Browsing the "Poems" Category
Published on May 8th, 2021 | by All Things Warrington
From the oldest known Lancashire ballad (‘Warrikin Fair’) to more contemporary prose, a treasure trove of odes, sonnets, rhymes and verse has originated from the town of Warrington. All have one thing in common: they were ... Read More →
Published on May 8th, 2021 | by All Things Warrington
Christmas Eve, the carpet in The FeathersStuck to my shoe, a little worse for beerAngels, shepherds and virgins all drew nearIn fancy dress to get one for the roadMary kissed a shepherd on the mouthWhile Jesus ... Read More →
Published on April 14th, 2021 | by All Things Warrington
Warrikin (Warrington) Fair is believed to be Lancashire’s oldest surviving ballad. It can be dated to around 1548 thanks to its reference to a man named ‘Rondle Shay’ who was recorded in 1548 as being the ... Read More →
Published on April 13th, 2021 | by All Things Warrington
Few parts of nineteenth century Warrington were as industrialised as School Brow, Cockhedge and Howley. But as well as factories, mills and tanneries, there were houses too: rows upon rows of cheap dilapidated working class dwellings ... Read More →
Published on April 9th, 2021 | by Andy Green
A poetic tribute to Warrington’s old market place I thought I’d forgotten my first loveI had just about got to the stageWhere I could drive past her home in the eveningWithout thinking on back to the ... Read More →
Published on April 8th, 2021 | by All Things Warrington
The murder of Sir John Butler (Boteler) at Bewsey Old Hall in Warrington in 1463 has been captured in ballad form on at least three occasions. In ‘Sir John Butler’, ‘The Ballad of Bewsey’ and ‘Butler ... Read More →
Published on April 8th, 2021 | by All Things Warrington
Subtitled ‘Song of An Ancient Inn’, the ‘quaint’ Old Crow referred to in this poem was one of three Warrington pubs accessible via a series of narrow passageways at the top end of Bridge Street (located ... Read More →
Published on April 8th, 2021 | by All Things Warrington
‘The Invitation’ was included in Anna Laetitia Barbauld’s first volume of poetry (entitled ‘Poems’) and was written whilst she was living in Warrington between 1758 and 1774. The ‘Miss B’ to whom ‘The Invitation’ is addressed ... Read More →
Published on April 8th, 2021 | by All Things Warrington
‘The Aviary’, subtitled ‘Winwick Zoological Gardens’ was written in the 1970s by Roger Bruton (1937-2000) and David McKendrick (1942-2009) who worked at Winwick Hospital, one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Europe. They were inspired to ... Read More →
Published on April 8th, 2021 | by All Things Warrington
‘John Howard’ is Arthur Bennett’s poetic tribute to the great 18th century humanitarian and prison reformer John Howard whose book ‘The State of the Prisons in England and Wales’ was published in Warrington in 1877 by ... Read More →