Saturday 19th November 2016. 2pm till 4pm

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 joining in with the rest of the nation in November when we stop to remember the local men who died in the First World War.

Mike McNicholas will take attendees on a tour – from a personal perspective – of World War 1 War graves and the battles that led to so many deaths. He will intersperse his talk with mentions of particular Widnes men who perished at these particular battles. He will reference his book which catalogues every Widnes man who died in service 1914 -1922. (1922 was considered the “cut-off” point for deaths following injuries received in the conflicts).

Mike uses a PowerPoint presentation with photographs and engages with his audience via Q & A throughout his presentation.

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.

The St Marie’s Heritage Group were delighted to host 40 former parishioners on Saturday for a special reminiscence event.

Attendees discussed topics such as their favourite school trips, their happiest memories of the Church or school and shared unusual recollections too.

We had two occasions when the attendees sang songs and we got to hear one (slightly naughty) poem about a former teacher. It was great to walk around the room and hear so much laughter.

Many thanks to Margaret, Jane, Christine, Peter & Roger for helping on the day.

We hope you all enjoyed it.

Here’s the feedback we collected on the day:

Was there anything you particularly liked?

– Enjoyed the event and learned lots of things from the stories that were shared. Enjoyable and interesting and humorous stories.
– Great! Simple concept! Loved the informality and the humour!
– Really enjoyed meeting old school friends again.
– Just general memories of the people here.
– Wonderful memories.
– Loved the memories and interaction.
– Very pleasant afternoon.
– A most enjoyable event. Nice to be with your own to reminisce.
– Really enjoyed the chat and memories of lovely St Marie’s.
– Enjoyed everything. Good to talk and remember old times.
– Lovely memories.
– Meeting old friends.
– Lovely memories!
– Loved “Reminiscence Event” talking about St Marie’s Church and school. Great idea.
– Meeting old friends.
– Very enjoyable.
– Enjoyed other people’s memories, things that I had forgotten.
– Really enjoyable afternoon. Really glad we came.

Was there anything you particularly disliked?

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

– Musical event and more reminiscence events.
– To have more of them.
– Keep doing them.
– One relating to Widnes RLFC and former pupils.
– Pass Redmond family photos.

The staff at Halton & St Helens VCA were delighted to welcome Mr and Mrs Michael Dennett into St Marie’s this morning.

Mr Dennett was delighted to see some of his old friends and neighbours pictured on our Timeline.

They’re going to consider attending our next event “St Marie’s – Your Story” on Saturday 8th October from 2pm till 4pm. It’ll be a great chance for them to catch up with old friends and familiar faces.

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

The St Marie’s Heritage Group were delighted to welcome 51 visitors on Friday evening (09.09.16) to hear an enjoyable and informative talk from Bob Roach entitled “The History of the Early Chemical Industry in Widnes”. Bob explained how Widnes became the Silicon Valley of its day, but how the brutal industrial manufacturing processes transformed the place into ‘the dirtiest, ugliest and most depressing town in England’ in the 1880s.

We also had the great pleasure of hearing from Widnes legend, Greg Oldfield, who sang several songs from the Smoking Dragons album (which were inspired by the same subject).

A big thank you to Jane, Christine, Maeve, Roger and Peter (from the St Marie’s Heritage Group) for helping out on the night. Special thanks also to Jane & Alison from Halton & St Helens VCA for all their help too.

Bob Roach talks to the audience

Greg Oldfield performs tracks from Smoking Dragons

Here’s the feedback we collected on the night:

Was there anything you particularly liked?

