The River of Life project was developed in the aftermath of the 1993 IRA bomb in Warrington, which killed three-year-old Johnathan Ball and 12-year-old Tim Parry, and led to the death of Bronwen Vickers. It injured 54 others and affected many thousands of people. The international outrage was strongly expressed by mothers and in Dublin thousands gathered in downtown Dublin to express sorrow and revulsion over the deaths of the two children. The new streetscape and integrated water feature entitled ‘The River of Life’ was officially opened on 14th November 1996 by HRH The Duchess of Kent. Colin and Wendy Parry were thrust into the public gaze and together with the NSPCC established a peace centre in Warrington. The Foundation for Peace and NSPCC joined forces to raise funds for the £3million Centre opened on 20th March 2000...the 7th anniversary of the IRA bomb. http://www.thepeacecentre.org.uk https://broadbent.studio/river-of-life Two bombs exploded on Bridge Street in Warrington about 100 yards apart on 20 March at about 12:25. The blasts happened within a minute of each other with the area crowded with shoppers on the Saturday before Mothering Sunday. Witnesses spoke of shoppers fleeing from the first explosion into the path of the second. It was later found that the bombs had been placed inside cast iron bins causing large amounts of shrapnel. It was a very personal attack on the people of Warrington - and the town needed to respond to it. The City council asked to meet with me to discuss what form a memorial could take. It became clear that there were contrasting schools of thought with some looking to put it firmly in the past particularly as at the time the economic viability of the town was being threatened, and others who could imagine what I worried as being an overly personal memorial, which may not easily stand the test of time. My feeling was that the street was not just physically broken but spiritually
