Halton
Unitary authority in northwest England, created in 1998 from part of Cheshire.
Area
74 sq km/29 sq mi
Towns and cities
Runcorn,
Widnes (administrative headquarters), Ditton
Features
River Mersey divides Runcorn from Widnes and Ditton; Manchester Ship Canal and Bridgewater Canal reach Mersey at Runcorn; St Helen's Canal reaches Mersey via a series of locks at Widnes; Catalyst: the Museum of the Chemical Industry is at Widnes; Norton Priory Museum (Runcorn) is on the site of a 12th-century priory
Industries
industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics manufacturing and coatings, light engineering, scientific instruments
Population
(2001) 118,200
Famous people
Charles Barkla (Nobel prize 1917, polarized -rays), Thomas Henry Hall Caine (Manx novelist), Lewis Carroll (author)
