This imposing old building facing the shore on North Parade dates back to 1889 and makes it 10 years older than Hoylake Community Centre. The exterior was repainted a few years back and I can’t say I’m mad on the colour scheme myself.
It’s been mentioned to me that this building used to be the home for the blind at some point and more recently as a home for adults with learning difficulties. I’m not certain, but I think the building has been vacant for some time.
I’m sure you’ll be able to enlighten me!
I don’t know much about this building, on the corner of Trinity Road, but on the opposite corner the larger and more modern building, I think used to be a home for people with learning difficulties etc.
Maybe someone else can add to this.
I remember the building well but not its use. At one time it must have been a private house and in the 1950s had the odd name GREBNUL on the gate post. I soon discovered that this was (very nearly) LÃœNEBERG backwards.
My grandmother added to the excitement by telling me that a German family had lived in the house at the time of the 1914-18 war and had to be moved out in case they signalled to shipping in the vicinity of Liverpool Bay. My grandmother had a vivid imagination but the story is consistent with powerful anti-German sentiments in Britain at the time of WW I.
Thanks to the correspondent who corrected me on this. He points out that ‘Grebnul’ was on the corner of Alderley Road further west along the promenade in a similar position and opposite the Winter Gardens cinema. I left the district in 1959 so memories are perhaps not as sharp as I thought. they were…
I can confirm this is a house for adults with learning disabilities who live in semi separate flats. Options for supported living staff this house. We would any stories or history of the house…. it can feel very creepy despite the modern lay out.
I think this building might be the one known as “Fellowship House” which was home for deaf/blind people.
Several of those big houses were “homes” of various sorts. There was also a childrens home known as the “Ellen Gonner”. But am not sure now which property was which.
Ellen Gonner was the building which is now Hilbre Court and the whole of that block between Trinity and Clydesdale Roads. I think youngsters were sent to recover and take the air after being ill. The beds used to be pushed out onto the verandhas , later in the 70`s i think you are correct it was a council run home for girls.
i went to this home quite alot as a child, and hated every minute! i was a sickly child then, and was sent to recover.
i did however love going to the beach!
there was a rather strict staff nurse who ruled with a rod of iron, and all the kids where totally terrifed of her.
Don’t knock the Ellen Gonner ! In the 1950’s and 60’s Mrs Jones was the cook, (her son Philip lived with her), and staff nurse Kate Hayes (the battleaxe!), was a great friend of my mum’s. My mum worked a night shift washing and ironing all the children’s clothes, whilst my eldest brother held the Sunday services. My wife’s grandmother worked there as a teenager too, so it brought a lot of employment to Hoylake in it’s day, and as far as I remember the staff did work hard to create a cheerful atmosphere, with plenty of fresh sea air! and respite for sick children from many backgrounds. The matron who’s name escapes me WAS however very strict!
I would recommend ‘ The Devil Rides Out ‘ by Paul O’Grady for a personal insight into West Kirby Convalescent Home (Meols Drive) where he worked for 3 years from age 18 .
Sue Vine comments:
I remember when a local Dr would arrange for operations such as tonsils and adenoids to be done in WK convalescent Home. I had my adenoids removed in there in the ’50s. 2 lads from Hoylake there at same time for similar surgery- Graham Buckle and Gordie Bird.
Matron was a tartar and didn’t allow visits from parents…. how times have changed. Nowadays parents can sleep in hospital with their kids.
Sue
I think her name was Winterbottom or Rowbottom, blonde and quite attractive, even though I was only 6 in 1952. I also remember going to the beach a lot that summer. I had my 7th birthday there. Apart from the first 4 days of being confined to bed, I enjoyed what there was whilst recovering, just making the most of it..
I worked there in 1965 till it closed very sad as we all enjoyed working there. I remember matron brown and staff nurse Hayes,,Mrs jones the cook and her son but he had left by then. have some good memories of hoylake.
Hi I worked at the Ellen goner for 4yrs knew Mrs Rankin well matron was matron brown sister was sister Murphy staff nurse was miss Hayes, she was very stricken but very fair
I am sure this was the place I was sent to in 1944/45 I was about six years old…I had bad chest problems and my mum was sick with heart problems plus had a sister just two…I was in a room with bunk beds in..remember being taken for a walk and had to hold on to a rope so we all kept together. I remember a man used to come and play the guitar on a Sunday, I learned.Joshua was a very little man etc…was sent home suddenly my mum was in hospital very very ill..can anyone verify if this was the home…I can’t remember any boys being there .
Is this page still being updated please?
Have good memories of the Ellen Gonner home. I remember a little boy called Phillip, also a tall blonde nurse whe tied her hair back, also a room called Poppy Ward and another called Violet, Have I got the correct place?
Best wishes Irene from Liverpool.
i Worked there 1955/58 ,at no time while i was there did any wet bed linen get displayed in front of any children ,Matron was Miss Brown and Sister was Murphy
I Worked at the ELLEN GONNER from 1956 to 59( until i left to do my general Training RN,at No time was i told i was training to be a Nurse while in Hoylake,we worked For LIVERPOOL WELFARE the only trained staff Matron BROWN ,Sister was Murphy,ans Staff HAyes,the Children mostly came from Liverpool area ,mostly from the poorer areas or they needed to respite after being sick,they where seen by the local Doctors once a week,the staff had the same meals as the kids ,so was no slop ,,Remember Mrs Rankin
WE took the children to the beach most nice days or walked down to Meols or the garden if it was windy ,in wet weather we stayed indoors there was a big play room or a tv room the only hang up was with 30/40 children they wernt allowed to wonder around we stayed in groups,Mr Jones was the cook ,if Phillip was home he joined in with the rest of us
I worked there I loved the Ellon Gonner it was such a lovely place to work great group of girls we all left as it was closing due to lack of funds I believe love to know where everyone went
Hi, the photograph above is indeed the Ellen Gonner home, i clearly remember it, and have asked at the information centre within the Lifeboat company on the beach……………………………… i went there around 1958 or 1959 cant remember whether i was 11 or 12………………….. how can i trace my name on any records to get the exact date and year.
Thanks. sue.
Liverpool Records Office , Ref : M364 CWA/4/3 ( 1956 – 1967 ) available to ” Accredited Readers ”
NB Personal Details may be subject to the Official Information Act .
Sorry to say sue the picture is the blind sociaty home not the Ellen Gonner ,thats on the opposite side ,i worked there from 1955/58
Hi Carol
I was at the home in 1953/54 was not happy we had to stay in bed sat/sun out on the veranda for the fresh air .
During the week we used to knit scarfs for the sodiers in the korean war .
I was sent to another home on hayling island havant run by nuns some were not very nice came home from there christmas of 1957 .
I’m sure my sister went there in the 40s she went there because she was a sickly child. She was force fed. Made to eat it back if she vomited it up. Also she was hung out the window by her plaits for her nightdress to dry as she wet her bed. Omg how did these nuns get away with this cruelty. I would like to put a complaint in if I knew how to.
The Ellen Gonner was a children’s home for sickly children run by a Liverpool Charity and no NUNS worked there. The nurses were 15/16 year old girls who thought they were going to be trained as nurses instead they were used as child minders and skivvies.
Does anyone know where one can check the listings of those children who went to Ellen Gonner in the early 1900’s? Pretty sure but not certain that relatives of mine were there around 1918. Would be good to know if that’s true.
