Hoylake In Bloom

There are now new, stocked flower borders inside the Meols Parade Gardens (I have got a photo, but can I find it!). During the week the beds have been covered with a mushroom based mulch.

Remember that volunteers maintain all the flower beds and tubs around Hoylake so don’t let your dog leave them any nasty surprises. Local school children help maintain the flowers around the memorial trees in The Row so it’s obviously not nice for them to work in soiled soil.

The daffodils along Market Street should be flowering anytime soon – so do keep your eye out for those.

Model Boating Lake

There are two brand new benches now in place next to the boating lake so there is now somewhere to sit.

On Sunday, 9th May Hoylake Model Boat Club are to host a fun day – I’ll publish more details and times in due course.

Planning Applications & Development

The old Kingsley Auction Rooms (or part of) could become an office for Wilson Grange Financial Services and a building society office. The front of the building will be made to look similar to adjacent buildings. Plans not yet approved.

This old toilet block in Albert Road is subject to planning approval for demolition and conversion to a 2 storey as a cafe/bar restaurant. It seems similar plans had previously been approved but have since lapsed.

As a slight aside, the building with the yellow door used to be the old fire engine house – any old photos would be much appreciated!

I did mention last year that part of Hoose Court was to be demolished early this year. Does anybody know when these works are due to take place?

Modernisation and major internal renovation work is currently being undertaken at Hoylake Police Station. Work was scheduled to start on Monday 22nd February, running for approximately 5 weeks. The General Enquiry Office will remain open during this period and will be operating as normal.

In response to the Council’s Core Strategy Report, the Hoylake Village Life team have published a detailed response- click here to open the document (pdf format, opens in new window). Please do feel free to comment on the first on the new series of posts entitled Have Your Say

The cafe in The Quadrant that was called Natterjacks closed about three weeks or so ago. It has now reopened and is called the Chantilly Tea Rooms. The tattoo parlour has moved to what was the most recent Ann’s Florist shop in Market Street.

I understand that the Pebbles Cafe development on the promenade – currently the old toilet block may commence soon. I’ll have some photos for you if and when anything happens.

High Tides

There have been some big spring high tides this week but as the weather has been calm the promenade has been pretty quiet as far as I’m aware. I have spotted a few dead seagulls on the beach but that might not be anything out of the ordinary – I must improve my terrible knowledge of our feathered friends!

I understand that the tide was right in at Parkgate this week. Apparently all the voles and other rodents can be seen running for dry land.

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News Roundup: 5th March 2010

Possible related posts (computer generated):

1. News Roundup 26 Jan 2010
2. News Roundup: 13th July, 2009
3. News Roundup 24th February

Many thanks to Ian Powers who has sent in two great photos related to the Sandhey slipway, which is the slipway just past the Meols end of the Parade Gardens. The above photo shows a fresh fish seller and Ian says:

…a photo of Sandhey Slipway with a fish seller selling whatever the local fishing boats brought in. When the Nobbies came in there were a number of fish sellers selling fish to local residents. Usually bottom feeding fish, plaice, garvin as I remember, and of course shrimps. I certainly remember that in the 50s one seller, May Hughes filled an old pram with fish and would walk round the streets shouting at the top of her voice.

I am not sure when the photo was taken, but guess at late 40s early 50s as I think my Uncle Harry is in the background.

The second photo below (credit to J E Marsh & Sons, The Studio, Market Street.) shows workmen repairing the retaining sea wall.

Ian writes:

Does anyone remember the day the Promenade collapsed?

In the late 50s the word went round that the Promenade had collapsed between Firshaw Road and Roman Road. Everyone raced down to the Prom to see the council workmen laying sandbags in what was an almost semi circular hole which almost reached the roadway. I guess high tides were the main cause. A Dutch company, Land and Marine were contracted to fix the breach. Their first action was to create a dam of interlocked steal piling to keep out the tide. The crane driver was certainly Dutch and he was very grateful for the gift of some Eels which a rod and line fisherman caught during one of the tides.

Steel shuttering was erected and the sandstone blocks of the original wall were replaced with a smooth concrete section (probably still visible!). I used to go down regularly after school at The Parade, and got to know the guys quite well. They all clubbed together and bought me a photo of the works.

I didn’t become a civil engineer, but my interest in holes in the ground eventually led to me helping fix the Leaning Tower of Pisa! (Honest!)

How about you – did you buy fresh fish at the Sandhey slipway? What do you remember of these wall repairs? As always it’d be great to hear from you in the comments below!

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Friday Photo: Sandhey Slipway

Possible related posts (computer generated):

1. Friday Photo: Hoyle Road Slipway
2. Friday Photo: Promenade Plaque
3. Friday Photo: Old Hoylake Garage

I’ll be publishing several topics over the next few weeks in a series I’m calling Have Your Say. Your feedback will help the HVL team focus on the items that matter, with the aim of making Hoylake a better place to live, work and spend time in.

Simply leave your on-topic comments below, or use email (how to get in touch). You can also email HVL directly at info@hoylakevillage.org.uk

So, the first Have Your Say question is:

What do you think is Hoylake’s Unique Selling Point (USP)?

