150 Years of the Warrington Lit & Phil
The very idea of Literary and Philosophical Societies providing a sounding-board for the interested public is one of Warrington's gifts to the world. The first two Lit & Phil societies were set up by former students of the Warrington Academy. Since its establishment in 1870 the Warrington Lit & Phil has met almost 900 times, with a wide range of speakers talking on pretty much every subject imaginable, and some that aren't. Most of the innovations in science and philosophy, literature, politics and the arts, have been discussed at some point or other. Nobel Prizewinners, senior politicians, academics with worldwide reputations, and one or two rogues, have spoken to the Warrington Lit & Phil. On the occasion of the society's 150th anniversary Bill Cooke has analysed the changing emphases of subjects covered over the century and a half. What emerges is a moving picture of the issues that have vexed us all since Queen Victoria was on the throne.