Sharon Hi i worked at the Ellen Gonner from 1956 to 1958 it was the Liverpool Welfare home for Children ,sick or children that needed a break,,from the poor conditions after the war
This is true i stayed in thete after falling out of a 3rd story flat and my nerves were really bad we all dressed the same in the blue and white stripped dresses for girls and hairbands whether your hair was short or long they used to take us on the beach opposite and we would walk to church all together i vaguely remember dormitories called snowdrop and daffodil think it was snowdrop i slept in it never helped me at all we drunk from metal cups every night it was jam bread and warm milk or horlicks i was 4 when i was there am now turned 66
I remember the Ellen Gonner because I spent a month there as a seven year old in 1952. That was after having had the measles followed by chicken pox. It must have been sometime during either late spring or early summer because the weather was cold. Although parents weren’t allowed to visit my parents came every Sunday and they stood outside the window of the front room where we were playing and just watched. I have other memories of my stay if there is anyone reading this who may be interested.
Norma
Do you know where I could get a copy of the photo Ellen Gonner House.thanks.
I was there with my sister for about 1 month round about 1957. Slept in Primrose room. Hated it. eating carrot and turnip everyday, REM er playing in the garden on the witches hat and having to wear navy gigham dresses
Hi Norma,
My grandmother stayed here in 1942 when she was 9yrs old. She was recovering from whooping cough and she too remembers her parents waving from outside and sending in a parcel as visitations were not allowed. She has good memories of going down to the beach before breakfast every morning to play with the other children.
I was there at that time my brother would bicycle from Liverpool and I would go out on the balcony to see him he would leave a shoe box with a comic and other things there was no boys there.
My sister and I were there in the early 60s I remember going once with my elder sister.
I was a little tom boy red head and had a confidence and temper my sister did not. I remember kicking a nurse because she was forcing my sister to eat veg making her cry. I remember her calling me a little red headed something.
I also remember the withholding of sweets from us brought in from parents. We HD to share them out. I REMEMBER THEM BEING PUT ON A SMALL ROUND TRay and LEFT IN FRONT OF US ON A large mantlepiece. We then sat in a circle on little chairs and the tray was put in front of us one as a time to take 1 sweet. I remember trying to take more than 1 .
,
Hi Norma, I have only just seen your post and would be most interested to hear any memories you have of the Ellen Gonner home. My sister and I were there, in approximately 1960, I was around 6 at the time. Our mum was quite ill and had been hospitalised. I never knew the exact location of the home until very recently when I found a photo, when trawling the internet & instantly knew it was the home we’d been in.
Wasn’t there a Dr,Banardo’s Home around this area late 5o’s early 60’s ?
I have been trying to find out if anyone in Hoylake remembers The children’s Home next to The Ellen Gonner Children’s home. I was there for a year in 1946 . Having lost my mother, who was just 35years old. I came from a very happy caring family life, and it was a shock to end up in care. Unfortunately people think you are in for some misdeed you have done, it is far from the truth.My father although he had his own business could not look after three children , so that was our alternative. I am interested to what happened to the home. and would love to have a photograph of it. When I was there The Ellen Gonner Childrens Convalescence Home , took no’s 34/36.
Hi Margaret I was in Brynmore Children’s home for girls as it was then in the early 60s Mr & Mrs Morello
or aunty Chris & bob as we called them there were two Aunty’s as well one died at one of the Xmas party s we went to every year 32 the north parade was a wonderful place for me we went to the open air baths just down the road we went to the YMCA to do gymnastics play table tennis the flea pit as we called it the picture house yes we had jobs to do we took it in turns to do dishes clean 12prs of shoes clean the brass wear but we got pocket money and were always well feed and nice clothes to wear we went to Church on Sundays well some did we took it in turn to bunk off and we went to a good all girls school the year I left the boys school in Hoylake was closing and a mixed school was about to happen I think sorry I don’t have photos as my ex husband sadly took to ripping all my childhood photos and School pics up but I still have happy memory’s of my stay In Hoylake and west Kirby
I was there in the 70’s, I can remember one of the auntys had a mini car, the staff could be strict but fair with us. I hated it when it was my turn doing shoes, the mess they got in not nice, and does anyone remember having to clean that big cooker??
Hi Beverley, Idon’t know if you remember me – I used to be friends with Veronica Wilson. Also don’t know if you’re the Beverley from Hemel Hemstead but if you are I remember you. I was in Brynmor from May 1972 to July 1975. I remember the shoes and the big cooker! I also remember those years being the happiest years of my life in care.
hi Beverly don’t no if you remember me but I was there in the
early 70s but I noticed toni has commented on your page she says she was friends with Ronnie Wilson so was I is this the toni from duckinfield in Manchester would love to no thanks
Hii cathleen Barton ‘just looking up old times ,and came across your text on brymore children’s home , my maiden name was Brighton and I lived at there around 1966 , matron and aunts Margaret +another aunt looked after us
Hi Sue
my maiden name was O’connor Aunty Chris Aunty lillian Aunty June were there when I was there there was a girls called Yvonne / Pam /Joe/ Veronica/ Jackie do you rember others or me ? please
Hi, could anyone confirm if this was Prospect House, 7 Trinity Rd, Hoylake? I was there as a newborn in 1957/8 and would love to find out more. Any help appreciated. Lynne
Lynne. Yes, it is Prospect House, Trinity Road.
Yes Cathleen, Brynmore was a lovely place I found the whole experience of being ar Hoylake as a kind and caring place to live and was sorry to leave in 1958. What followed in foster care after was horrendous!!!
Hi Margaret, I was in the Ellen Gonner Home around the same time you were in the home next door, towards the late 1940s. I suffered with bronchitis. We were told your home was an orphanage and we used to see the children from there on the beach when we were there. We were not encouraged to talk to them, I don’t know why. I must have been there in winter as I recall being very cold. Every day we would line up for a large spoonful of cod-liver oil. It was disgusting and made me sick. Then we all had to have our hair inspected for nits with a fine-tooth comb. I was in the home a long time as both my parents were in hospital and then had to stay with relatives,, so I missed a lot of school. I wish I knew the exact dates.
Hi, I was aged seven and went to the Ellen Gonner home in 1950 I think it was – it must have been either April or May and I was there for a month following a bout of measles then chicken pox.. I wasn’t very happy there. Parents weren’t allowed to visit and I recall my mum and dad coming to see me every Sunday and waving through the window to me. They used to send a box of sweets to me which I never saw.- I did notice the woman who used to watch us eating them tho’, I’m uncertain if the women were nurses or helpers. When we first arrived our clothes were taken off us and we were given their clothes which were washed out dresses and fitted where they touched. We washed our hair once a week ourselves using soap flakes that were kept in a biscuit tin then had a bath supervised by one of the women. We had breakfast of porridge no sugar or extra milk, lunch was a cooked meal always with potatoes followed by stodgy pudding. The supper was bread and marge and a tin mug of sandy cocoa. We were never given any fruit either fresh or tinned. We went to sit on the beach or for a walks to Red Rocks and it was there that an accident occurred involving one of the other girls, I never discovered what happened to her. Is there anyone out there who does remember?
hi Keith
I think the Ellen Gonner home was probably the Barnado’s home you’re thinking of. I do know that in the ’70s a bit further along that block towards Clydesdale was a local authority childrens home- I worked there for a short time in 1976-1977.
Sue
Hi Sue,The childrens home was called Brynmor,it was for girls age 11 to 17,i was in thier 76 to 78,it was number 32 and is now flats.Deb
hi debbie could u tell me was this the same brynmor that was on the sea front i was in there about 1973 i think bob and chris morell had it then tried 2 look it up but failed dont live that far away may have a look 1 day cant even remember why i went there had so many mates and lost contact with most if anybody was there at this time please let me know thanks debbie
Sue Vine replies:
Hi
I worked , as a cook, at Brynmor for a short while late 1976 to early 1977. As a staff member I felt kids were fairly well cared for. But don’t really know what it was like for the kids in care. I do recall 2 very sad cases which if there is any response to this I’ll post.
