The Shoots of Recovery

Widnes is supposed to be the place where Paul Simon composed Homeward Bound in 1965 "sittin' in the railway station". In a rush to escape, he was also quoted as saying "If you'd ever seen Widnes, then you'd know why I was keen to get back to London".

Standing on the Widnes shore of the River Mersey, it is separated from Runcorn by both the river and the separate Manchester Ship Canal running parallel. The only road and pedestrian connection is over a Runcorn Bridge built earlier in 1961 as replacement for the previous Widnes Runcorn Transporter Bridge (which carried both people and vehicles across in a large suspended cradle). Prior to even that, 'Runcorn Gap' was navigated by the Runcorn Ferry - as per a Stanley Holloway monologue, and a fare "at per tuppence per person per trip":

Now Runcorn lay over on one side of stream,
And Widnes on t'other side stood,
And, as nobody wanted to go either place,
Well, the trade wasn't any too good.

Things (and tolls) are now about to change for the better. Iconic Runcorn Bridge (North West England's answer to Sidney Harbour Bridge, only without the Opera House and ...err well, Sydney harbour) is soon to be paired with a new 6 lane super toll bridge, that even Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne is supporting as economic driver. Recession, what recession? Mersey Gateway is set to run and run.

A public art precursor to this are the delicate new shoots of a 14m high Future Flower, as created in 2010 by architects Tonkin Liu (artists also of my earlier blip Singing Ringing Tree ). Here, it's red LED lights are wind-powered by little turbines and the fibonacci spiral petals overlap to create moire patterns of light.

I had a meeting in Widnes this morning and so a detour and short walk brought me back here after a year or more away. By the time the new bridge is finally realised, this lovely wind-swept spot will be changed forever, and (I imagine) Future Flower could be cast in permanent shadow underneath. Be interesting to come back then to find out, just how the feel of this place has changed.