Padgate
Padgate is a suburb of Warrington, Cheshire, England. During World War II it had a small RAF Station. RAF Padgate will be well-remembered by thousands of young men who were selected for RAF national service and on this site received their first taste of military discipline, ill-fitting uniforms and a severe haircut. It has an unmanned railway station on the Manchester-Liverpool line served by the local stopping service. Its parish church, Christ Church (1838), is a listed building.
Historically part of Lancashire, in the centre of Padgate, next to the train line, is a large area of land and playing fields known as Bennett's Recreation Ground or simply Bennett's Rec. This was the home of the Woolston Rovers rugby league side and also the Cheshire Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps with their headquarters Kennedy Hall. Following a fire at the club house/bar, the club struggled to survive. Recently a new changing room facility has been built on the site of the former club house and the club is starting to rebuild. This is also home to Greenall's Padgate St Oswald's reserves football team who are currently competing in the Mid Cheshire Football League reserve division. Greenall's Padgate St Oswald's first team play at Tetley Walker's Club, Long Lane, Warrington.
The RAF station is now a housing estate, bordering Bennett's Rec where the Cheshire Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps are based and Cinnamon Brow. University Academy Warrington (a secondary school formally known as Lysander Community High School) is on this land.
The university campus (which is not in Padgate) belonging to the University of Chester was used as a camp for Canadian servicemen during the Second World War, before becoming a teacher training college in 1946. The campus is home to 384 students who study varying degrees, from journalism to sport. The campus houses a SU bar named bar twenty ten. There are 8 halls of residence and also a cul-de-sac called College Close. Coordinates: 53°24′N 2°33′W / 53.400°N 2.550°W