Widnes, United Kingdom

Widnes is situated on the north bank of the River Mersey. The whole town is low-lying with some slightly higher areas in Farnworth and Appleton. To the south of the town a spur projecting into the river forms the West Bank area of Widnes; together with a spur projecting northwards from Runcorn these form Runcorn Gap, a narrowing of the River Mersey. Runcorn Gap is crossed by Runcorn Railway Bridge, carrying the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Main Line, and the Silver Jubilee Bridge, carrying the A533 road which then curves in a westerly direction towards Liverpool becoming the A562. The density of housing is generally high but there are some open green areas, including Victoria Park in Appleton and two golf courses which are geographically near the centre of the urban development. Most of the chemical and other factories are close to the north bank of the River Mersey. A second road bridge, the Mersey Gateway, opened in October 2017, carrying a six-lane road connecting Runcorn's Central Expressway with Speke Road and Queensway in Widnes.

Drainage of the Widnes area is into the Mersey via Ditton, Steward's and Bower's Brooks. The bedrock of the area is rock from the Sherwood sandstone group. There are a few outcrops of sandstone but elsewhere the bedrock is covered by drift. Most of this consists of till except near the bank of the Mersey where it is recent alluvium.

In 2020, the GVA for the Widnes Built-up Area was £1.18 billion.

Widnes is an industrial town and its major industry is still the manufacture of chemicals, although there has been diversification in recent years and the economy predominately relies on service industries. In 2006 a new freight park, known as the 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway, was opened in the West Bank area of the town. This provides a link for freight arriving by road, air or sea to be transferred to the rail network. In 2010 the first phase of Stobart Park, a "multimodal logistics service for warehousing and distribution", and part of the Stobart Group, was opened. This consists of a 520,000 square feet (48,000 m2) refrigerated warehouse for Tesco.

In 2014 work began on the new Mersey Gateway bridge which was completed and open to the public in October 2017. A new six lane toll bridge over the River Mersey between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes was built to relieve the congested and ageing Silver Jubilee Bridge. The new bridge and access roads are a major strategic transport route linking the Liverpool city-region including Liverpool John Lennon Airport and the Port of Liverpool to North West England.

The Queens Hall opened in 1957, it was originally Victoria Road Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. It was in use as a theatre and concert hall until the opening of The Brindley in Runcorn in 2004. The Queens Hall was demolished (December 2011 – February 2012). Adjacent to the hall, in Lacey Street, is the Queen's Hall Studio, originally built as a Sunday school in 1879. It was a venue for music and live performance but closed in 2004. After years of campaigning by the volunteer group Loose, and with the support of the Community Assets Fund/Big Lottery Fund and WREN and other donors, it re-opened on 17 April 2010.

There is a tradition that the Simon & Garfunkel song "Homeward Bound" was written by American musician Paul Simon at a Widnes station. A quote from Paul Simon reads as follows: "If you know Widnes, then you'll understand how I was desperately trying to get back to London as quickly as possible. Homeward Bound came out of that feeling."

Also, the song "The Stars of Track and Field" by Scottish indie rock band Belle and Sebastian, from the album If You're Feeling Sinister (1996) makes reference to the town of Widnes in the lyrics, as does the song "Watch Your Step" by Elvis Costello from his album Trust (1981).

There are nineteen primary schools in the town and three nursery schools. The three secondary schools are Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School, Ormiston Chadwick Academy and Wade Deacon High School. The former colleges, Halton College and Widnes and Runcorn Sixth Form College, merged in 2006 to form Riverside College. There are three special schools. Also in Widnes is the Woodview Child Development Centre in Crow Wood Lane. Kingsway Learning Centre offers opportunities for Adult Learning, Basic Skills and Skills for Success.

As part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, Fairfield High School closed down in 2010 and merged with Wade Deacon High School. The school was founded in 1507 as Farnworth Grammar School by Bishop William Smyth and a school has been on the site since the 16th century. In the 1960s two separate-sex secondary schools amalgamated and the school took the title Fairfield High School from 1974 up until its closure. When it closed in August 2010, the schools pupils were transferred to Wade Deacon High School, though still operating from the same site. This continued until March 2013 when Wade Deacon High School's new build was completed; demolition of the old school began in August 2013 and was completed by the end of that year. The site is currently being developed into a housing estate and a cemetery.