Sue
A few years ago, I requested my records from Wirral social services. One of the pages said I was in Brynmoor in the 70’s after intially being placed in Wimbrick Hey, Moreton. I remember being there but i don’t think it was all girls (since I am Male!). I’m not sure what year I was there but around 74-76. The only people I can remember are a boy and a girl (who I sat with at tea), and they could speak to each other in a foreign language (which they did quite often!), other than that I remember going to a xmas party on an aircraft carrier(!) and being quite happy there……feel free to contact me and if I can help, I will try.
Courtney
I worked as a cook at Brynmor in early 1977 for a few months. There were definitely girls and boys there I remember a brother and sister group- I think 3 of the family. Sadly i can’t recall names and anyway it maybe wouldn’t be right to put them on a site like this.
I wasn’t on the care staff so don’t know too much of how it was like for the kids- but my impression was that it was much better than I expected a Childrens Home to be. I do remember having to make a birthday cake whenever any of the kids had a birthday and it did seem to have quite a nice family feel.
Maybe because it was in an old house not a speciaaly built place.
I’m pleased that you think you were quite happy there- I liked working there and would have stayed except we moved from the area. I also sometimes had to go to cook at Prospect House which was in Trinity Rd and a house that looked after unmarried mothers.
Sue
hi caroline my name is abigail preston was hindley i was in brynmore about the same time maybe a year or 2 early carnt remember the right year but chris and bob morrel was running it an there were 2 other aunties there as well carnt remember ther names but one ws a large lady and a slim one she was quite strict we also went to hilbre school for girls in west kirby your name doesent ring a bell the house was on the sea front and you could see hilbri island from thr house would love to hear from you xx
hi gail, my email is lindapjames@hotmail.com Look forward to hearing from you.
Hi Abigail your name dosnt ring a bell think there may of been a gail in when i was in only just looked back on here & seen these messages i was in Brynmor with Toni/veronica/Eileen was the large lady Irlene was the other sad when you all lose contact x
message for Abigail Prestin and Caroline Wilkinson, hi i was in Brynmor in the early 70s i remember a girl called Caroline and wonder if it was you, I’m also in contact with Linda James who was there at the same time, we are both keen to get in touch with some of the other girls that were there at the same time, Yvonne, Stella, Joanne, are three of the girls i remember, but i know there were several more, please contact me shirleyt001@aol.com
From Abigail Preston:
hi shirley lovely to hear from you sorry i dont remember you but i remember linda james would love to hear from you both perhaps i will rember you when i see a photo of you do you remember a girl call ronnin wilson she was from manchester if you are on face book send me a friend request i live in chester and my profile picture is of my granddaughter thams so much for getting in touch hope to speak again soon xx
HI Shirley, I wonder if I am the Joanne you remember. I was Joanne Miller, I was there from the late 60’s until 1973. I don’t remember many names, but I do remember someone called Joan who I swapped a teddy with,which I’ve still got.
Hi Shirley, I might be the Joanne you remember. I was at Brynmor from 1969 to 1973, I’m sorry I can’t rememeber a lot from my time there, but I was generally very happy, I remember Lindy and someone named Joan and Senga (she said she was named after her grandmother Agnes).
Regards Jo
Hi shirley a long time to reply but only just gone back on here.its hard to remember all the girls but i was in there with Veronica who we called Ronnie i use to stay at her house & once she stayed at mine in Warrington..There was a Sheilla & think her sister was there as well I seen a post off Toni im sure its the same one i was in Brynmor with but cant message her.Its so sad that a lot of girls lived together & then not seen again.what i remember is the porridge on a weekend funny things you remember hard to say if we all know each other but certain names stand out.i will try raack my brains see who i was there with
Hi Caroline was your name Caroline Nichols by any chance
Hi Debbie yes that was my maiden name strange things we all remember.its so hard trying to remember what everyone looked like.I was just tall skinny blonde hair never listened to anyone still dont God how many years ago was this so sad we all seperated
Hi Caroline, I was in Brynmor from 1972/75. I think we were there at the same time. Did we all go to Pontins at Southport? I remember you as being very tall! I was about 4’8″
Hi Toni oh my god it sure is me & yes nicholls we were friends with Ronnie from Manchester strange little things you remember & i have thought about a lot of you over the years if i remember right yr birthday was 28th Sept bet im wrong oh god where are you now.
You are right Debbie, Brynmor was 32 The parade, the next block from this photo. It stayed open until about 1990, and closed due to bad publicity ……. such a shame, I was there from 1986-1988 and being a small home, the staff were very caring and tried to provide all needs to the girls from age 13-18.
Sue
Sad to hear there was bad publicity- back in 1976/77 it was a happy, well run place.
I lived at Brynmor from 1984 -1987 I loved living there!.. I call it HOME because it was my Home, the staff were all great. Most of the time we all got along nicely considering it was just girls. We all got treated the same & had chores to do, like any other household. I felt very safe and look back with happy memories of the girls and staff. To be honest I didn’t want to leave and now I hear it got shut down, I personally think it was a the best home on the Wirral such a shame!..
Hi sharon you may not remember me i was in brynmore the same time as you. I was thompson then. And i agree it was a great place x
Hi Sharon this is odd but by any chance was your maiden name Riley. I have a friend who is looking for Sharon Riley. She went to Hilbre High but later Sharon went to an all girls home around the age of 14 the home was in Hoylake. My friend is Jackie Hanley. She would love to find Sharon Riley and know she is ok. If it’s you or you know her please email me reply here. Thank you
I hope you do not mind me replying to another letter. No 34/36l had been knocked into one, thus The children’s convalescence home. A wonderful corner room had windows opened constantly and the children either had their beds pushed up to the window, or sat in chairs. They could see all the activities on the beach from there. There seems to be some differences what everyone say’s , however it depends what goes on at different times with changing staff. I am sure everyone would agree there.
I worked there from 1956-1959,Matrons name was Brown, I remember Mrs Rankin ,Sisters name Was Murphy Mrs Rankin a very nice ladywe useto sneek out the window ib mrs Jones kitchen window at night ,some of the Girls that worked for Liverpool Child welfare,(Margy Sadler fron Crew,Cath (Tilly Thomson() from St Helens) Other girls I only remember there surnames
Woodwood,(bootle)myself Archer (Liverpool) a lot of us worked there,until we were old enough to start our General Training ,I was at St Caths from 1958 to 1961,then emigrated to Australia,,the wards all had flower names,Bluebell,Dafodil,Primrose
the photo of the large building at the bottom of trinity road was at one time a home for the deaf blind run by the rnib and was called fellowship house,
when i was 17 i worked there for a year i am 71 now.
i believe they moved to a large place by the golf links but i am not sure if they are there now
on the opposite side of trinity road used to live children who were getting over illnesses an annex of a hospital in liverpool i think
hi brian…. i visited hoylake two weeks ago, and the fire department gave me the location of the childrens home for sick children, the above photograph was the place they said….. apparently it seems, a place called Brynmor which was on the opposite side of the road was the home i apparently stayed in in the 1960s , do you know where to get any photos of Brynmor.
thanks. sue.
Fellowship House was indeed this building. It was a Blind Home, they moved to Wilton Grange on Meols Drive then closed and the building wasdemolished and there is now a complex of Flats on the site adjacent to Pinfold Lane. Fellowship House became a home for people with learning disasbilities but is now closed by the look of it.
I supppose it belongs to the Council and they are deciding what to do with it.
The Opposite corner to Fellowship House was the Ellen Gonner home for Convalescaent Children from Liverpool that is also now Flats.
