Northwich is an historic, quirky and charming town with heritage-rich attractions and buildings.
Everyone knows about our rivers, bridges and ties to the salt industry but there are some amazing and fun facts you might never have heard about.
Keep reading to discover some unique snippets about our famous town of Northwich.
1. If you like pina coladas…
You know the song with the lyrics ‘If you like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain?’ Well, it was written by a man born right here in the Castle area of Northwich!
Its official title is Escape (The Pina Colada Song) and was the creation of Rupert Holmes. Released in 1979, it went on to reach number one in the US Billboard Hot 100. It has also been listened to over 280,000,000 times on Spotify.
Now there’s a fact to impress your friends and family with!
2. Going for Gold
Northwich has its very own Olympic Gold medallist in the shape of rower Matt Langridge. He won Gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the Men’s Eight and was granted the freedom of Northwich on his return.
Matt took up the sport at Northwich Rowing Club and also has a number of other medals under his belt. These include more Golds in the World Championships and medals at both the London and Beijing Olympics.
Thousands turned out for Matt’s victory parade on what was a very proud day for the town.
Photo by the Northwich Guardian
3. North Country Boys
World-renowned band The Charlatans have very close ties to Northwich. The band relocated here in 1989 as this was where frontman Tim Burgess was living at the time.
The band also used to sleep in Omega Records after gigs which was located on Witton Street.
Their fondness of Northwich led to the brilliant North by Northwich festival which took place in 2018 and saw The Charlatans perform a number of shows at the Memorial Court. Two of their gigs are on Youtube if you want to have a watch!
4. Claim to musical fame
It’s not just The Charlatans who have played in Northwich. The town’s old Memorial Hall building was a popular music venue and you won’t believe who performed there!
The Beatles, The Kinks, Thin Lizzy, The Cure and The Who all came to Northwich on tour and no doubt wowed audiences with what we now know as all-time classics.
Here’s hoping we see more famous acts performing in Northwich in the not-too-distant future!
5. When in Rome
Northwich’s history may go back longer than you think….
That’s because it’s believed that Northwich was a Roman settlement of some importance thanks to its position at the confluence of two rivers. In fact it was known as ‘Condate’ in the third century for this very reason.
An auxiliary fort was discovered in the area now known as Castle, and interesting artefacts such as salt pans and brine kilns have also been unearthed. How fascinating is that?
6. Ground-breaking discovery
The most popular type of plastic, Polythene, is today used all over the globe to make bags and food packaging. But did you know it was actually discovered at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) near Northwich?
It was initially produced by accident during an experiment with polymers in 1933 before the process was perfected in 1938.
Amazingly, Polythene was used in the Second World War to insulate material for radar cables. This gave Britain an advantage in long distance air warfare and was a closely guarded secret. Today of course alternatives to plastic are being sought around the planet but it was a discovery that had a huge impact on the world we know today.
Do you have any weird and wonderful facts about Northwich? If so we’d love to hear them!
