September 4, 2010

Friday Photo: Trinity Road

trinity road

I’m still attempting to clear my email mountain(s) and in doing so I’ve just been viewing some great images kindly sent to me by Ian Davies (Hoylake RNLI). There are some great old photos of Hoylake and Meols that I’ll share with you all in due course but I thought I’d start by sharing this one with you.

It’s Trinity Road from years gone by – there isn’t a date so if you’d like to hazard a guess feel free. It could well date from around 1900. You can see the Parish Church in the background and of course houses hadn’t then been built on the lefthand side of the road (the view is looking up Trinity Road from near the promenade).

What was that building in the foreground where the men are standing? It’s a garage nowadays but I’m sure one of you have previously mentioned what it was used for? Was it something to do with a rope business??

Anyway, as always feel free to share your thoughts. Oh, due to a little gremlin in the system yesterday, it wasn’t possible to leave a comment on the recent Lifeboat Day post …so if you been itching to share your comments you can now. Sorry about that.

Friday Photo: Jelly Fish Invasion

jelly fish

If, like me, you’ve been on holiday during August then you may well have missed the jelly fish invasion. During the earlier part of August numerous Lion’s Mane jellyfish were found washed up on the beach. These stingers are the largest known species of jellyfish and are normally found in colder waters. My very limited research indicates that a sting from a Lion’s Mane is not known to be fatal and typically causes temporary pain and localised redness. I gather that they still sting you even when they’ve gone to jellyfish heaven.

I did take a walk out on the beach last week with the dog and we did manage to find and take a photo of one, but the above photo taken by Micheline Robinson is much better than mine.

Friday Photo: Kings Gap Demolition

kings gap rear

Work has commenced on the redevelopment of The Kings Gap Hotel. The function suite to the rear of the building is now being demolished and hoardings are currently being put up around the rear of the site.

After being on holiday I’ll be catching up with the local goings-on over the next couple of days… so expect a Hoylake news report early next week!

Friday Photo: Rear of the Quadrant

rear quadrant hoylake

Not a view taken in by that many …the rear of The Quadrant buildings. I know that some of the buildings now contain flats, but years ago what is just office space? There is some construction work on the go at the moment in the old auction house – hence the building site appearance.

For those of you who are reading this today …I hope you’re having a lovely, jinx-free Friday 13th! I scheduled this post the other day and today I’ll hopefully be sat on a lovely sunny beach in southern France :)

Catch you all next week!

Friday Photo: The Camera Loves You

hoylake ladies 1962

Many thanks to Carl Watson for today’s Friday Photo. Something a little different too but still very relevant to Hoylake. Carl says:

I wondered if anyone recognised any of these once young ladies? Taken about, I think, 1962, at a Hoylake Photo scociety “do”, on the stage of the town hall, if I remember right, with a borrowed dinghy as a prop, and a nice painted backdrop. I wasn’t a very good photographer in those days.

Do you recognise any of these three lovely ladies? Do you remember the actual photo shoot or other similar ones held at the old Town Hall? Look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Friday Photo: Coastguard Cottages

coastguard cottages

Another great old photo from the Syd Bird archives! I’ve not seen these cottages mentioned before …they were the coastguard cottages situated where the boatyard/Government Road flats are now behind Hoylake Sailing Club.

Syd says that these cottages were also home to the original coast guard station and they were demolished in about 1960 to make way for the flats. You can see in the left of the photo the old Lower Lighthouse.

And here’s an artists impression of the cottages, dating from about 1900:

coastguard cottages drawing

Anything to add? Feel free to comment of course!

Friday Photo: A Big Lunch

big lunch marmion road

Hoylake residents seem to have taken to the Big Lunch (official site) event and several lunches were held last Sunday despite the not-brilliant weather …though thankfully the really heavy rain held off until earlier this week. From what I’ve heard it sounds as though even more Big Lunches will take place next year. Caroline England kindly sent in the above photo, taken in Lake Road and writes:

The Lake Road Big Lunch was a big success. Residents from Strand, Marmion and Government Road were also invited along to the party. With a turn out of over 70 people, The Lake Road Ladies hope to organize another next year promising to be even bigger and better. Here is a photograph of The City Of Liverpool Pipe Band who came along to kick the celebrations off. Local singer songwriters Caroline England and Mark Roberts (his site I think) also performed.

Who’d have thought …street parties in 2010!

Friday Photo: Hoylake Sorting Office

royal mail hoylake

Here’s a view of the Royal Mail sorting office at The Quadrant, directly opposite Hoylake station. I reckon it’s quite a nice building really, rather 1930′s looking – how about you, what do you think? Looking at the satellite view in google maps it looks like it’s a flat roofed building and there’s a car park behind. Think I might have to have a nose around the back at some point!

Has it always been owned by Royal Mail or did it have a previous life? Is it just offices upstairs? I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments!

Photo taken back in January, 2010.

Friday Photo: Parish Church & The Great Storm

parish church

Many thanks to Dorothy Curtis for not only sending in the above image of the old Hoylake Parish Church (demolished in the 1970′s and discussed in this post) but for also sending me copies of newspaper articles detailing the tragic loss of five Hoylake men in a storm in 1894.

The press articles are unfortunately too large for me to upload to the site. They detail an inquest in to the loss of the lives of five Hoylake fishermen:

  • John Eccles (Snr)
  • Joseph Sherlock
  • Joseph Rainford
  • Edwin Eccles
  • John Eccles (Jnr)

All men drowned at sea during what is described as The Great Storm of December 22nd, 1894. The bodies were found washed ashore at Southport. Sailing the fishing smacks (boats) called The Stag and The Ellen and Anne the men failed to reach land. I understand the men are buried in Hoylake Cemetery.

Friday Photo: Alleyway

alleyway

There are numerous alleyways in Hoylake and I reckon the one pictured is one of the longest. It’s the cobbled alleyway that runs between the houses on Meols Drive and Drummond Road. I took the photo back in January one Saturday afternoon;   I’d been walking the dog, admiring the attractive row of terraced houses in Airlie Road before seeing the entrance to the alleyway …so down we went!