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You are here: Home / Featured Photos / Friday Photo: Hoylake & West Kirby Motor Co

Friday Photo: Hoylake & West Kirby Motor Co

August 29, 2014 By John 29 Comments

hoylake-westkirby-garage

*click for much larger version

And we’re back! Apologies for the low volume of postings recently, but Friday Photo is back today with a great old image kindly sent to me by Alan Smith.

Pictured is the old premises of the Hoylake & West Kirby Motor Co. on Market Street. Initially I thought this was the old Kingsway Garage, the building that became the Wirral Horn Arcade, but that has an arched opening, not square. It wasn’t the old Burnett & Co Garage on Birkenhead Road, opposite Deneshey Road. So where was it? I’m guessing it was the Kingsway Garage.

It’s a super old photo – note the poster for the forthcoming film …with sound …at the Kingsway Picture House (now Home Bargains). The cigarette between the fingers and somewhat half-mast trousers of the chap second left. The signage with 3-digit phone numbers Hoy. 698 & 258 and the old AA logo.

And it’s as if the blokes are saying to one another as the car drives off …”he’ll be lucky to get up Meols Drive in that”

UPDATE:

This old newspaper ad, kindly sent to me by Barry Banks, gives us a clue to the location:

hoylake-west-kirby-garage-ad

 

Filed Under: Featured Photos

Comments

  1. charles morris says

    August 29, 2014 at 10:48 pm

    Smiths had a garage in Hoylake opposite the station, between the Post Office and the Fire Station; and another premises in Bridge Road West Kirby, just up from the Tudor. I presume from the fact that the Kingsway is advertised that it was the Hoylake garage.. But It can’t have been too near the Kingsway cinema or they wouldn’t have bothered advertising there. If it is the site near the station, then it had been substantially altered by the mid 1950s !

    .I remember old Mr. Smith driving around, slowly, in a Morris 8 Series E, having passed control to his son.

    Did you get the photos I sent in, by the way ?

    Reply
  2. sheila devlin (wray) says

    August 30, 2014 at 8:12 am

    Hello. there was a garage on the corner of Charles road at the end that used to have a bank on the other corner of Market Street in the 50s . I have forgotten the name of the road that led down to it. It is / was not at the station end . but the other.
    I used to live at 46 Charles Road above Billy’s the newsagents -cum- cafe place. I believe it is now a Thai Restaurant.
    There were always coaches there or as we knew them – charabangs ?
    You could cut through the garage (if they knew you ) to get onto Charles Road
    It has a look of the garage in the photo
    Once again, this is a great web site which brings back lots of memories…so many thanks
    Sheila

    Reply
    • Don Johnson says

      October 4, 2014 at 5:06 pm

      It was on the corner of Charles Road and Cable road on the station side of Cable and you could drive in from Charles Road and out into Cable.

      Reply
      • Mike Wilson says

        October 6, 2014 at 1:36 pm

        Sorry Don, The garage was at the junction of Charles Road and Alderley Road. There used to be a shoe shop at the junction of Charles Road and Cable Road, next door to a sweet shop owned by Nellie Jones, which later became a charity shop supporting Hoylake Cottage Hospital I believe.

        Reply
  3. Jane Morris says

    August 30, 2014 at 8:23 am

    The photo is of the Kingways garage, which became the arcade. I remember it like this as my Uncle used to work there and then later at Burnetts garage at the end of Carlton Terrace.
    Thanks for all your wonderful photos. Brings back so many happy memories of my home town.

    Reply
  4. mason edwards says

    August 30, 2014 at 1:15 pm

    it MIGHT be the garage that was down the side of the road that has wetherspoons on one side and and the key cutters/ and Post office on the other side. There was a garage there that we bought petrol from occasionally. It was on the right hand side of the road opposite what was then the Midland Bank. I think he used to let my mother buy small amounts of petrol at a time….. say £5 worth!
    Ahh those were the days!

    Reply
  5. Bernie W says

    August 30, 2014 at 2:21 pm

    I recall that entrance was on the Waverley Road side of the building.,
    Regards

    Reply
  6. mason edwards says

    August 30, 2014 at 3:34 pm

    Have “googled it” and the road is really a continuation of Alderley road as it goes across Market Street. Looking from Market Street, with your back to Sainsburys, and the main part of Alderley Road, the Midland Bank – (quite and imposing building,- is on the left and diagonally opposite on the right hand side was this garage. There was a shop on the corner. This garage was just a few paces down.. I’m in Stony Straford, MIlton Keynes, otherwise I could have put us all out of our misery and nippee rpund and taken a photo of it!

    Pretty sure that this is the one. The Waverley Road one refers to the Kingsway Motors.which was opposite the Kinsgway Cinema.

    …..

    Reply
  7. Mike Wilson says

    August 30, 2014 at 3:36 pm

    Hi Sheila,
    The garage you remember in Alderley Road belonged to Jock Low, although the name of his firm emblazoned on the back of his coaches was R.R. Low of Hoylake and Bootle. He had a huge set of doors built into the wall in Charles Road to allow him to drive his coaches right through, instead of having to reverse out towards Market Street. This was the part of Alderley Road between Market Street and Grosvenor Road.

    Reply
    • John rainford says

      August 31, 2014 at 5:53 pm

      I served my apprenticship with lindfield bros who occupied the carpenters shop above low’ coach we had it after Walter rainford builders closed at that time the coach co below us was Laurence. Coach and jock low was the manager the door from alderly road South was set at an angle to the road with two gas pumps in the corner don’t know if this helps John Rainford

      Reply
    • sandra mcguinness says

      August 31, 2014 at 6:20 pm

      Hi Mike
      I am glad you have responded to Sheila , as I wanted to ask you if anyone has sent you a cutting from
      the Liverpool Echo, of Joe Mercer who the Royal Mail are using a special stamp and post mark to
      commemorate the centenary of Joe’s birth. If you have not received this cutting I will gladly send
      it to you, if you don’t mind sending me your address.

