Community Facilities
The main library in Victoria Square has been refurbished. In addition to the normal services provided by a library, this library holds a large collection of material relating to railways. There is a branch library in the Ditton area of the town.
The Queens Hall Studio, now known as The Studio, is in Lacey Street and is a community venue. Live music and theatre events take place, and the ACCESS ALL AREAS project is based there for young people interested in music and associated creative activities, funded by The Big Lottery Fund.
Victoria Park is in the Appleton area of the town and has a number of attractions, including a cafeteria and refreshment kiosk, a bandstand, model boating lake, tennis and basketball courts, bowling greens, a skateboarding facility, glasshouses with a pets' corner and a butterfly house. Hough Green Park is in the Ditton area of the town. Crow Wood Park is in the eastern part of Widnes and Sunnybank is a large area of open ground also in the eastern part of the town. There are a number of nature reserves. Pickerings Pasture is an area of wildflower meadows overlooking the River Mersey which was built on the site of a former household and industrial landfill. The other nature reserves in the town are Clincton Wood and Hale Road Woodlands.
Kingsway Leisure Centre has a swimming pool and a gym in addition to a sports hall. There are a number of football, cricket and rugby league clubs in the town. St Michael’s Golf Course was a municipal golf course which was built on reclaimed industrial waste land but high levels of arsenic have been found in the soil and at present it is closed. There is a private golf club in Highfield Road.
In October 2011 the Hive Leisure Park opened in a new development as part of the Widnes Waterfront. Its facilities include Reel Cinema, a five-screen multiplex cinema, a Frankie & Benny's bar and restaurant, Widnes Super Bowl containing a 16-lane ten-pin bowling centre, a children's play area, a Nando's restaurant, a Premier Inn, brewers fayre pub opened in February 2012 and also a brand new Ice Rink operated by Silverblades opened on 21 December 2012
There is no hospital in Widnes. For acute medical care patients go to Warrington Hospital which is administered by the North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust or to Whiston Hospital which is administered by the St Helens & Knowsley NHS Trust. Primary care services are provided by the Halton and St Helens Primary Care Trust. This is in a state of change following the recent merger of the Halton and the St Helens Primary Care Trusts. General practitioner services are provided in health centres and in separate medical practices. There are dental practices providing a mixture of National Health Service and private dental care.
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