FIFTY years ago, Warrington was at the start of something of a crossroads.

In October 1969, the start of a consultation in the Warrington New Town plan began.

It plotted how Warrington would look in the future.

The Austin Smith Lord Partnership outlined the rationale for the work.

“The expansion and rebuilding of Warrington will span a quarter of a century, and by the time the period of peak building is over, half of the town’s adult population will consist of those now still at school or not yet at school, while those now about to leave school will by then be established householders approaching middle age,” it said.

So, the search went out for children to have their say on the future.

Education chiefs at the time asked youngsters from nine secondary schools to write essays on the subject of The Warrington of the Future or Warrington in the Year 2000.

The consultation produced 553 essays from boys and girls aged 14 to 18 (now in Warrington Museum’s Archive collections) and covered every aspect of daily life from improvements to traffic and leisure to a vision of a modern Utopia where Warrington was encased under an unbreakable glass dome making its inhabitants safe from natural and man- made disasters.

Many of the hopes were also carried in the Warrington Guardian.

Warrington Guardian:

From Catherine Benson, who wanted an ice rink in Padgate, to Richard Fox, who wanted a go-karting track.

While students in Stockton Heath expressed worries about future development.

Jane Hanson wanted to stop development around the Dingle in Appleton while David Sutton was worried about houses looking like the ‘boxes’ built in Runcorn.

Warrington Guardian:

Now on the 50th anniversary, Warrington Museum and archive has launched a project to create an exhibition called New Town to New City? It will show how the town has changed over the past 50 years.

And they want to find some of those people involved to see what they are up to now.

And if the predictions came true.

Do you remember writing the essays in 1969?

  •  If you were involved then get in touch.

You can email us here at Yester Years via newsdesk@guardiangrp.co.uk.

Or you can write to us via Yester Years, Newsdesk, Warrington Guardian, Unit 4, 240 Cygent Court, Warrington, WA1 1PP.