Worried councillors call
for improved flood defences
by David Skentelbery
WORRIED councillors at Warrington are to urge the Government to spend more money on improving flood defences in the town.
A motion to be put to the next meeting of the borough council will call on members to ask the town?s two MPs, Helen Jones and Helen Southworth, to work together to ensure the Government and the Environment Agency invest more money in local flood defences.
The motion is to be proposed by council leader Ian Marks, Liberal Democrat, and seconded by Coun Fiona Bruce, Conservative (both pictured).
It notes that researchers at Newcastle University have found that rainstorms have grown twice as intense over much of Britain over the past four decades.
The council is asked to agree that this trend is likely to continue and that extreme weather patterns will be a feature of a world affected by climate change.
It is understood a recent report by the National Audit Office concluded that only 57 per cent of the country’s existing flood defence systems are in good condition.
The two councillors welcome the increase in flood defence spending from ?600 million this year to ?800 million in 2010/11 promised by the Government, but regret that the Government has not spent enough on improving national flood defences in recent years and has allowed homes to be built on flood plains.
Warrington, in fact, escaped the worst of the flooding of recent months and suffered little compared with some other areas.
But homes at Orford and Penketh were flooded ? and Liverpool Road, Sankey Bridges, which has suffered from flooding problems for years, was again blocked by floodwater for a time.
“Lost” masterpiece found
in businessman’s collection
by David Skentelbery
A “LOST” early sketch by the master landscape painter John Constable has been discovered by researchers at the British Library – in a collection put together by a former Warrington businessman and magistrate.
The pencil drawing “Hyam Church” is not recorded in the catalogues of Constable’s work – but was bought in 1896 from a sale of items by Constable’s grandson, Eustace Constable.
It was found in a beautifully bound, 13-volume collection entitled “The Life of J.M.W. Turner, R.A. which was originally bequeathed to the British Museum by former Warrington businessman John Platt (1842-1902).
He had a prosperous velvet cutting business in Warrington before retiring to Llandudno.
His collection included more than 1,600 items, including portraits, views, autographs, engravings and original drawings, including Turner correspondence, and works by the artist’s contemporaries, many previously unknown or considered “lost”.
Constable (1776-1837) is considered by many to be the greatest English landscape artist – in particular for “The Haywain” and other paintings in Suffolk, which has become known as “Constable Country.”
The collection also includes original work by Thomas Girtin (1775 – 1802) of whom Turner once said: “If Tom had lived I should have starved”, and further works by Paul Sandby (1731-1809), Thomas Hearne (1744-1817), John Robert Cozens (1752-1797), Francis Nicholson (1753-1844), Philip Reinagle (1749-1833) and Joseph Farington (1747-1821).
A range of major artists, writers and art patrons from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are also represented in the collection’s manuscript material, which includes five letters and one signature by Turner, one of the letters previously recorded as untraced. Other insertions include a sheet from the Royal Academy Schools’ attendance book, showing Turner’s signature alongside those of his fellow students, and a handwritten draft introduction by Constable to his set of 22 mezzotints, English Landscape – the only publication produced by the artist in his lifetime, a self-financed attempt to gain a wider audience. Dated 20 May 1832, this draft predates the example held by the Fitzwilliam Museum by over a week, previously thought to have been the earliest existing draft.
Bequeathed to the British Museum in 1919, Mr Platt’s collection subsequently moved to the British Library in the early 1970s. Its importance was recently discovered by British Library curator Felicity Myrone during the course of her research.
She said: “I was thrilled to discover this remarkable collection during the course of my research.
“John Platt was clearly an avid art collector and enthusiast, amassing over 1,600 portraits, views, engravings, drawings and letters relating to Turner and his contemporaries, resulting in an exquisite and important thirteen volume collection of 18th – 19th century art and manuscripts. This collection illuminates Turner’s career and its context in the golden age of English landscape painting and I am certain that it will prove to be an invaluable resource for researchers in years to come.”
The collection will go on display in the British Library’s Sir John Ritblat Gallery from today (Friday) until 24 October 2007.
It is the subject of ongoing research.
Better than ever – the
town’s GCSE results
by staff reporter
SIXTEEN year olds across Warrington have received their GCSE results – with early indications showing yet another successful year.
It is expected that grades will improve on last year, when 66 per cent of pupils achieved five or more A*- C passes grades.
Warrington’s students continue to perform above the national average of 60 per cent and is currently ranked 12th out of 149 English local education authorities and second highest in the North West.
Sheila Woodyatt, the borough council?s executive member for Children’s Services, said: “Early returns from our schools indicate that GCSE results continue to improve in Warrington and are well above the national average. This is a reflection of the hard work undertaken by our schools and their pupils. I would like to congratulate both school staff and pupils on successes this year.”
She added: “Warrington’s performance continues to improve at a higher rate than other areas. Our 12th national ranking last year was an improvement from 18th place the previous year.”
The Department Children Schools and Families (DCSF) produces Performance Tables of GCSE results in mid-November. These can be obtained at that time from the DfES by phoning 0800 242322 or direct from www.dfes.gov.uk/performancetables
Getting to the
church on time
The RAC saw to it that Glazebury girl Karen Jones had no trouble getting to the church on time for her wedding, as she was taken there in one of their recovery vehicles!
Karen turned up to marry fiance Ian Allison at All Saints, Glazebury, in one of the company’s bright orange trucks – but she hadn’t broken down.
In fact Karen, of Queens Avenue, is a recovery truck driver herself, and was dropped off at the church by one of her Winwick depot colleagues.
After a honeymoon in York Karen is now back behind the wheel herself.
Theatre company’s
new production
by staff reporter
WARRINGTON-based Centenary Theatre Company is to present ?The Rise and Fall of Little Voice? at the Brindley Theatre, Runcorn, on September 18-22.
Made famous on the West End stage by Jane Horrocks, it tells the story of a painfully shy girl with an extraordinary musical gift.
It?s a sometimes humorous, sometimes sad story which, the Centenary say, will have audiences both laughing and crying ? and also singing along with the music.
But it also does contain some strong language.
Car sales banned
from repair workshop
by John Hendon
A PLANNING inspector has banned car sales from a car repair workshop at Stretton, near Warrington.
Planning chiefs at Warrington approved a retrospective planning application for car repairs at Bradley Brook House, T
arporley Road, Stretton some time ago – subject to a condition that car repairs only would take place.
The applicant appealed against the condition – but the inspector who heard the appeal has upheld the council’s stance.
He said the condition sought to prevent additional activity, including car sales, on the site which had limited space available.
Traffic from additional uses would queue or reverse onto the busy A49, making the road less safe, he said. The condition was necessary and the development should not be permitted without it.
A council spokesman said the appeal resulted from an originally unauthorised use of an outbuilding for car repairs.
” The Inspector has followed the logic of the council’s approach, accepting that a small scale repair business is acceptable, but noting that a condition restricting use is reasonable and necessary in terms of highway safety and protection of the visual amenity of the green belt.”
Vandals set
car alight
by staff reporter
POLICE are investigating after vandals set fire to a car parked outside a house in Almond Drive, Burtonwood near Warrington during the night.
Fire crews were called to the scene but the car – about five years old – was badly damaged before they could get there.
A car parked nearby was also damaged by heat.
The fire had been deliberately started by placing combustible materials underneath it and setting it alight, a spokesman said.