– Excellent talk, learnt more about Widnes in this than ever through books or visiting Catalyst. Brilliant.
– Well presented
– Thought it was brilliant.
– Excellent presentations & atmosphere.
– Very enjoyable. I have never been to one of these events before. I shall look forward to further talks.
– All very good. Thank you.
Very informative & interesting. Enjoyed Bob’s talks & Greg’s music.
– Combination of history & song (Greg) – brilliant
– Nothing to dislike. Kept you interested all evening. Very informative.
– Pleased to have the opportunity to visit this Pugin masterpiece. Heritage talk and music excellent. Thank you.
– Loved it all. Being new to Widnes feel very passionate about the town and its history and really loved Greg’s moving songs.
– Good mix of music & knowledge. Well put across and kept my interest throughout.
– Good mix of talking & song.
– What a wonderful venue. Loved the mix of music & history – really well thought out and presented. Great that it kept to time & there was no rambling!!
– Good slides. Very good speaker. Music was top class.
– Lovely atmosphere & environment. Very suitable for heritage event. Loved having relevant music. Also – very atmospheric.
– Lets have more! Combination of word, image and sound.
– Really enjoyed it. Brought back many memories.
– Loved it! As usual!
– The idea of mixing heritage talks and music is a really good idea – very inspiring. Thank you, it was brilliant.
– I really enjoyed Bob’s talks & Greg’s singing. Most enjoyable.
– Really interesting talks & fantastic music.
– The presentation was very interesting and music performance.
– Music spaced out a good talk.
– Most enjoyable.
– Like both presentation & music. No dislikes.

Was there anything you particularly disliked?

– Needed a Q & A session. Singer would have sounded better without reverb on the mic. Might have sounded better without the mic – often couldn’t distinguish the lyrics. A pity!

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

– More mixes with music worked brilliantly. Show other heritage places this excellent idea. Should be done more often.
– Hope for future talks.
– No.
– N/A
– Can’t think at the moment but will give this some thought.
– Bring back Greg Oldfield!!
– Not at moment
– Had not realised event were held here. There is a need to advertise more. I am from Runcorn, please put notice in Old Town library or Brindley.
– Anything that tells the Widnes story but also perhaps the new regeneration of the town with the new shops etc.
– Look forward to the next event.
– Talk about Norton Priory & new museum?
– Smoking Dragons II – The Decline of Leblanc!
– Consideration of “Widnes” pre Industrial Revolution. 1066 – 1750.
– The space would be a fantastic venue to be used as a concert area for local singer/songwriters.
– Perhaps classical evening, poetry readings, cultural events.

Saturday 8th October. From 2pm till 4pm. Venue: St Marie’s, Lugsdale Road.

The St Marie’s Heritage Group are proud to invite former parishioners, residents and school alumni to a special Reminiscence Event entitled “St Marie’s – Your Story”.

This will be a wonderful opportunity to see familiar faces, swap stories and catch up with old friends.

Why not come and join us, grab a biscuit & a cup of tea and join in the conversation?

Amongst the topics we’ll be discussing will be:
– What’s your happiest memory from St Marie’s?
– Did you go on any St Marie’s school trips?
– Can you remember any unusual events?

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

Hi everyone.

Just a quick note to say that a few place are still available for the upcoming talk on Friday 9th September; “The History of the Early Chemical Industry in Widnes”.

On the night local Historian, Bob Roach will describe how, as a result of the arrival of the chemical industry in Widnes in 1847, the area changed from an isolated rural setting with several villages, to a major centre of the chemical industry with manufacturing processes that were extremely polluting.

As a result Widnes was described as ‘the dirtiest, ugliest and most depressing town in England’ in the 1880s.

Bob’s talk will be broken up by some live musical performances from Widnes’ superb singer songwriter, Greg Oldfield. Greg will be singing songs inspired by residents’ memories of Halton when the chemical industry was at its height. The songs were collected for a project and released on a critically acclaimed CD “Smoking Dragons” (by The Fetch and Greg Oldfield).

To see Greg sound checking for the event, please visit our Facebook page. He sounds superb!
https://www.facebook.com/stmarieschurch/

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

The staff of Halton & St Helens VCA were delighted to welcome The Myler family back into St Marie’s, which was their Church when they were growing up in Widnes in the 1930’s and 40’s.

On the left is Margaret Gosselin (Myler). Then it’s Joan Kershaw (Myler) who remembers being a Hand Maiden (always an important role) to the May Queen in 1939. Next to Joan is Nora Cohen (Myler) who recalls enthusiastically clapping at the end of one particularly inspiring sermon. Sadly, no one other members of the congregation joined in. Finally, on the right is Mary Kirkby (Myler). Mary fondly remembers spending her pocket money on holy books for children which were available at the back of the church.

Some of the family had traveled from the beautiful city of Boston in America. We hope they enjoyed their visit!