Thje Childrens Home was next door to that and I think is now also 3 flats.
hi jackie… i am somewhat confused………………. i can remember quite clearly staying at the above place as per above photo, when i was 11 i was sent there for l month due to illness…………………… the fire brigade office gave me this building and they called it the Ellen Gunner….. do you have the exact name for it.
thanks. sue.
I can assure you this building was for the Blind, on the opposite corner was the Ellen Gonner and the nurses brought the children out for walks and playtime on the shore when I was a child.
Next door to the Ellen Gonner was Brynmor which was a children’s home.
Matron was miss brown a little tubby lady she had a heart of gold I worked there from 1956 to 1959
HI Margaret was your name Margaret Sadler by any chance
I have said before and I will say it again this building is Fellowship House.
Prospect House was the 4th house on the left hand side of trinity Road from Market street, and my cousin was adopted from there in the 1950’s.
Miss Williams the Midwife lived at NO 1.
Correct Jackie thank you.
The building further along towards Clydesdale Road was called Brynmor and that was something to do with Barnado’s I think. It was a home for girls mainly young teenagers but has obviously been closed for many years now. Several of the girls went to the Parade school and at least one is returning for the Centenary Reunion at the end of June.
Brynmor Home for Girls, from the age of 8 or 9 upwards. John Horswill (ex Butcher) was a patron of the home and funded among other things a visit to the Empire for yearly Pantomime.
Brynmor was originally a mixed home ….. but became a girls adolescent home at some point for ages 13 – 18 mostly. I know this because I was in there from 1986-1988.
Sue
According to a book I’ve got, the building in the picture, Fellowship House, became the first deaf blind home in England, in 1936.
The building on the opposite corner was formerly the Carlton Cafe, then the Hoylake College, and in 1915 became the Ellen Gonner Home.
Hi Matt
would you perhaps have the name of the book you have relating to the photo and/or Ellen Gonner House. having read all the forums writings I’m now quite confused as to whether the photo above was Ellen Gonner House or not. have just out there today to try to find it and was directed to this house. My dad and his sister went to a home in late 1918/1919 and I’d really love to know which building it actually was.
Many thanks,
Sharon Plumb
I hope Matt replies, but as I remember the Ellen Gonner was on the oposite corner which is to the left in the pic above.
By the way, that phone box appeared in Amateur Photographer magazine many years ago, in a photo of it take from the top of the hill looking towards the shore.
Someone must have a photo of EG which they can offer to this site.
HI…………… I visited the Ellen Gonner Home today Wednesday 26th oct.2011 and indeed the photo of it above is the correct photograph…………… this was the exact corner it was on……………… i was only 11 then but i remember it so clearly, i hated every minute being there, tin mugs and plates, having baths in the same room as other kids, sharing my parcels that my parents sent etc., dont even know to this day what illness i had been suffering from…………. do you know how i would accquire the specific day and illness…………………………. any records available etc., thanks sue. from Bootle.
Sorry Sue but the Ellen Gonner WAS on the other corner of Trinity Road / North Parade and is now flats . ( you may remember the balconies , the big steps to the front door and the tarmac playground )
I was at a convalescent home I think was in Hoylake 1959 60 can’t remember why but I hate it it was a mixed home boys and girls and it had plastic mugs and plates and I can remember a round about in the garden.i can remember pebble dash and going for walks to the beach.m y son now lives not to far from the building on the photo. I’m having flash backs I was about 6 I would love to know where it was thank you Liz
That building in the photo is Fellowship House.
Ellen Gonner Home was on the opposite corner which is now in flats. |The childrewn were brought onto the shore to play when I was a child.
sat on the Beach many afternoons,the Ellen Gonner was 61 Trinity rd opposite the phone box
i remember the “ellen gonner” becouse when i was about 5 my mother and i lived with my granddad & grandy (“pop”&”nan” peers)and we moved from 54 trinity rd, to 11 newton rd which was much smaller, so my much beloved and large rocking horse was given to the “ellen gonner”
AND I WANT IT BACK
only kidding
Hi Arthur my sister was in Ellen gonner sometime in the 1940s-or early 50s she remembers a large rocking horse and would love to know if it was yours, and it would help to know what was the year that it was donated to ellen gonner.
Cathy Thomson
to arthur roberts, it’s a long time ago since we used to play together in the grove by your nans house ,but I remember the little cottage you stayed in by the grove with your nan,you lived with her for so long we used to call you arthur peers .can you remember the little shop near there called coogans. I think your mums name was Mona, am I right,
hi brian
yes long time past , the little cottage was “the nook” it was my great antie emms, mum & i
lived with nan& pop peers at 54 trinity rd. muns name was mona.do you remenber dave cardwell?
back in 1959 i was on “jankers” in a dining room” in aldershot, when dave walked in,we only had time say hello goodby ,how did he get in? remenber he was run over by one those army trucks
when the “wirral horn” was an army garage and he was left with a arm that was bent?
was it you that dropped a brick on my head when we were playing on the grove
I have lived in Florida now for many years but still think of how Hoylake was in days gone by, I was born in Hoylake in 1938 and used to live in the old fishermens cottages in Back-Sea-View, I remember during the war years hearing the bombs dropping and being rushed to the nearby air-raid shelter which was situated in the grove not far from the Plasterers Arms which was managed at the time by mr Bill Rainford and his wife Maude, My school holidays [late 40s early 50s] were spent mostly on Hoylake shore,the summers were hot and the day trippers were many ,I remember some times especially on a sunday it was nearly impossible to get onto the sand for people,Them days we used to have Punch and Judy shows and Sunday church services were held on the beach,can anyone remember the name of the people who ran the services,if anyone has any old photos of this area please contact my sister Joan who works at Hoylake Co-oP ThankYou.
I seem to remember “Uncle Stan” was the name connected with the church services on Hoylake shore. I certainly remember the Punch and Judy but not the name of the people who ran it. Somewhere in the depths of my memory I recall that there was a family called Codman who were connected with Punch and Judy in Liverpool- maybe it was something to do with them?
I also remember how very crowded the shore got and the the long queues to get into Hoylake baths- didn’t they close at lunch time so you had to queue again in the afternoon. Does anyone remember “Baileys” at the bottom of Governement road- they used to sell trays of tea for holidaymakers to take onto the sands. My parents had a guest house in Alderley Road and the bulk of the summer holiday makers in the ’50s were from Liverpool, come to spend a week in sunny Hoylake!!
Sue
The uncle Stan you remember was for real……lovely man he was….he was Stan gradden from Liverpool…..he worked a lot with children and was very kind. He is dead now but his wife celebrates. Her 100th birthday this june
To sue V, Thanks for the information sue, I remember a few of the houses also selling teas to visitors,even selling just hot water so they could make their own tea, At the bottom of trinity road by the slipway the Hoylake UDC used to have the deck chairs stacked ready for all the visitors,a guy named mr Lawler was in charge of taking the money for the chairs,he knew the local lads and he would give us 6d if we would go up and down the beach collecting in the deck chairs for him after the visitors had gone,then we would have to throw a big green canvas over them and tie the canvas down with rope,I think he got his money’s worth out of us don’t you because it used to take us about 2hrs,but it would buy us a ice cream from the guy who used to peddle the bike with a small fridge on the front full of ice cream and lolly’s, he must have had legs like a mountain climber to peddle that bike.did you know there used to be a rope factory at the bottom of Alderley Road.
Hi Brian
Certainly I remember the rope works- we lived directly opposite. In that building was an amazing stable block, beautifully tiled with decorative tiles- green as I recall. It was very difficult to get in there- but at some stage we got over the wall!!
That whole area has altered so much- we lived just 2 houses up from the Winter Gardens- now a nursing home I think.