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Have Your Say #1

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1. Do You Want A Hoylake Website?
2. The Cowin Family

Thanks to Neil Mitchell (Wirral Borough Council) for notifying me that the plaque has been replaced on the small sculpture at The Quadrant. You may recall that person(s) unknown removed the plaque late last year.

The plaque has now been afixed with both a specialist glue and prison screws. Let’s hope it’s not pinched again.

Post from HoylakeJunction.com

Plaque Is Back

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1. Missing Plaque Update
2. Missing Sculpture Plaque
3. Friday Photo: Promenade Plaque

Thanks to Kevin Radford for sending in two old photos of a sporting theme. Spot the old parish hall in the background – today that’s the site of the houses called Grove Terrace. Kevin says:

This was when you could play football in the Grove swings but not in the park next door. Parish Hall in the background. Circa 1965.

Back row, left to right
?, ? Bevan, Alan Yoxall, Kevin Radford, Steve Harding, Keith Stoddard.
Front Row
Baden Cole, David Smye, Steve Cole (ball) David Yoxall, Barry Banks

And below is an old photo of the signatures from the World record breaking trampoline jump held at the Hoylake YMCA, August 1972.

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Sporting Glory

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1. Ashfield Farm Dairies
2. Friday Photo: Hoylake Parish Church
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You wait all day and then three arrive at once!

I normally prepare the Friday Photo in advance and schedule the publication date for the Friday morning, or I’ll create the post on the Friday morning. But after having one of those weeks I just haven’t had chance, so I apologise for the late arrival of today’s photo. As a bonus I’ve got three old images for you of the area around Meols Parade Gardens.

The one above was kindly sent in by Syd Bird and shows the view toward the current Community Centre from Deneshey Road/Queens Park area. The building in the background was then the school so the photo was taken no earlier than 1909.

Below are two images taken from old postcards of the Parade Gardens. Was that a bandstand that you can see or just a sheltered seating area? By my reckoning that bit of the gardens is now just a little, grassed hill. Look how hilly it is in the background towards Meols. I wonder if that’s the roof of the Railway Inn in the distance?

The two bowling greens are still in use today of course and should be opening soon after being closed for winter.

The image below also shows an old jetty down at the Sandhey slipway with boats mooring on the beach – not something you’ll see today. In fact, since the jet skiers stopped using that slipway (was that banned?) I don’t think that it gets used at all?

I can’t say when the photo was taken but the postcard had a postmark date on 3rd June, 1938. The sender said of Hoylake: It is a nice place and the weather is fine but cold. Couldn’t have been a warm June then, back in 1938!

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Friday Photo: Meols Parade Gardens

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1. Meols Parade Gardens Bricked Up
2. Parade Gardens Work Continues
3. Parade Gardens Maintenance

Area Forum

Apologies for the very short notice but this afternoon sees the West Wirral Area Forum take place at Westbourne Hall, West Kirby, drop in 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. and the meeting from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Contact Tracy Smith (Wirral Council) on 0151 691 8026 for confirmation. Thanks to Neil Parry for mentioning this to me.

Open Golf 2014

I hadn’t seen it published anywhere so I emailed the R&A to ask for the actual dates of the 2014 Open. The Championships take place from Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 July, 2014. Don’t forget there will be practice rounds during the week prior to the event.

Hoylake Oxjam 2010

The Wirral News reports that Hoylake is to host another Oxjam Event this April. I’ll provide some more detailed news in due course. Here’s a photo from last years Oxjam.

Parade Gardens

It looks like some new flower borders are being made inside Meols Parade Gardens. Please leave a comment if you know what the plans are.

Burnetts Garage

Thanks to Nick Dovey for leaving a comment on a recent Friday Photo that featured the original Burnetts Garage. If you read the comment and follow the link to the current Burnetts website you’ll see old photos of the garage and also an old photo of houses in Carlton Terrace in the About Us page.

Friends of Grove Park

I noticed a poster in a shop window earlier for the newly formed (I think?) Friends of Grove Park. If you’re part of the volunteer team and would like a more detailed mention with your contact details included please feel free to get in touch.

Strategy For Hoylake

There were several comments on the recent Hoylake Strategy post published last week – thanks for those. On a loosely related but slight tangent did you know that Liverpool Council are wanting to introduce a policy stopping any more bars being opened in Lark Lane and Allerton Road? Full story here. I mention this because a suggested way forward for Hoylake is the introduction of more restaurants and bars to fill the vacant shop premises – interesting to consider how other areas manage a growing cafe bar local economy.

As always feel free to share other local news or leave a comment on any of the above items.

