Christmas”). It promises to be a beautiful evening in a building which is always historic and atmospheric. There’s something about the acoustics in St Marie’s which make any performance sound that little bit more special.

Why better way could there be to get your own Christmas started?

To reserve you place, please contact Matthew Roberts via mroberts@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk or (01928) 592 405.

We are pleased to announce that all of the places for the upcoming Heritage Talk on Saturday 19th November have now been filled.

We apologise to anyone who wanted to come, but had yet to reserve a place.

Hi everyone.

Just a quick note to that we still have places available for our next Heritage Talk at St Marie’s.

It’s taking place on Saturday 19th November 2016 (running from 2pm till 4pm).

For full details of Mike McNicholas talk on the First World War, please read the post below this one.

As always, it’ll be a fascinating talk inside our historic and inspiring venue. There will also be the chance to see old faces and have a catch over a cup of tea and a biscuit.

To book your free place at this event, please contact Matthew Roberts via (01928) 592 405 or mroberts@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk

Please note that places are limited and your entrance may be denied if you haven’t booked a place.

Many thanks.

Matthew Roberts