![]() Thereafter chemical factories proliferated in the town. It was called "Hutchinson's No 1 Works" and was constructed along the Sankey Canal near Widnes Dock. īeginning in 1848, John Hutchinson built the first chemical factory in Widnes on Spike Island. The wreck of a Mersey flat called the Eustace Carey can be seen at Spike Island at low tide. They were a common sight in the 19th century. The Mersey flats were small flat-bottomed sailing barges that originated on the Mersey but were later used on rivers elsewhere. The dock could hold up to 40 vessels, and have a single Mersey flat loaded with 70 tons of coal from a railway wagon, and en route to Liverpool in 40 minutes. Consequently Widnes dock was accessed by Mersey flat boats which could transport goods downstream to the Port of Liverpool or along the canal network. Large ships are unable to sail far up the River Mersey because the water level is too low. They were taken over by British Rail in 1948 and remained in use until 1968. ![]() The railway lines became known as "Marsh Sidings". The island had a network of interlinked railway lines which, being at the end of the line, were ideal for marshalling trains and freight storage. Widnes Dock was last used commercially in 1931 but the island remained in use as a railway sidings. The dock was topped up with water from the nearby reservoir to prevent its level becoming too low when the River Mersey was at low tide. Goods and raw materials could also be brought in by boat and deposited directly onto a train for onward travel to local factories. Uniquely the dock allowed goods, such as coal, to be taken off a train and deposited directly into a boat for transport along the River Mersey to other parts of the UK and abroad. Widnes Dock, built in 1833, was the first rail-to-ship dock in the world. The canal footpath now forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail. The canal fell into disuse and closed in 1963. The canal passes from the West Bank Locks on Spike Island to Warrington and then into St. The extension separated a section of Widnes previously called Woodend from the remainder of the town. Spike Island is an artificial island created in 1833 when the Sankey Canal was extended from Fiddler's Ferry to the River Mersey at Widnes. View of the Sankey Canal from Spike island circa 1900 By the 1970s no working chemical factories remained, and from 1975 onwards the island was cleaned up and turned over to public recreation.Ī famous concert by The Stone Roses, subsequently the subject of an eponymous film, took place on the island in May 1990. The chemical industry in Widnes grew rapidly thereafter. In 1848, John Hutchinson built the first chemical factory in Widnes on the island. In 1833, Widnes Dock, the world's first rail-to-ship dock, was built on the island. Spike Island was at the centre of the British chemical industry during the industrial revolution. It is next to the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre, an interactive science and technology museum. It is an artificial island between the Sankey Canal and the estuary of the River Mersey containing parkland, woodland, wetlands and footpaths. ![]() Spike Island is a park in Widnes, Halton, North-West England.
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