OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW (POLICE STATION) LATE 1974

 
by Dave Roberts

Having perused the old Police Station

and its outbuilding (which may or may not have been a stable)
we turn our attention to its replacement, seen here under construction in late 1974. Bland and boring, and with none of the reassuring solidity of its Victorian predecessor, the new police station  was built during a time in which a 'one size fits all' policy seemed to be in force. The police station in Nantwich, for example, is almost a carbon copy of this building. The station in Sandbach is of a slightly different design, but has one thing in common with the Middlewich station: it's never open (at Sandbach, there is a notice in the window boasting of the fact).
The buildings to be seen in the middle distance to the left of the picture are the Victoria Building and Civic Hall (now the Town Hall and accompanying Victoria Hall).
In 2015 the new Police Station, which never provided very much of a 'hands-on' service to the public, stood with its windows and doors completely obliterated by blue vinyls and notices informing people that it was not 'the Middlewich Police Custody Suite'.
That somewhat unpopular building  is situated  on the edge of town, on the Midpoint 18 estate. Why it was decided that a town with such a dreadful public transport service would be suitable for such a facility remains a mystery.
One beneficial by-product of the replacement of the old station with the new was the  handy little footpath which  runs from Queen Street, past the police station,  to the Civic Hall car park and Market Field.



Originally published 26th June 2011
Updated and re-published 15th August 2015