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News Roundup 24th February

Possible related posts (computer generated):

1. News Roundup 18 September, 2009
2. News Roundup 15th October
3. News Roundup: 28 July, 2009

Many thanks to Chris R for sending in this great old photo of a 1930’s sand yacht. Hoylake is of course a favoured location for land yachting and the sands have even hosted a european championship (I’ve got several photos somewhere). The Wirral Sand Yacht Club (official website) is based in Hoylake (at the Community Centre) too. You might think the sport is relatively new but as Chris says, it’s quite an old past time:

Basketball wasn’t the only “modern” sport around in the 1930’s (see this post) – my grandfather had a sand yacht at Meols at that time. I have attached a photo … which shows my late grandfather Roger Hughes and others (not quite sure if one is my grandmother or someone else in the family). The photo is mid to late 30’s we believe. My grandfather didn’t keep it for too long, after an occasion when it was very windy and it nearly blew him over the top of the embankment – he decided it wasn’t safe!

Next week I’ll be publishing some old photos taken around the promenade so do look out for them as I’ll have a question or two for you all!  Also, if anybody has any photos of things like fishing boats off Hoylake (whereabouts were catches brought ashore for instance …or was it always at Meols?) or people fishing off the prom with a rod I’d love to see them. It’s easy to get in touch so please do.

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Friday Photo: 1930’s Sand Yacht

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1. Friday Photo: Sandhills Circa 1930
2. Land Yachting or Sand Yachting
3. Friday Photo: Parakarting

Here are some of the paragraphs that I’ve copied from the report (my own headings)

Lowest Ranking Town Centre

Hoylake is Wirral’s lowest-ranking Key Town Centre in the UK retail rankings, and we have identified evidence of ongoing decline. Hoylake has a limited and contracting comparison retail sector, with particularly poor representation from clothing retailers.

The centre is also characterised by a very high vacancy rate, low footfall, limited operator demand, and a poor physical environment in parts. Although the centre has a more thriving service sector (based around pubs and wine bars), local stakeholders raised concerns about the anti-social behaviour that is currently associated with this activity.

Hoylake Is Linear

In summary, Hoylake is a long, linear centre interspersed with vacant units, which no longer performs a true ‘town centre’ role, and we consider that it would benefit from consolidation and intensification across a more appropriate physical area, although we acknowledge that in practice achieving this will be challenging.

We also suggest that the centre would benefit from access to better local bus connections, further measures to reduce anti-social behaviour (particularly at night), and continued investment in the physical environment (particularly towards the northern end of Market Street).

Signs Of Weakness

Nine of the Borough’s centres – including Birkenhead and Liscard Town Centres – are exhibiting some signs of weakness. A further four centres, including Hoylake Town Centre, are showing more significant signs of weakness or decline.

Hoylake Not Town Centre

For instance, we consider that Hoylake and New Ferry no longer justify ‘town centre’ status, and taking account of the various evidence collated through this study we do not see any prospect of these centres expanding their roles in the future. It is therefore more appropriate to reclassify them in the hierarchy and ensure that the level of development

Food and Drink

Promoting further high-quality food and drink uses in Hoylake, in particular, could be a good way of dealing with the high level of unit vacancy in the centre, although local stakeholders assert that the reported
antisocial behaviour problem in the centre is associated with food and drink facilities and so enhanced security measures would need to be implemented in parallel with any expansion of Hoylake’s evening entertainment role.

Recent Investment

Hoylake has benefited from recent investment in its streetscape and public realm, focused primarily around the northern end of Market Street. The environmental improvement works have included new paving, street lamps, street furniture, signage and tree-planting.

However, local stakeholders have commented that the maintenance of buildings needs to be improved, and we noted that the large number of vacant units and other non-descript buildings in Hoylake detracts substantially from the character of the centre.

This problem is particularly acute towards the southern end of Market Street/Birkenhead Road. The frequent usage of security shutters in some areas of the centre also undermines the quality of the streetscape. We therefore recommend that similar improvements should be made to the other parts of the centre, and that buildings should be better maintained.

Have Your Say

So, what do you think to those sections I’ve highlighted?

• How do you feel about Hoylake being downgraded to a District Centre?
• How can Hoylake change it’s physical layout whilst keeping a significant main road running through it?
• Would Hoylake be improved by a town/village square area?
• Did you discuss these issues and more at last weeks Hoylake Village Life organised meeting (I was unable to attend) ?
• Will the news of the Hoylake 2014 Open Golf help Hoylake? The Womens event is being held in 2012 too.
• Please do leave your comments below.

More formally, you have until 5pm on 5th March 2010 to submit your comments to the Wirral Council either online or in writing. Any feedback received will be published in a public report and considered by the Council as part of the next steps in developing the Core Strategy.

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Wirral Council Strategy For Hoylake

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1. Wirral Coastal Walk At Hoylake
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Paul Cassidy, captain of Royal Liverpool Golf Club, comments:

We are very proud of our club’s rich heritage and the many memorable golfing moments staged at Hoylake since our founding in 1869.

We are extremely thrilled to be invited to host The Open Championship in 2014.

Thanks to Julian Priest for spotting this news and commenting here on HoylakeJunction.com

What are your thoughts – are the Championships good for Hoylake or an inconvenience you would prefer to not have? Feel free to have your say!

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Open Golf At Hoylake In 2014

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1. Rumours Of Open Golf Return For 2014
2. Willow Open Golf Challenge
3. Hoylake To Host Womens Open Golf