Living and working in St Helens

Situated on the main A580 East Lancashire Road and at the centre of the region's motorway network, St Helens is one of the best-connected towns in the country. And once you get into the town centre, parking couldn't be simpler with spaces for over 2,300 cars on our council-run car parks.

St Helens has an efficient bus network with regular services from across the region passing through the main bus station on Bickerstaffe Street, alongside the Hardshaw Shopping Centre and a few hundred yards away from St Helens Central railway station. From here, there are direct rail links with nearby Eccleston, Thatto Heath and Lea Green in addition to direct trains to and from Liverpool, Wigan and Manchester.

In our multi-award-winning cultural quarter we have the perfect location for our Theatre Royal entertainment venue, with theatre, dance, music and film events on the agenda.

If you want art, then the Godfrey Pilkington Art Gallery and the World of Glass museum are the places for you, giving you a flavour of the town's industrial heritage and history. So does the North West Museum of Road Transport, with the largest collection of old buses in the country - especially if you have kids.

At the heart of the town's shopping offering is Church Square, St Helens' largest indoor shopping centre, with popular high street stores among the many shops. Outside of town is Ravenhead Retail Park on the linkway, where you will find some of the larger retailers, conveniently situated in one place. St Helens Retail Park offers the same but it also houses a number of independent and discount stores.

When it comes to eating out, St Helens town centre has many restaurants appealing to all tastes and budgets, from café bars and coffee shops to international and traditional British cuisine. Or if you are simply looking for a place to enjoy a few drinks, we have the traditional pubs (with many serving real ale), modern bars and clubs in and around the town centre, with the biggest concentration of eating and drinking establishments on Bridge Street, Westfield Street and Duke Street.

The town centre also boasts a multiplex cinema and 10-pin bowling alley.

St Helens' excellent communication links offer a gateway for you to explore the local area. There's loads to do nearby, with Knowsley Safari Park right on our doorstep, and if you want countryside, then we have Sankey Valley Country Park, Billinge Hill and Carr Mill Dam on the edge of the town.

Venturing further out of town, the splendour of Knowsley Hall will impress you with its 2,500-acre scenic parkland that resembles a scene from Brideshead Revisited.

On the edge of the town we have the product of 'The Big Art Project', an ambitious public art commissioning initiative from Channel 4, supported by Arts Council England, the national development agency for the arts, and The Art Fund, the UK's leading independent art charity.

Dream has generated worldwide media coverage for St Helens and was awarded the prestigious Marsh Sculpture Prize for the best public sculpture of the year, plus eight other awards. It is attracting tens of thousands of additional visitors to the site and surrounding region every year.

When it comes to sport, there can only be one in the town: rugby league! In St Helens we are fanatical about the game - with some justification, because the 'Saints' are the most successful Super League team in history. And with the club being based in a fabulous modern stadium, who can blame us?

For fans of the other code, the town also hosts Liverpool St Helens Rugby Union Football Club at their ground in Moss Lane, which is just off the A580 East Lancashire Road at the Windle Island junction.

If you love football, then all of Liverpool and Manchester's grounds are within 40 minutes' travelling time from the town centre.

Our leisure facilities are second to none with three state-of-the-art, council-run leisure centres. In addition to the former council-run Sherdley Park Golf Club, there are also a number of other private clubs in the area.

You won't be lost for something to do!

If you're thinking of moving to the area, get more information about housing in St Helens.

For more information on the area, have a look at Local Insight, which will give you facts, figures and profiles about our town.