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Canada hall is located at Fearnhead/ Padgate three miles northeast of the town of Warrington and one mile from Bruche hall.
The site covered 40 acres and was constructed to a similar design to Bruche hall and the Royal Navy Gosling camps in the same area as well. The camp was constructed with the standard H-Block accommodation buildings, ablutions, messing facilities and a central activity hall used as a dance hall, theatre, and cinema.
The camp was originally tenanted by Canadian servicemen during World War 2 and later the camp was occupied by the USAAF from the nearby Burtonwood air depot station 590 by WACs Women's Army Corps, & it was then decided to use Canada hall to accommodate the WACs there to keep them away from the men the WACs stayed there until the end of the war, buses and trucks transported the WACs to and from the Burtonwood Air depot.
After world war 2 during 1946 Lancashire Education committee decided to use Canada hall camp as an emergency training college to train 360 male students demobbed from the armed services to train a teaching profession, the principal there was G. Harrison, MA, the last ex-servicemen left at easter 1949.
During 1949 the ministry of education recognized the college as a permanent teacher training college for female students, providing two-year teacher training courses, & also during this period of time, the students were still using the old military world war 2 camp buildings.
So, in 1955/59 work began on the building of the new purpose-designed luxurious accommodation blocks, each one housing about 50 students, members of the 1955/59 courses were the first to move in from the old world war 2 H-Blocks.
During the late 1960s, the site was renamed Padgate College of Education.
The current position of Canada hall today is the Warrington campus of the University of Chester.
Site plan and location map
Canada hall main entrance shortly after world war 2
Aerial photo of Canada hall during 1960, the 7 new students
accommodation blocks can be seen to the right
with the world war 2 buildings to the left.
Students rural science class around the world war 2 buildings during the early 1950s.
Student Living conditions in the world war 2 H-blocks during 1954.
The World war 2 buildings can be seen in the foreground and one of
the newly built luxurious accommodation blocks
is in the left background 1960.
One of the new accommodation blocks, and to
the left are the world war 2 buildings 1960.
The front cover of Sagax, the campus magazine 1958.
Recent photo of 2 of the accommodation blocks.
7 of these buildings were constructed.
2019 photo of students at the Warrington
campus of the University of Chester.
Lang of flight testing outside the control tower at RAF Burtonwood with a WAC
Women's Army Corps during world war 2. The WACs at RAF Burtonwood
was accommodated at Canada hall, their work included many
tasks such as warehousing and secretarial duties.
Recent Aerial photo of Canada hall with its modern buildings, now known
as the Warrington Campus of the University of Chester. The world
war 2 buildings have long since been demolished.
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