Spike Island

Spike Island is an artificial island created in 1833 when the Sankey Canal was extended from Fiddler's Ferry power station to the River Mersey at Widnes. The extension separated a section of Widnes previously called Woodend from the remainder of the town. The canal passes from the West Bank Locks on Spike Island to Warrington and then into St. Helens town centre. The canal fell into disuse and closed in 1963. The canal footpath now forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail. Widnes Dock, built in 1833, was the first rail-to-ship dock in the world. Uniquely the dock allowed goods, such as coal, to be taken off a train and deposited directly into a boat for transport along the River Mersey to…

Spike Island was the site of a famous outdoor concert by the rock band the Stone Roses in May 1990. The support acts included DJs Dave Haslam, Paul Oakenfold and Frankie Bones, a Zimbabwean drum orchestra and the reggae artist Gary Clail. The NME wrote "Spike Island was to be the Roses' defining statement, a celebration of not only their own success, but of an entire youth culture" and also "It was a real moment in time; the beginning of a long hot summer that saw England nearly go all the way in the World Cup, the peak of a period when Manchester and the north-west felt like the centre of the universe." The film is a comedy and coming-of-age drama that focuses on a "wannabee" band who…