When Winsford was chosen to meet overspill demand from Liverpool

Winsford was earmarked as an expanding town with residential and industrial construction to meet the overspill needs from Liverpool and Manchester.

New housing estates such as the Grange (also known at one time as the Ponderosa), Mount Pleasant (now known as the Over estate), Glebe Green, St John's, and Wharton Gardens.

These estates started life in the 60s as council-owned; at the time, some were considered 'leading edge' in design.

However, one became headline national news when in 1976, just five years after it had been built, very strong winds of 92mph ripped the roofs off many of the Mount Pleasant houses.

Local residents will remember this well. Within a week in February 1976, councillors and architects debated whether the whole estate should be pulled down due to the repair difficulties.

St John's Gardens in the 1960s (Image: Paul Hurley)

The estate had cost £3 million to erect and was considered ahead of its time.

Eventually, however, the damaged houses were repaired. It was later decided that all the houses with flat roofs would be upgraded to conventional ones, more aerodynamic and less likely to launch into the air!

As more people moved into the town, further development took place, with primary schools being built and a new secondary school, Woodford Lodge, taking in the expanding town's children.

Woodford Lodge opened its doors to new pupils in 1972 and sadly closed them on July 1, 2011, after which it was demolished to make way for even more private housing.

Woodford Lodge and the Verdin High School amalgamated in September 2010 and became the new Winsford Academy. The Verdin school had until then been in existence since 1895.

Queensway Dene Drive crossroads 1949 (Image: Paul Hurley)

There was always a drive from the 50s onwards to encourage more industry to the industrial estate to provide employment for the ever-increasing numbers of people choosing to relocate to Winsford.

Factories such as ICL, Jiffy Packaging, and Tesco all decided at one time to move to the growing town.

In addition, plans to make a feature of the Flashes, with a café, boathouse, and pathway, were formulated and, to some extent, were implemented. However, the development of hotels, cafes, and shops in that area did not.

Also, during the 1970s, the High Street and Wharton Hill areas had dramatic transformations at the cost of £4 million when the new A54 dual carriageway spread its tentacles through the centre of the town.

One side of the High Street with its businesses, shops, and houses was demolished to widen the road.

The famous Wharton Hill wall of black brick that stood high on the left side of the hill going down towards the river was dismantled to enable the new road to run from Over Square to Wharton.

Dene Estate Heaton Square (Image: Paul Hurley)

The second phase extended the new road from Over Square towards Chester past the new county police HQ.

In 1972 the continued expansion of Winsford was expected to achieve a population of 45,000.

In the last 20 years, the town's development has continued, albeit mostly private housing estates, which have infilled most of the vacant areas around Winsford.

Unfortunately, public amenities haven't kept up, and thus medical centres, shops, schools, etc., are lacking and do not support the now current and growing 35,000 population.

Until more infrastructure is provided, let's hope the expected increase in population doesn't materialise without the necessary amenities.

Finally, a quote from prospective councillor Arthur Stretch in May 1961.

"Winsford needs to grow in 'heart' as well as 'prosperity'." Has it?