I’ve not been back to Hoylake for about 6 years but even then it was becoming unrecognisable- and the promenade area in particular. When the Baths went it all seemed to change.
Sue
Mr. Lawler, who used to hire out the deck chairs, was probably my grandfather Martin Lawler.
He worked for Hoylake UDC and lived at 4 Lee Road.
My Dad, John Taylor (known as Jack) was born next door at 2 Lee Road, which was later occupied by his sister, Ellen (known as Lell) Todd. I understand that Martin Lawler was an extremely kind man who gave two of my cousins – Pat & Valerie Gittins – much support when they were growing up in extremely unfortunate circumstances.
Hi Brian, your comments rekindle memories of the beach in those days, I would spend most of the School holidays at the canoe pool with Joe Cullen from putting the boats in the water of a morning and pulling them out at night plus two or three trips to Joe’s house in Lee Road for a pop bottle of tea. Joe would slip me 9 pence at the end of the day so on the face of it you did quite well.
hello mike, my name is ray Cullen .eldest son of joe Cullen,i live in California and just came across your post mentioning my dad.sadly my dad passed away in 1989 and my mum last year.im researching dads wartime exploits at present ..id love to be in contact with you and share your memories ray Cullen
Hi Mike, Those were the days, when you could walk down to the beach bare footed and the sun would be so hot on the pavement it would burn the bottoms of your feet ,what happened to those Hoylake summers. But can you remember the winter time when we all had coal and coke fires,That was the time I earned my pocket money by going to the gas works every Saturday morning for bags of coke for different people,I had a old pram that I used to transport the coke in, five trips would make me about 2shillings and 6pence,if you ever went for coke mike you know that you had to hold your coke sack under a hopper while the guy pulled on a lever to fill the sack and the coke would come down the hopper with such force it would sometimes pull the sack from your hands,The guy whose name was chris wasn’t the nicest of guys and he would say “your mum needs to feed you up a bit more son then you might be able to hold the – – – sack.
Hi Brian,
Yes, I remember Chris well, the action at the chute was deliberate! When he didn’t use the chute and occasionally shovelled the coke with a huge shovel he always managed to get coke over the back of the sack so you got cinders in your shoes. The same fellow could be equally as awkward when he decanted the creosote in bottles, if the creosote didn’t drip on the bottle first up he would push you out of the way before the faucet stopped dripping.
Ref-Brian Nesbitt : Sand Services , there is an a photo and article on Uncle Stan within this website .
I recall the sand services held by the paddling pool were conducted by a South African named Stan Foord. When I see photo’s of the drinking fountain it conjures up memories of those happy childhood days.
This is very close to the color that I remember back in the 50’s
Sue Vine’s comment brings back memories. We moved to west Kirby in 1951, had been living there for 2 months and we were with Dr. Lancley and he sent to the convalescent home to have my appendix removed. In those days it was done with ether and the face mask, I still have nightmares about it.
Chris
Changing the subject, but does anyone who was at the Parade in the middle to late 50’s remember the old man who used to park his ice cream van outside the school at lunch time, and you could get ice lolly’s for tuppence, my favourite along with Hank and Sambo were the lemon flavoured ones. he was known as Pois, short for poison.
Chris
Don’t know about the icecream van, but “Poisen Dearden” who used to live in Hoyle Road sat on a “box trike” in the early 50’s selling lolley ices usually at the junction of Hoyle Road and the Promenade. The trike I believe was a recycled “Walls” stop me and buy one trike.
Pois Dearden used to have a workplace next door to where we lived on Market Street. It was next to Chas. E. Price’s workshop, and was accessed from Charles Road. On the rare occasions when he returned with unsold ice cream or lolly ices he used to give them to all the kids in the street. He used to make all his own products in a lock up that was always freezing.
Hello again Mike
I remember Mr Deardons workshop as well, he also used to give us any broken wafers or cornets
did we hang round his workshop waiting for his return I am sure we did!
regards
Sandra
Pauline Hoylake
does anyone know what fellowship house was before it became a home for the deaf and blind in 1936? Was it built as a private house?
I hate to disagree but this picture was Fellowship House for the Blind and is now Independent Living for the Young Disabled, recently reurbished and opened.
The opposite Corner a large Flats Complex was the Ellen Gonner Home where children came for Convalescence.
I have lived here all my life and remember it well!!!
So do I for many reasons!!
Yes the Ellon Gonner convalescent home is now the flats opposit the picture above I worked there and was there when it closed I loved it there so sad when it closed
Yvonne Chittenden
i sue i was at a convalescent home in west kirby around 1953/4 cant for the life of me remember the name of it i only remember it being a large imposing building with balconies, i hated every minute of the three months i was there , i was supposed to be recovering from rheumatic fever, some recovery.Any info would be great Thanks a lot Arthur Roberts
I stayed at the same place, we moved to West Kirby from Southend-on-Sea in 1950 and that is where I had my appendix out, I can still remember coming awake during the operation and then being given another shot of ether. From what I can remember it was just called West Kirby Convalescent Home. It was on the corner of Meols Drive and bridge Road opposite from the Tudor Cinema and accross the road from Lingdale Road.
I have been in Canada since 1973 and went back some years ago for a vist, and walking past the Convalescent Home my nightmare of the operation came back.
Regards
Chris Jeffries
Like you Chris I hated that place. It was just called the West Kirby Convalescent Home. I think it was mainly used as a convalescent home for children from Liverpool. But the local GPs did carry out surgery there as we both recall much more clearly than I’d like to remember.. The smell of ether seemed to pervade the place at least in my memory
Regards
Sue
Hi Sue
Paul O’Gradys autobiography ‘at my mothers knee’ worked at west Kirby Convalescent Home
for some time makes for some interesting reading
regards
Sandra
hi,
I was in Brynmor till 1973 i think! bob and chris Morrello?run it and was helped out by aunty irene and aunty
lillian.It was a lovely place and i was sad to leave there.Fond memories of going to the local cinema and the ymca
also sitting in The Lamp cafe sharing cokes and listening to the juke box lol . I went to school in west kirby.If by chance anyone reading this were there around that time(1971/72) i would love to hear from you.
Hi Lindy
I was in Brynmor the same time as you I think my name was Cathy O’connor we used to take it in turns to go to church and the others went to the cafe so we would now what the service was about do you rember me ??
Hi
Does anyone have any info regarding the 1950’s mother and baby home at 7 Trinity Road, Hoylake. It was for unmarried mothers? I am trying to trace my brother, he was adopted. Thanks
It was called Prospect House and was well run home conveniently situated next door to district midwife. In 50s and 60s she was Nurse Williams. Sue
Thank you very much for that, would you know if the building is still there? Would you have any idea where the babies were taken from there for adoption? Thanks again Sue
Sue
I am Pauline I was there in 1964 had my baby Son who was adopted through Manchester, I have since found my Son after 47 years we have met on many occasions and its just super to have established contact with my extended family of a Son, his Wife, 3 Grand Daughter and a Greta Grandson, in addition I am happily married with 2 Children and 2 Step Children and have a wonderful life, if you need info e mail me
Sue Vine replies
It was called Prospect house and was a “mother and baby” home for many years. It was conveniently situated next door to district midwife;s house.
I know it was well run but other than that can’t give any information. Sue
Thank you very much John
Sue adds:
As far as I’m aware the building is still there but as I don’t live in Hoylake now I can’t be sure. I think the babies stayed there with the mothers for 6 weeks before being taken to the adopted parents. Most mother and baby homes and there were quite a few then made the mother keep her child for6 weeks- which must have made parting difficult. However I know from a friend who was in a similar home that the social workers etc made every effort to place the babies in good homes
Hi Sue,
I’m helping my friend, Donna, trace her sister who was adopted in 1951. She was born at Clatterbridge Hospital but I think was then probably taken to the mother and baby home at 7 Trinity Road, Hoylake.
