Ian Powers kindly sends in some old photos of Uncle Stan’s Sand Service. Ian writes:
My Aunt Jennet was a mission nurse in India during WWII, she married the mission Chaplain, Stanley Royal and in 1952 they brought Uncle Stan’s Sand Services to Hoylake.
The day started with setting up the canvas screen etc. in front of the paddling pool, facing the promenade so as many people as possible could see the service. At 2pm there were beach games followed by the judging of a sand castle competition. Then at 3pm there was a service consisting of a Bible story presented by a big blonde guy with a booming voice. He used fuzzy felt characters on a school blackboard to relate the story. My Uncle Stan is the balding guy with his hands on his hips, and he is also in the second photo helping me to build a sand castle (I never won the prize, there was no insider dealing!)
Here is the second photo that Ian mentions:
Note the deck chairs. These were hired out by Hoylake UDC from a spot just beyond the other side of Hoylake Baths by the new south-west facing lifeboat slip. Wirral Council stopped them within a year or two of taking over in 1974 and then tried to close the baths in 1976.
I don’t know when Uncle Stan’s Sand Services came to a halt but they were still going in the early 70s.
What classic pics they are!
I can’t imagine adverts for saturday evening’s ‘Sausage Sizzle’ being allowed today! I remember leaving my sandals behind one day after the relay races , went back for them later on but they were washed away on the evening tide !
Happy days. . . .
Hey Alan
Were your sandles the brown one’s from Woolies
Kevin
Hi Kev,
You little devil!,I thought my classy sandals, probably bought from ‘Zenas’ at the top of Manor Rd were washed away , and now 40 years later you own up to pinching them ! Atonement !
Hope you are well and ageing gracefully !
Al.
Hi Alan great to see you and Sue in the red door. Di and I remembered how much she loved singing ” Wide is The Ocean” at uncle Stans sand service. Happy days!
Great to see, it brings back so many memories of my times on the beach as a lad. I looked for mself in the crowd……but no!
I used to go to Uncle Stans Sand Services in the 60`s, games on the beach [where you could win tokens to be exchanged for "tuck" out of the boot of a car usually parked on the prom or in Hoyle Rd] the afternoon service consisted of bible stories, singing hymns always with catchy melodies,Uncle Bert playing the accordion, we always tried to get there early to sit on the wall, just great memories.
The wise man built his house upon the rocks was one of the stories Uncle Stan told, I remember it well, they were good days and always sunny, I remember. He was a large Canadian man, I think, or was he American, whichever he was very good. We thoroughly enjoyed his sand services.
I still sing Uncle Stan’s songs to my grandchildren, especially “The wise man” when it is raining!
I think this calls for a little upload to Youtube!
Get out that Karaoke mic and give us all a treat!
The sand services were run by Wood Street Gospel hall and started in the 1940′s . A mobile pulpit was wheeled down to the shore and I have (somewhere) a photo of Wil Rankin (Snr) preaching in about 1950 . In the 1960′s Uncle Stan (Stan Ford) took over (he is “the big blond guy” in the photo). He was an ex bare knuckle Prize Fighter who became an evangelist . For two weeks in August he led the Sand services with a team that included Uncle Bert (Boyd) from Bebington on the accordion . Uncle Stan was very strong and his “party trick” was to blow up a hot water bottle until it burst ! The famous “sausage sizzles” for teenagers on Saturday nights drew people from all over Merseyside , not least those who had been to MAYC camp in Dyffryn or Abererch .
The Sand Services continued as Wood Street Gospel Hall ran a number of Beach Missions, until these came to an end in the 80′s. Wood Street Gospel Hall became Hoylake Chapel and in 1992 moved to it’s current church on the roundabout at Hoylake where it runs a Kid’s Church each Sunday at 10.45am, with a similar format, albeit with more modern technology and songs!
Ahh yes, I remember now – Stan Ford was the big guy, and my uncle Stan, the balding guy standing on Stan Ford’s left in the photo was Stanley Royal, just a co-incidence that they had the same name. I withdraw my false claim to glory, but glad everyone enjoyed the photos!
Gosh I remember clearly going to the sand services and swimming in the sea!!! I used to go with my Grandad Stephem Cleary, I loved them.
Just found these photos & comments. I remember Uncle Stan ~ I loved it all ~ the races, the tokens, the sandcastle competitions, the sausage sizzles, the aunties & Uncles & most of all the singing at the services in the afternoons. There was 1 song called Jesus Loves the Little Children (I think!) The chorus went…. Boys & girls from bonny Scotland, children from the English Dales, not forgetting dear old Ireland & the ragged hills of Wales. Uncle Stan used to ask for volunteers to sing solo the lines form the country they came from ~ I volunteered for every line every time!!! Never was very shy or retiring!
Just found this thread – it certainly brings back fond memories of ‘courting’ to the sounds of Uncle Stan and his young flock, in about 1965!
We used to sit in the recessed benches along the shore-side of the park down there and listen to Stans lead on such stuff as ” Good old Daniel” (…..and Daniel would not bow tio them ..(then chorus) Good old Daniel.
Now, does anyone out there know what happened to my ‘other half’ from those days, Glynis Foster?