Here’s a rare photo kindly sent in by Paul Doleman. Taken in 1931 the image captures the resurfacing of Market Street with what I presume are some steam-powered contraptions? Can you hazard a guess as to what those machines did?

The most recent, significant, road works to Market Street were completed just prior to the 2006 Open Golf Championships. There was some criticism of the cobbled pavements at the time, but some six years on I wonder if residents and shoppers have got used to the surface?

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A week or so ago, local business owner Chris Clare asked for photos of the building that is now his office on the corner of Wood Street/Market Street. Syd Bird came up with a couple of photos, the first of which from the 1920s shows a busy Market Street (been to the pub fellas?).

Below is the same location in the 1960s. Not the most attractive of shop fronts is it? You can read the background to Liverpool Savings Bank here and I also stumbled upon this blog about Bold Street that also discusses the bank.

The Woolcraft shop next door must have been going for years as I can remember it being there in the 1980s I reckon. If you’ve got any other photos of this block of shops feel free to send them in.

What a rare and fabulous pair of photos of the old boating lake, kindly sent in by Paul Doleman.

Following on from last week’s 1931 Hoylake Baths photo here we can see some pedalos, ready for the off in a section of the original boating lake. Note the ticket office and storage shed along with railings along the edge of the pool. I’ve no doubt it would’ve been fun for children (and dads of course) but the lake wasn’t that big …you’d have to do few laps to get your shillings worth. As you can see from the photo below there was a pool for the pedalos and another for model boats. Great old photos and lovely to be able to share them!

A typically breezy day too judging by the Union Jack on the flagpole. And as a slight aside, if you’ve noticed too that the wind turbines aren’t whizzing around much at all at the moment, it’s because, I gather, due to a fault with a cable that is used to transfer the generated electricity along the seabed to a substation somewhere near to Leasowe.

Many thanks to Paul Doleman for sending in several, great old photographs that I’ll share with you all over the next couple of weeks. Starting us off a series of photos from the 1931 opening gala of the redeveloped Hoylake Pool. I think I’m right in saying that the original pool was constructed in 1913.

As you can see from the photo above the opening gala was a popular event …the place looks jam packed!

The photo below features the slides and diving boards. I’ll show you another photo of the building in the rear of the shot next week and it’ll explain all. You can just make out the bandstand in the distance, inside Meols Parade Gardens – for a better image have a look at this post.

And here are some more spectators avoiding the onshore breeze by sitting in their deck chairs behind the wall:

And for a lovely old photo down the road in Meols go here.

This is a new piece of artwork that you’ll see next to the chippy in The Row on Market Street.

I don’t know anything about it other than the author of the poetry is Judy Ugonna, OBE (background) – so please leave a comment below if you know more about it. I’m guessing it’s something to do with the Festival of Firsts?

That slatted timber has been fixed to that wall for many years. I’m not sure what purpose it’s supposed to serve but it has never looked particularly attractive.

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F & T Holden Dressmakers was once a Market Street business in Hoylake that also had some fancy hats by the looks. The photo is circa 1930 and can you guess what it has become 82 years later?

Flavours Cafe! Nick, the owner of Flavours tweeted the photo on his twitter account the other week and I took a copy of it. If you’re on twitter you can follow Flavours. Oh, you can follow me too.

As a slight aside, you might like to read this blog post that I stumbled upon by an ex-resident of Hoylake (now living in Edmonton, Canada by the looks) as she recounts her memories of ice cream, Flavours and other businesses and characters in Hoylake.

Small world.

Here’s a rare and rather old image kindly sent in by Syd Bird.

The view is from about the Chapel Road / Market Street junction looking down Birkenhead Road to where Hoylake Cottage (the Cottage Hospital as was – opened in 1910 and featured on the BBC website a couple of years ago) is today.

As you can see there aren’t any buildings past the corner of Deneshey Road – though Carlton Terrace had been constructed, with Burnetts Garage opening within the next decade or so. The canopy along the row of shops looks attractive; long-gone now of course and who would have dreamt that  one day there’d be a (vacant) former pizza parlour and a shop called Bargain Booze at the end of the row selling bottles of cider and cans of Australian lager!

Out of shot on the left-hand side is the site of the former Hoylake Institute (see this and then this)  …I’m guessing the building hadn’t been constructed when this photo was taken?

If I’ve got my location right then just on from the shops is (today) Julian’s Restaurant – but that building in the photo looks much more like the Golden Palace takeaway. It’s as if the next block of shops (John Grahams to Julian’s) hadn’t been built at that time and the photo makes the next block look closer than it actually is? Look at this streetview map and decide for yourself.

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I think this a great image kindly sent in by Peter Burt. Great view of two yachts sailing off Hoylake (or maybe West Kirby?) with the Wales coastline in the background. Not a bad view is it, right on our doorstep.

Peter asks: “Does anyone remember our unusual sailing canoe between 1968 & 1980?”

And below is another view of Sandhey slipway from sometime in the 1970s. To span the decades I suppose we should have a photo of the jet ski chaps that used to meetup during the 90s.

Here are a couple of follow-up photos that you might like to see.

To begin with here’s a view of Sandhey slipway from 1967 kindly sent in by Julian Triggs. Please feel free to leave a comment if you recognise a car or yacht! Take a look at this photo for an older scene

And here’s the view along the promenade looking toward Meols.

Next up is another photo of the ladies of Melrose Bowling Club:

Mike Wilson says he believes this was published in the Advertiser or Birkenhead News in 1971:

back row- Mrs. G. Hall, Mrs. A. Neil, Mrs. B. Alsop, Mrs. E. Smith, president, Mrs. M. Smith, chairman, Mrs. V. Couchman, secretary, Mrs. S. Black, front row- Mrs. R. Worth, Mrs. G. Taylor, Mrs. E. Roberts, captain, Mrs. M. Scott, vice-captain, and Mrs. I. Wilson.

Melrose Ladies ‘A’ bowls team have won the Birkenhead and Wirral Ladies Bowling League title again.
In all they have won the championship cup seven times and have been runners-up once. This is the fourth consecutive year they have been champions.

In addition to this, one of their members, Mrs. May Smith, has won the New Brighton Ladies bowls cup which was competed for by more than 500 ladies in northern England. It is believed that this is the first time it has been won by a Hoylake player.

You can see other related photos here and here.

Many thanks to Paul Doleman for another great old photo of Hoylake following on from an old aerial view of Hoylake published a couple of weeks ago.

Here we can see a Ferris’s Cafe in Government Road. Who knew that there used to be a cafe in that road? Well, actually I did, but not that one. According to the sales particulars for this house in Government Road, there was once a Walkers Tea Rooms. That’s the exact same building so perhaps the cafe had a change of names at least once?

Please leave a comment if you know the answer. Oh, and look out over the weekend for another couple of follow-up photos that I’ve received.