If you have found out what happened to the babies when they were taken from their mother (usually I think at about 6 weeks old), where they went or anything about the adoption process I would be really interested to hear.
Have you found your brother? I really do hope so. It would be wonderful. Leonie
The house in the photo is now called Fellowship House.
It houses a group of young people with live in carers.
All the young people are needing full time care.
Yesterday I went to an art exhibition. All the paintings were produced by those young people.
It was fantantic!
Each person has their own room, but they all dine together, helping with the table laying and washing up.
It is a fantastic Care home with a great team of Carers.
The ellen gonner Home was on the opposit corner to this. I can’t remember the name of the road but it was opposit the beach.
I worked there 1959-1961 I was 16yrs I was one of the cadet nurses who looked after the children who came to convaless. It was a very hard job with very strict Staff nurse. Sister and Matron, but all the nurses got on well together. We took the children on to the beach in the afternoon every day weather permitting. Its good to see other peoples stories. Is there anyone who used to work there? I’d like to here from you.
I was. Convalescing there the time you were there and I recall a carer a young girl with red hair and green nylon overall….could it be you……she was so very kind and caring to confused kids
Mary…..didu wear green nylon overalls…..I was there the time you were and I remember the young staff among us kids to the beach and walking along to where there was a concrete like theatre with a concrete stage…….we would climb up on it and give a song………one particular staff I remember had curly red hair it contrasted well with the green overall……..she was very kind. I too remember the cod liver oil each morning then told to play on the roundabout and bringing it all back up along with the horrible junket they gave us for breakfast
Can anyone recall nurse rogers at ellen gonner around 1953?
Hi there, was she a blonde nurse who tied her hair back, if so, I remember her as being a kind lady, I was sent to one or other if the homes a couple of times from Liverpool for a month at a time for health reasons . Does anyone remember singing m
Mummy Daddy take me home? I have very fond nemories of both homes.
Good memories,
Irene
In the 70’s Prospect House was a working girls hostel.Prospect House was the first two houses in Trinity Road.On the right hand side coming in from Market Street.Prospect house was also used as a girls home too throughout the 70’s,although most girls were of a working age.
Brynmor was a girls home in 1975 when I lived there.The place was run by Mr & Mrs.R.D.Marello.Mr Marello being Officer in charge.They had a little sheep dog.I believe that in the late 70’s it changed to being a Children’s Home. I’m always amazed at the differing experiences children had in these places.For me both places were not very nice.Irene and Lillian were there too.If I remember rightly Lillian was a very large lady with long blondy curly hair.She was also an ex prison officer.The investigations that went on were included in a tv program about the methods of treatment of the children in many Children’s Homes and Assessment Centers and the likes.Not just about Brynmor.It was all to do with the pin-down methods that were used amongst other things. If any of you folks don’t know it already I’d like to make you aware that for your time in care you had files written about you.These files are accessible through Action For Children. If you would like help and support in obtaining your care files then you can either contact Action For Children or myself on the above email.
Hi Christine
i was in brynmore from 1972 to 1973 and the marello were there then.As regards to the to aunties the large lady was called Irene and lillian was the slim one with blond curly hair out the to lillian was the most strict but un like you my time there was very happy i have a lot of fond memories i did hear that it was investigated and closed dont no how much truth in it but would like to no more if you no anythink.I applyed for records in 2012 and got them no problem.
Hi Abigail.
Thank you for your comments. It was changed from a just girls home into a mixed children’s home.
fawcett_christine@yahoo.co.uk
I’ve given you my email so that I can give you further info on groups for ex Care Children.
hi Christine
What years were you at Brynmor- I worked there as cook 1976-77. Don’t remember exact months. I remember a girl called Christine. Also remember a group of three siblings- a sister and two brothers. Were you there then???
Sue
Hi Abigail remember me( lindy)? Would be great to get some of the old photos but i think Chris and Bob Morello took them when they left!! They proberly passed away now so they could be anywhere! I had no problem getting my records !!
lindapjames@hotmail.com Linda
Linda my name is Dorothy. I was in Brynmore late fifties loved every minute of it with my brother and sisters our mother died we were all split up none of us had decent foster parents. I would be grateful if you could let me know How you obtained your records of time in Bynmore.
Thanks. Dorothy.
Dorothy Mellor.
These are fabulous for help and information on ex cared for children. I’m sure you will find all of your questions answered here. Best wishes. 🙂
http://www.careleavers.com/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=National%20Gather%20and%20AGM&utm_content=National%20Gather%20and%20AGM%20CID_974050aca7a6dea77cb6852606f71409&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&fbclid=IwAR3ajtMuZ-DxJDGmrMVjPPPsUB9k2GfxQoSV9R7HbdroZOgBDGDlb5k0cEM
I was in Brynmor from 1969 to 1973. I only remember a few names, mostly first names. I think I remember a Lindy and Jed (Joan Elizabeth Devine) not sure if I’ve remembered that correctly. My maiden name was Joanne (Jo) Miller
Do you know how far back the records go?
Hi Sharon.
If you’d like to email me I’m more than willing to support you and go through your access to your files with you.Only you can apply for them. Please do not give me any personal information in your email as it is not required.
fawcett_christine@yahoo.co.uk
Hi My name is Pauline, I was in Prospect House in June 1964, and had a baby boy who was adopted 6 weeks after birth, you I am sure would wish to know that 47 years later I have now traced my Birth Son, Who had a great life in Lancashire [ I came from Alderley Edge, Cheshire] we now for 18 months have met on various occasions.
I recall the cook was called Mrs Walton and the Matron was Mrs Amah, my Husband and I still have connections with The Wirral and go down Trinity Road from time to time, number 7 was demolished about 5 years ago.
jpfletcher@42yahoo.com
Hi everyone, can anyone help me with the following please.
My Aunty and my nanna were sent to an unmarried mothers home
For a short while my Aunty was born in one of these in 1946 and luckily
My nannas dad let her back home with my Aunty.
The only things we have to go on is: it was on a hill/bank, over-looked
The estuary and hoylake if i get anymore info i will send it
Thanks Mandy
I remember that building well. In 1976 and 1977 my friend lived there with his mum and her husband. His mum was something akin to Matron. They had apartments on the ground floor. At the time I remember that the people who were cared for there may well of had learning difficulties. My friends surname was Gay but I seem to remember that his mum’s surname may well have been Heath.
I was in the children’s convalacent home, west kirby. During the year 1951/2 the home had four sections the section I was in had three wards, I vaguely remember fortitude ( outside ward) patience and charity, these were for bed patients. I was there for a year,and on hindsight I believe it was the making of me. I can remember Anne Huggill, Doris Cockburn, Hazel Routledge. And I also recall we had a school at each end of the home, one for the boy,s ,and one for the girls. The grade1 girls were allowed to clean the schoolrooms after classes and received 2 shillings and sixpence a week,which we were allowed to spend at a designated shop. It was a happy experience for me.
I was in a childrens home on the front at Hoylake, 1948 to about 1953. There was another childrens home next door on the Dee estuary side. It had a big rocking horse in the window. In the play area at the back of the house was a circular tall water butt, I got in trouble one day for climbing up it. Bath night was girls and boys all lined up starkers and all bathed one after each other. WE had shared dormitories. My most vivid memory was being told in the school playground in the morning that the old King had died. Brymor does ring a distant bell. WE holidayed at a camp near Rhyl and they ran a trip to a castle to see where a famous boxer trained, I did not go I was not keen on visiting an old castle.. The camp was all tall circular tents, I guess ex army. We crossed the railway line to get to the beach.