The History of the Early Chemical Industry in Widnes

Friday 9th September. From 6pm. At St Marie’s, Lugsdale Road, Widnes.

St Marie’s Heritage Group are proud to present an evening of lectures and live music

Local Historian Bob Roach will describe how, as a result of the arrival of the chemical industry in Widnes in 1847, the area changed from an isolated rural setting with several villages, to a major centre of the chemical industry with manufacturing processes that were extremely polluting.

As a result Widnes was described as ‘the dirtiest, ugliest and most depressing town in England’ in the 1880s.

Bob’s talk will be broken up by some live musical performances from Widnes’ superb singer songwriter, Greg Oldfield. Greg will be singing songs inspired by residents’ memories of Halton when the chemical industry was at its height. The songs were collected for a project and released on a critically acclaimed CD “Smoking Dragons” (by The Fetch and Greg Oldfield).

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

Places are limited.

Matthew welcomes guests

The St Marie’s Heritage Group were delighted to welcome 41 visitors on Saturday afternoon (06.02.16) to hear an enjoyable and informative from Bob Roach entitled “Local Legends – The Story & the Song”.

Bob talked about The Bold Griffin, The Chile of Hale and The Ghost of Speke Hall. The origins of each legend were described by Bob before he played us a recording of his late wife, Chris, singing some beautiful songs she’d written about each.

A big thank you to Jane, Christine, Tony, Maeve, Roger and Peter (from the St Marie’s Heritage Group) for helping out on the day. Special thanks also to Jane from Halton & St Helens VCA for all her help too.

Here’s the feedback we collected on the day:

Was there anything you particularly liked?

– Very informative and entertaining. Particularly good to hear the songs.
– Going to visit The Bold Chapel in St Lukes very soon. Enjoyed the singing, great touch. Very enjoyable afternoon. 🙂
– Mid talk break VG. Whole place atmospheric
– Very interesting speaker. Nice to learn about the area having moved over to this side of the country.
– I think the restoration of this building is amazing. A very big thank you.
– Music added to the presentation.
– Good interaction/animation of the speaker. Maintained an interest for the audience.
– Excellent. Will come again if possible.
– Excellent surroundings.
– Some interest in Child of Hale & Brasenose College. I will try & check on any artefacts via my son.
– Particularly interested in Speke Hall & Hale.
– John Roach gave interesting speech.
– Very well presented. Good rapport with audience.
– It was excellent and a very relaxed atmosphere.
I thought the info re St Lukes Church very interesting. Also the knowledge that there is still a right of way through Bold.
– Excellent Power Point presentation. Just long enough. Could hear and see well. Lovely venue – nice & warm!
– Love Heritage, anything local I enjoy.
– Amazed – I thought I knew all about the local area & the footpaths I walk on. Now I have more areas & particular aspects to investigate. Thank you!
– I really enjoyed the talk, it was very informative.
– To hear about the Bold area. I didn’t realise there was so much history in that area.
– Musical input great!
– Fascinating information about local legends.

Bob delivers his talk on local legends

Was there anything you particularly disliked?

– I suggest the screen should be raised a bit higher, difficult to see over peoples heads from the back.

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

– What’s known of Birchfied House? And the tunnel from St Lukes.
– Would like to hear more about the history of Speke.
– Not at the moment. But will contact members.
– Music!! Local choirs etc.
– Nazareth House history, Ditchfield Hall.
– Possibly about Spike Island and the surrounding area before the Bridge (new bridge) by passes everything.
– Folk singing.

We hope you all enjoyed the day!

Matthew

Attendees chat during the interval

Hi everyone.

I’m delighted to report that Saturday’s Heritage Talk at St Marie’s, “Local Legends – the Story & the Song” by Bob Roach is a sell out!

All the seats have been reserved so if you’ve booked your place, please don’t forget to come along.

A previous Heritage Talk at St Marie’s

We’ll be opening the doors of St Marie’s at 13.30 on Saturday and the talk will start at 14.00 prompt. Members of the St Marie’s Heritage Group will be on hand to make you a cup of tea and answer any questions you may have about the redevelopment of St Marie’s.

We look forward to welcoming you all on Saturday.

Matthew Roberts