Hattons Model Railways to close

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

It’s good to see skill staying in the industry rather than it been lost to another avenue .

Modelling is an interest based thing and I guess most who work in it are driven by that rather than image, big bucks the qualifications they have that modern life is so bound up with.

[Drifter]

Great to see another business moving to the real home of the model railway industry that is Widnes. A small fishing village on the banks of the river Mersey.

However you will need to drive from leafy Cheshire, through Merseyside and possibly into Greater Manchester in order to arrive at this new facility. It’s around 15 miles from Widnes. 

 

[AY Mod]

6 minutes ago, Drifter said:

A small fishing village on the banks of the river Mersey.

 

Do they do postcards of this charming spot?

[stewartingram]

Or even seaside rock?

[stewartingram]

1 hour ago, tmc said:

More info on our exciting new announcement is available here: https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/news/tmc-opens-new-widnes-office-amid-further-staff-expansion/

 

:) 

 

What I do miss from Hattons days, is the daily update of added second hand items. It is all very well having a large list of s/h, biut I don't want to go through a list like that every time.

[Grafarman]

4 minutes ago, stewartingram said:

What I do miss from Hattons days, is the daily update of added second hand items. It is all very well having a large list of s/h, biut I don't want to go through a list like that every time.

 

Easy enough to set up a link to a search which updates each day:

1. From the menu across the top select: Rail / Gauge (of choice)

2. Then from the menu down the side tick the boxes: In Stock / Pre-Owned

3. Then in the 'Sort By' box select: Newest First

Create a shortcut to the resulting page and it updates every time you visit.

Simples!

 

David

[AY Mod]

36 minutes ago, stewartingram said:

Or even seaside rock?

 

[St Enodoc]

1 minute ago, AY Mod said:

 

Per tuppence, per person, per trip.

[Drifter]

3 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Per tuppence, per person, per trip.

You could still pay 2p to cross one of the bridges further up the river, led to believe it’s 10p now! That’s only one way!

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

RMWeb Raffle

 

First Prize, a day trip to Widnes

Second Prize, a week in Widnes

[Stuart A]

54 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

 

Hmmm from memory as a kid it was always Widnes that stank....

[Gridiron]

Trade description act warning. This new facility is nowhere near Widnes, it's actually nearer Lowton which is in Greater Manchester, so why deliberately try to mislead people that that this development is at Widnes. It has nothing to do with Widnes apart from the fact it employs staff who were previously employed at a facility there. In any event, it's a all a bit pointless anyway if the site is not open to the public, it might as well be on Mars. Not impressed by the announcement, but pleased the people involved have been employed.

[MarkSG]

20 minutes ago, Gridiron said:

Trade description act warning. This new facility is nowhere near Widnes, it's actually nearer Lowton which is in Greater Manchester, so why deliberately try to mislead people that that this development is at Widnes. It has nothing to do with Widnes apart from the fact it employs staff who were previously employed at a facility there. In any event, it's a all a bit pointless anyway if the site is not open to the public, it might as well be on Mars. Not impressed by the announcement, but pleased the people involved have been employed.

 

It's somewhere oop north. Everywhere oop north is near Widnes 🙂

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

They don't want anyone to know where it is. 

 

It's in Widnes Protection.

[AY Mod]

1 hour ago, Gridiron said:

Trade description act warning.

 

Really?

 

Don't be silly.

[Bucoops]

3 hours ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

RMWeb Raffle

 

First Prize, a day trip to Widnes

Second Prize, a week in Widnes

 

3rd place Margate?

Edited July 16 by Bucoops

[MarkSG]

1 hour ago, Dr Gerbil-Fritters said:

They don't want anyone to know where it is. 

 

It's in Widnes Protection.

 

Would sir require his coat on the way out?

[Gridiron]

3 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

Really?

 

Don't be silly.

It's false advertising.

[AY Mod]

1 minute ago, Gridiron said:

It's false advertising.

 

It's not 'advertising' though is it? Someone just got confused between all those places round there starting with W.

 

Go and fight a worthwhile battle.

[Gridiron]

46 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

It's not 'advertising' though is it? Someone just got confused between all those places round there starting with W.

 

Go and fight a worthwhile battle.

It's a false statement then that the advertiser should correct, and that probably explains your willingness to understand the point.   

[Compound2632]

43 minutes ago, Gridiron said:

It's a false statement then that the advertiser should correct, and that probably explains your willingness to understand the point.   

 

Well, the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company got away with such fraudulent imposture for over a century - its premises were on the wrong side of the city boundary, in the Black Country borough of Smethwick.

[Gridiron]

9 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Well, the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company got away with such fraudulent imposture for over a century - its premises were on the wrong side of the city boundary, in the Black Country borough of Smethwick.