I wasn’t at Hoylake but was at a children’s home in Macclesfield and had 3 holidays at the camp near Rhyl it was Pensarn near Abergele.
I notice a Mike Wilson has some posts on this site. Hope you don’t mind but I remember Barbara Wilson who was my friend many years ago. Is this your sister? I have often wondered about her. I wonder if she would remember me? Kind regards.
Carol Hazlehurst (I went to The Parade 1962-1966)
Hello Carol,
My youngest sister Barbara is now Barbara Davies and lives in Moreton, and she would have been attending the Parade at about the same time as you. She also follows this site so you may hear from her. I will let her know.
Mike Wilson.
Carol, of course I remember you (Flossie). Its a funny, funny world, but I have been thinking about you recently and wondering where you are and what you are up to lately. Would love to catch up sometime (Barb@22wake.freeserve.co.uk)
Hello Barb,
I have emailed you. Only just seen your post, a little late……..!!!
Carol.
I was in a children’s home boys and girls from about 1950 to 1953. In the yard at the back was a huge tall water but that I was punished for climbing as a dare. There was another children’s home next door with a big rocking horse in the window bay. We used to play on the sand opposite. We also in summer went to a Cheshire County Council owned holiday camp near Rhyl. We slept in huge circular tents. We crossed over the railway line to the beach.
I remember the Ellen Gonner convalescent home ,I was there with my big sister
of 13 years ,I was seven. I think it was all girls can’t remember any boys .It was just after the end of the war and I hated it,some of the nurses were very strict to the point of cruelty . Girls who wet their beds were forced to stand with the wet sheets over their heads. I got a smacking and was locked in the dorm while every one went to the beach ,and all because I was dared to ring the bell in the dorm. We went to the beach what ever the weather and used to dig out holes in the sand to sit in out of the wind.i
The only good thing I remember was a hamper of dress up cloths given to the home by some kind lady.,we had a lovely time dressing up. I remember a wooden parrot in a metal ring hanging In a glass sided room ,the bath room with rows of baths and the tatty coats they Issued out to go to church in. Not a happy time.
But I remember fondly one young nurse who was very kind to me and I wish I knew what happened to her.She must have been about 16 years old and used to sing the Jo Safford song: Long ago and far away : if any one remembers her I would love to hear. When ever I hear that song I think of her ,she must be in her nineties
now.
Hi. Wendy, this is my first visit to this site as I was trying to remember how old I was at the time I was in the Ellen Gonner Home, probably in the late 40s.. I would also have been one of the bed-wetters., so not a happy time for me either. I certainly remember a big basket of woollen hats and gloves which we had to choose before going on the beach in all weathers. Probably how we caught nits as we were always have our hair combed with a fine-tooth comb. Do you remember having to line up for your daily dose of cod-liver oil? Yuk. I was there a long time as both my parents were in hospital.
My sister went there in the 40s her name was Edwina. She wet her bed and was hung out the window by her plaits so her nightdress would blow dry. Awful
The stories I read about Prospect House, 7 Trinity Road, do not sound like the Prospect House that I knew in the 1950s. As unmarried mothers we were treated like criminals. The front door was kept locked and we were kept out of sight if anyone called. We were allowed out under close supervision about once a week and would walk down to the promenade.
We had a daily rota which would include rising early to collect the fuel from outside and light the boiler which provided the hot water for the home. I read that there was a cook in later years but in the 50s the girls did all the cooking and cleaning. There were wooden stairs and floors which were scrubbed on hands and knees and the bathroom and toilets were cleaned each day. The washing was done by hand too, of course.
Those on kitchen duty for the day would prepare a mid-morning snack of toast and dripping with a cup of cocoa and then it was back to work until lunchtime.
Meals were eaten in silence at a long table with matron at one end and her elderly assistant at the other. Everything had to be eaten and we would have to sit until everyone had cleared their plates.
It was assumed that the babies would be adopted and when I changed my mind and said I wanted to keep my baby she was hurriedly taken away at 10 days old (instead of 6 weeks) because “she was promised to someone”.
Let`s not have romantic ideas about these places – until the 60s onwards, they were cold, cruel places. Thankfully my child found me about 8 years ago and we have a wonderful relationship, but I haven`t had the heart to tell her about my experiences. We visited 7 Trinity Road a couple of years ago and found Prospect House had been demolished and flats built in its place.
On 24th May 2016 Jackie Hall wrote that Prospect House had been the 4th house on the left going from Market Street but for anyone searching for the original site it was in fact the 4th house on the right, where a block of flats now stand.
1973 Prospect House was used as a home for unmarried mothers. As a young woman separated from her husband, with nowhere else to go, I was placed there to await my baby’s arrival. I crocheted a number of outfits for mums whose babies were to be adopted. Strange that I was to keep my baby, but she had a bad case of spina bifida and didn’t live long, yet all those healthy babies weren’t allowed to stay with their own mothers. The irony of that has always torn at my heart. If you know anyone who stayed there around that time, PLEASE get in touch. Regards, Lynne M
Thank you for that Lynne, we have just got a group together about Prospect house, please check us out on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/515578912157999/
I was one of the babies from there in the 62
Brian
Sue Vine replies:
Lynne McGarry- I was thinking about Prospect House just the other night when there was a TV programme about babies being adopted in 50s, 60s and 70s. They were very different times and thank goodness society has moved on and single mothers aren’t demonised anymore. My own daughter is one and no one has ever, to my knowledge, been other than kind. I had several friends who went to church homes and were pretty much forced into giving up their babies.
For you a terrible sadness and indeed as you say an irony.
FOR THOSE SEEKING COMFORT OR INFORMATION……..To follow my previous message here, I was separated from my husband…… The Matron, in 1973-74 AT LEAST, was Mrs Mann. I was there a long time during my pregnancy but left 6 weeks before my due date. During my time there I met, and learned to love and appreciate EVERY ONE of the young ladies staying there. Different circumstances, various outlooks, with all but one needing to have the courage to trust appointed strangers to find yet other strangers, into whose hands, lives and futures, they had to entrust their most precious person, their unborn, unseen, unheld, unique, irreplaceable child of their flesh and of their heart. And then, when their beautiful babies were actually born, seen, required to be held and cared for for 6 whole weeks, these hormone-ridden young women, living in various forms of rejection, or at least enough embarrassment to mean they must be hidden away until the evidence was gone, the corrective price paid, these now much wiser, but much hurt, young women had to sign the final papers to relinquish any hold on, or right to see or hear of, those precious bundles. I knew many girls there as they came and went, being one of them on a practical level, just a little older at 21years old, and with a slightly different background. The night they found me crocheting for my baby began a magnificent adventure for us all. Each girl I knew from that day on looked through my patterns and selected something they wanted to dress their baby in, ready for meeting meeting their new ‘mum and dad’. They took on all my domestic duties between them to free me up to complete beautiful lacey outfits. It became a communal affair, every Mum supporting every other. The staff made no complaint, to my knowledge.. I will add a little more in my next message as I’m unsure if there’s a text limit on these messages…..? X x
Continued from last message………
The day of leaving was always a huge event. So dark were our hearts, I, feeling for them, but much more difficult for the girls themselves. One was living the nightmare, while all her friends watched on, as their own, unavoidable nightmare loomed closer and larger as days went by. They knew the agony they were watching in their friend was something they would soon have to walk, or should i say drag, themselves through very soon. It was awful. On that day, they would feed and dress their own baby as part of the process, the parting gift, the last attention they’d be allowed to lavish on their little ones. Then, once papers were confirmed as signed, and little one handed over, Mum would leave or be collected as soon as possible……How they ever stepped back into society, into their family life again, often with ‘I’ve been staying with my aunty at the seaside for a while’, or some similar story in tow, I’ll never know.