      However if you already have this pls ignore this message.

      Regards sandra

      Reply
      • Mike Wilson says

        September 1, 2014 at 2:37 pm

        Hi Sandy,
        Thank you for thinking of me. I knew about the stamp but not about the article in the Liverpool Echo and would therefore be much obliged if you could send it on to me..I have sent my address to Hoylake Junction and asked them to send it to you, so I hope to hear from you soon. Incidentally, I have been the proud owner of Joe’s autobiography,”Football with a Smile” since it was first published.

        Reply
        • sandra says

          September 1, 2014 at 9:41 pm

          Mike
          having problem getting your address, cannot seem to access it, would you consider giving
          me quick phone call on 01517244535. as this does not intrude on your privacy.
          sandy.

          Reply
  8. sheila says

    August 30, 2014 at 4:08 pm

    Hi Mike yes that does ring a bell. I remember the doors being huge but obviously had no idea why…how sensible.
    I had a feeling that it might have been the start or continuation of Alderley Road but memory plays tricks !!!
    Anyway thanks for the info
    Sheila

    Reply
  9. jackie hall says

    August 31, 2014 at 6:07 pm

    This garage was definitely opposite Hoylake Station where the Fitness Centre is now.

    They opened the other branch where Aldi is now in West Kirby.

    My Father used to go there for repairs to the Firm’s Car.

    .

    .

    Reply
  10. mason edwards says

    September 1, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    Mystery solved! .Thank goodness for that.
    I’ll try to forget about Lowe’s Garage (and their coaches) for a while!.

    Reply
  11. Sue Vine says

    September 7, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    I was just about to say the garage was most definitely the one opposite the station and next to the Fire station – then I spotted Jackie’s post she beat me to it.

    Reply
  12. Leigh Marles says

    September 10, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    I don’t agree!

    I think it IS the site of Kingsway Motors, which later turned into the Horn Arcade.

    My cousin used to own Kingsway and I worked there during several summer holidays in the early-1970s.

    I can still smell the T-Cut and Swarfega!

    Reply
    • charles morris says

      September 10, 2014 at 11:51 pm

      I think it cannot have been the Kingsway Garage. The Kingsway cinema is advertised on the front and there would have been no point in that as the cinema itself was directly opposite.

      Reply
    • charles morris says

      September 10, 2014 at 11:54 pm

      If it was the Kingsway Garage, then why would the Kingsway cinema have advertised on the front when the cinema itself was directly opposite ?

      Reply
  13. Sue Vine says

    September 10, 2014 at 6:08 pm

    I’m pretty sure that F E Smith had the station garage, But I remember the Kingsway, there were a few small garages around then. But in the saleroom at Kingsway there was an Austin Healey Sprite for £730. I so wanted that car………………..

    Reply
  14. alan smith says

    September 12, 2014 at 5:03 pm

    i googled the film JOURNEYS END and it was a 1930,s film of the horrors of world war one,Someone out there must have access to an old phone/ road directory of that era that could place the garage location.

    Reply
  15. Mason Edwards says

    September 12, 2014 at 5:26 pm

    There is an picture on google images which shows the ( presumed) occupier of the garage now. The occupier seems to be DNS Gym.

    The image shows the doorway with a car in front, but the basic proportion of the doorway makes me think that it is the F E smith garage… As Jackie and Sue said some time ago!…

    I am 165 miles away but I am prepared to do a spot of photoshop-ing to see if the proportions match. All getting very Timewatch this now isn.t it? You need to google Dns gym and then images to see the picture.

    Reply
  16. mason edwards says

    September 14, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    I have superimposed the DNS gym picture. over the Hoylake and West Kirbu garage picture
    Not conclusive, but mayadd even more proof to the fact that they are one and the same! ,

    The doorway on the gym is much lower than the garage, but matches the width., The windows above more or less fit within the brickwork shown on the garage picture.

    Reply
    • Martin Titley says

      October 27, 2014 at 10:07 am

      It looks, from Google “streetview”, as if even the kerb-edgings match, with a curved edge at each side of the entrance.

      Reply
  17. John says

    September 19, 2014 at 5:30 pm

    See the updated post with a photo naming the premises as Station Garage.

    Reply
  18. Al Green says

    October 2, 2014 at 1:40 pm

    A bit late on parade with this but the 1936 directory has quote……Hoylake & West Kirby Motor Co. ( F H Smith proprietor) Bridge Road West Kirby, and Station Road Hoylake. (H258 and H698).
    Central Garage Market St Hoylake opposite the picture house open til 10.30 p.m tel H658

    Reply
  19. Lol Whittingham says

    February 12, 2015 at 2:15 pm

    I started work as an apprentice motor mechanic at Hoylake and west Kirby motor co, in 1968 . it was at station garage opposite the railway station.
    I didn’t stay long, but I can remember the boss at the time was a mr Smith (Bob Smiths father who, and Bob managed the west Kirby garage ) I think Bob had an ‘e’ type jag.
    I do remember some names of my co-workers……. Bill Price Arthur Relph, Norman, Skippy, Bob who married the petrol pump girl whose name was Sue )John, Les, and those I’ve missed …my apology’s
    I also remember Mrs Croxteth who had the hut/ café over the road. nice days !

    Reply
    • Mark Glinister says

      November 5, 2016 at 8:52 am

      Just reading through all these messages….my uncle was Bill Price. I remember walking into the garage one day to see him….still love the smell of petrol! I was born in 1954. Mark Glinister. m.glinister@ntlworld.com

      Reply

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