I'm sure there are plenty of other examples as well, remember all the uproar about Cornish pasties or Cheddar Cheese being made elsewhere. Different times nowadays. My original post on this  subject was supposed to be a bit tongue in cheek, but that said I struggle to find any justification to mislead readers with a headline that is untrue. Sadly this is fast becoming commonplace because those posters know people are more likely to read the article. 

[Widnes Model Centre]

By way of denouncing some appalling comments made by a certain Mod, l have decided to list some past and present photographs of Widnes. 

By way of also examining and explaining rumours of a smell. I submit the following statement.

 

As a child we would holiday in North Wales, the easiest mode of transportation across the river Mersey was the Transporter Bridge. Upon approaching said town of Widnes, my father would instruct us to hold our breath and cover our noses until we reached North Wales. So rumours of a smell were not something l had come across. I digress, we moved to Widnes twenty years ago and there is definitely no smell now. 
 

What we do have in Widnes now is a town that’s surrounded by countryside and farms. It’s actually quite nice to live here. Where there are still two former and one current Premier League footballers. We did have Frank Lampard until he decided to leave Everton.

 

From my vantage point at the till…, recently passing on the road outside there have been, numerous Porsches, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley and one that made me stand up, a MC Laren, heard it coming….

 

Not far from me is one of the oldest churches in the country. A fantastic railway station, an absolutely stunning railway viaduct and not one, not two but three bridges across the river. Silver Jubilee, Gateway and Ethefleda. Such a pity they demolished the transporter.

 

I can certainly recommend a visit to Spike Island, once the terminus of the Runcorn Gap railway line and the Sankey canal. Home of the world’s first railway line to ship. You would almost need to make a booking to see the spiral arch on the railway viaduct. 
 

The local library is reputed to have the largest collection of railway books in the country.
 

So Widnes can have a lot of attractions for the railway enthusiasts.

 

If you decide to visit then do please call into our shop. 
 

A certain Mod is going to kill me for this post.

Edited July 16 by Widnes Model Centre

[Gridiron]

31 minutes ago, Widnes Model Centre said:

By way of denouncing some appalling comments made by a certain admin, l have decided to list some past and present photographs of Widnes. 

By way of also examining and explaining rumours of a smell. I submit the following statement.

 

As a child we would holiday in North Wales, the easiest mode of transportation across the river Mersey was the Transporter Bridge. Upon approaching said town of Widnes, my father would instruct us to hold our breath and cover our noses until we reached North Wales. So rumours of a smell were not something l had come across. I digress, we moved to Widnes twenty years ago and there is definitely no smell now. 
 

What we do have in Widnes now is a town that’s surrounded by countryside and farms. It’s actually quite nice to live here. Where there are still two former and one current Premier League footballers. We did have Frank Lampard until he decided to leave Everton.

 

From my vantage point at the till…, recently passing on the road outside there have been, numerous Porsches, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley and one that made me stand up, a MC Laren, heard it coming….

 

Not far from me is one of the oldest churches in the country. A fantastic railway station, an absolutely stunning railway viaduct and not one, not two but three bridges across the river. Silver Jubilee, Gateway and Ethefleda. Such a pity they demolished the transporter.

 

I can certainly recommend a visit to Spike Island, once the terminus of the Runcorn Gap railway line and the Sankey canal. Home of the world’s first railway line to ship. You would almost need to make a booking to see the spiral arch on the railway viaduct. 
 

The local library is reputed to have the largest collection of railway books in the country.
 

So Widnes can have a lot of attractions for the railway enthusiasts.

 

If you decide to visit then do please call into our shop. 
 

A certain admin is going to kill me for this post.

 

Well done.

 

I'm not from Widnes, but I remember crossing on the old transporter bridge and the smell which usually became noticeable as you came over the railway line at the site of now disused Ditton Station. At the time the smell appeared to come from the piles of chemicals which lay alongside the road which was cleared when they built the new road A562 between Liverpool and Widnes.

 

In later years I had the pleasure to visit one of chemical companies on the river side of the railway arches and memories of the smell returned, but I can confirm on my last visit to Hattons Widnes at the end of January there was not a smell to be found.  

 

And of course the town of Widnes is famous as being the place where Paul Simon wrote Homeward Bound.  The tiny Cheshire railway station where a huge Simon & Garfunkel hit record was written - Cheshire Live (cheshire-live.co.uk)

 

 

Edited July 16 by Gridiron

[Nova Scotian]

Clearly the only thing that will satisfy this situation is a name change -  the Widnes And Golburne Model Centre (WAGMC)? The Two Shops Up North Model Centre? (TSUN MC)? Or the imaginatively named "One business that happens to have a retail store and non-public location, that's still allowed to call itself what it does because why not?" OB TH TH ARSA No-Pub-Lo - has a ring to it.