As I indicated earlier, I knew only one young lady who managed to keep her child. I remember no names now, but she will know who she is. She was a quiet, unassuming girl with dark hair, who had, herself, been adopted, but both her adoptive parents had died. She was maybe 18/19 ish, all alone now, and had been employed, in clerical work perhaps? Her social worker managed to help. As her delivery approached, this girl who now had no one else in the world to belong to, other than her unborn child, quietly pleaded for help, permission, support, anything and everything she’d need to make it possible for her to NOT have to be parted from her baby. The social worker managed to find her ‘rooms’ to live in. The landlord must have been of an unusual breed, since no one would house unmarried mothers then. That was part of the challenge, like finding employment, and childcare while Mum tried to work to feed and clothe them. Benefits were not automatic then. So my friend had her baby, and a home to go to. Last I knew, she was being helped to get a cooker and other essentials via some bit of social funding the social worker managed to access for her. I’ve wondered so many times how her life panned out, as all my wonderful young friends there. IF ANYONE OUT THERE HAS ANY IDEA, OR A MEMORY OF ME OR MY CROCHETING FEATS, OR WANTS TO GET IN TOUCH, PLEASE DO. LIFE HAS WHIZZED BY FOR ME, WITH MY OWN SET OF JOYS AND PAIN, SO IT WOULD BE LOVELY TO HAVE SOME CLOSURE ON MY WONDERINGS. As the 65 yr old great grandmother of 3 beautiful little boys, and all my other family in between, it would thrill my heart to hear from any of those girls, or their babes. Thanks, all, for listening to my warblings x x
Oh, and to those adoptive parents, I don’t imagine you were ever the enemy to them, just the people those mums (and maybe dads too) were grateful to for wanting their babies just as much as they, themselves did, but you were perhaps jealously regarded as people who were ‘lucky’ enough to have resources and public standing making you more able to do for their child what they could not accomplish, themselves, no matter HOW MUCH they loved their child.
LIFE can be so hard, even for adoptive parents too, I do understand. X x
Everyone who commented on this blog. We have a small group just about Prospect House, any babies or any mothers that have gone through this nightmare. Check us out
https://www.facebook.com/groups/515578912157999/
Brian
7 trinity street and Prospect House are no more. it has now been turned into a block of flats. I thought for years that the picture on this article was Prospect house. but it is not and I have removed it from my family tree.
I was one of the babies in 1962 and I found my mother in 2015, but she had passed.
I have since found all my half brothers and sister.
Does anyone have a picture of Prospect house? I would love to talk with any mothers and other babies from Prospect house. I lived in the UK for 43 years, before I found out all the details of my birth, but now live in the USA which makes a lot fact finding a little harder. LOL
To Lynn Bateman, I haven’t looked at this site since my last comment in 2016 so have only just seen your reply about the Ellen Gonner home in the 1940’s. I wonder if we were there at th same time.. Yes I remember the codliver oil and the wooly hat &gloves. I also remember our parents were not allowed to visit and feeling so homesick.. It was only when my parents came and watched us from a distance as we sat on the beach that my sister and I were taken home. They were upset to see how neglected we looked in fact my mother didn’t recognise us at first. It was not a happy time but made bearable by the kindness of one of the young nurses,I wish I could remember her name..
I only remember she would sing “Long ago and Faraway”a Jo Stafford song. I bought the cd and when I play it I think of my lovely nurse.
Grebnul was the house at the bottom of Alderley Rd opposite the Winter Gardens cinema, it was built for the Cain family who were Brewers of fine ale from Liverpool, Further up the road on the same side was the rope factory.
In 1934 I was born in 1 Trinity Road, at that time it was the home of the midwife and also for unmarried mothers to have their babies. I was not adopted but brought up by my grandmother.
If you stand on the promenade and look up Trinity Road the house on the right hand corner was Fellowship House a home for the deaf and blind. On the left hand corner was the Ellen Gonner Convalesant Home for children ( my late Wife worked there from 1953 to 1955 ) The building was bought in the early 1900s and named after the late Ellen Gonner who was a child Welfare Officer from West Kirby. A few doors to the left there was also a children’s home for older children called Brynmore.
I Was At Ellen Gonner in the Early sixties.Was picked up by coach from child welfare office by the side of the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.Remember going up huge steps,and the tarmacked playground in the back.My bed faced one of the small bathrooms,and when you got changed for bed you had to fold your clothes neatly and place them in a sort of pigeon holed bit of furniture.I was maybe 6 or 7 and the humiliation of having your wet bedsheet shown to the other kids at breakfast in the hall has stayed with me.My dad brought me oranges and chocolate on one visit which was shared with the other children.Wouls love to find a photo of Ellen Gonner house.
Margaret. The Ellen Conner is now a block of flats and i took a photo about 8 years ago. If you would like a copy email me at podgie@sky.com
Have sent you a email George regarding photo of Ellen Gonner house.thank you.
I was in a convelesence home in Hoylake approx 1962 for about 8 weeks. I don’t know the name but I have memories of being treated badly.
These memories and others have never left me and affected my confidence as a child.
After not talking about this for more than 55 years. I would be interested to hear from anyone with similar experiences as mine because I’m sure it would bring closure.
Barbara.
I was at Ellen Gonner in 1960 aged 7, I stayed for 4 weeks I think. I had chest problems and had been in clatterbridge hospital for a month prior to this. But I’m still here! Some of my memories are vivid. I remember the large rocking horse- wonder where it is now. Sometimes we all sat in a room to watch TV but there was too much noise. We stayed in dormitories and some beds had name plates over the, mine was Mona Cot. I was a shy child who didn’t go to school because of my health and I was very homesick. There was a small hole in the plaster of the wall by my bed and I used to pick at it until it was a larger hole, I was told off for this. I remember lying in bed on warm summer evenings listening to children playing on the beach, we must have had to go to bed early. We did go on the beach sometimes and went for walks to a strange kind of concrete outdoor theatre area, or it could have been something else. I hated mealtimes as they made us eat every scrap and I had an aversion to Jelly and milk puddings. The dishes were white enamelled and had a rocking horse on the bottom, I remember thinking “nearly done” when I saw the horse appear. Also had different coloured plastic mugs for drinks. To this day the thought of jelly makes me feel sick. I realise in later life how much this place affected me, especially the trauma of not having family visit. I cannot understand this, we were only little children and how did we even know if they were coming back? We had to wear dark blue dresses and this reminded me of an orphanage. There was a girl I made friends with called Regina Ward, don’t know if she’s still around. I went back some years ago and saw the building (it is the one with the balconies in the old photos) now converted into flats. On the whole I think it probably did me more harm than good.
Was anyone at the Ellen Gonner home during the war? I recall my mum, a nurse there, saying they were moved from Alder Hey to there.
My uncle was sent to the West Kirby Convalescent Home (Meols Drive), I’m not sure how old he was but he was roughly between the age of around 7 years old until he was a teenager because he had chronic asthma at around 1952-1956 ish his name isJohn Edward Hughes and he is from Holyhead in Anglesey in North `wales. He had some very unpleasant memories of his time spent at the home, mainly related to his first Day there and a few unsavoury staff members but he also made many friends that I know he would have loved to have kept in touch with. I know it’s a long shot but I wonder if there are any of you still out there that do remember my uncle ?
I would love to hear from you
Hi All!
I was at Brynmor 32 North Parade 1975 to 1978,I remember Mrs Smith the matron and Bammy (Lorraine Bampton) who took over when Mrs Smith left.I was also in Prospect House 1974 to 1975.