Stretch a leg

Eleven swans - adults and youngsters - in the foreground, and beyond Catalyst - a museum and historic archive of the chemical industry.

The building at the core was known as The Tower and built in 1860 as an administrative building associated with an Alkali manufacturing plant. It later became the HQ of the very successful Gossage Soap factory. Widnes lay at the centre of the chemical industry in the North West. Now, with all those manufacturing facilities and factories gone, and with extensions and a glass lift taking visitors up to an Observation floor above the old building, it’s a museum, archive and educational facility - the galleries really are aimed at children, with lots of interactive exhibits.

It’s been hospital day today. The wide Wednesday theme is odd numbers, so in the extra - three white buckets (and one red) collecting water from the leaking corridor ceiling. It was a rainy morning.