The Barley Mow....

Life sent me over to Warrington today. Apparently, it's one of the most prosperous and successful towns in the UK. It's not a thing of beauty though in my opinion. It doesn't have a stock of beautiful Victorian industrial buildings like the cotton towns of Lancashire and the woollen towns of Yorkshire. Nor was it big enough to warrant the grand commercial buildings you find in the centres of Manchester and Liverpool. And Warrington is disfigured by some nasty chemical plants that are right in the centre of town. The main West Coast rail route bisects the town and Bank Quay Station has to be the ugliest station anywhere in the UK. Unless you know better of course.

But there are some little gems if you look. One is the Tudor Barley Mow pub which dates back to 1561. The shed in front of it in the picture is the old Market Hall which was saved when the town's market moved to an unprepossessing 70s structure in another part of town. It, along with the pub, form the core of the Golden Square Mall. The buildings that look Georgian are, in fact, 80s facsimiles. But at least the Barley Mow is the real deal.