Your Community Hub

Your Community Hub is the latest album from the Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan, continuing Gordon Chapman-Fox's sonic exploration of the New Towns movement. The album delves into how the issues they aimed to address still resonate today.

The theme for the 2024 album is Community, focusing on the Community Centres that once served Warrington and Runcorn. These centres provided all necessary facilities within a five-minute walk from residents' homes, a concept that predates the current idea of 15 Minute Cities by 50 years.

Over the past five decades, there has been a noticeable decline in both these community centres and the services they offered. The erosion of these basic services, such as access to healthcare, postal services, and more, has been a result of successive governments undermining their importance. Furthermore, the decline in community centres and services has paralleled a decline in community and shared experiences.

The sentiment expressed by Mrs. Thatcher that "there is no such thing as society" has been adopted as a mission statement by subsequent Tory governments, leading to a dismantling of communal support structures.

The album's artwork features photographs from architect Peter Garvin's archive, provided by his son Richard Garvin. The images showcase Peter's work on the Castlefield Community Centre, a modernist structure adorned with white ceramic tiles.

The Nation’s Most Central Location, released in 2023, was a monumental success for Castles In Space. The album quickly sold out, reaching #6 on the UK Official Independent Albums Chart. Its critical acclaim matched its commercial success, earning top spots on Electronic Sound magazine's Albums of the Year list and ranking in year-end lists from Rough Trade, Bleep, and Norman Records.