i remember in the early fifties opposite i think was the gas works where you could go and get a bag of coke, there was a big field with a pillbox. anybody else recall this.
Aye.. I just about remember the pillbox. hexagonal maybe?. I remember the coke more, every monday I think it was... before school, bag of coke and a bag of coal, both put in my sisters old silver cross pram. Dropped the coke of at my nans then home with the coal. Quick wash and off too school. Hard life them days.
[u]Listed buildings and Second World War remains.[7] heritagegateway.org.uk (a partnership project of English Heritage) lists Hightown Cross and three listed buildings in Hightown: the Cross itself, Whitedge Farmhouse (Alt Road) and Rose Cottage. In the immediate vicinity Moss Farmhouse, North End Lane, is also listed. Three World War Two invasion defence pillboxes can be seen near Gorsey Lane and are listed in the database, each as: Type 23 World War II concrete pillbox, constructed in the period 1940 to 1941. These are found in the Defence of Britain Archive of the Council for British Archaeology, 2002. taken from here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hightown,_Merseyside I dont know if its the correct gorsey lane. cheers
I remember the Coke works and the Pillbox that you refer to very well indeed. Most of all I remember queuing with my Dad in the cold, along with hundreds of other people, waiting for the coke work gates to open. Then everyone would run inside, shovels in hand towards the mountain of coke.Can't understand why we all ran, the mountain of coke would still be there as we left with our prams full of coke, with the extra sacks of coke or coal on top. Opposite the coke works was a field, which is now the entrance to the Wallasey Tunnel. My Grandfather and other men would take their Whippets there and race them. The illegal gambling that took place often paid for next weeks dinners Happy Days....
Hi all , just to add the field in question was called the mckenna locally because of the mckenna buildings on the corner on the dockroad just past the manganese bronze. This is where we would push the old pram across the field over all the bumps and potholes on the track made by numeruos journeys of coke buyers.
I remember the name McKenna field now. My mum and I were lucky, we used the dock road and up Oakdale Road. I`ll have to throw her in the car and go on a memory lane trip one day :-)
I used to ride home from school across Duke St Bridge and that field, passing through the little tunnel under the Seacombe railway line and into the Croft estate, across Poulton Rd and into our estate by Central Park.
The field had several hummocky paths across it - great fun on a bike when you were 9! I remember getting coke from the gasworks in the old pram.
I can smell the place now ! Sometimes when going past the Gas Works on the No.11 bus, the whole place was wreathed in a grey/green smog. Probably from the Retort House. Also folk with a big bag of coke draped over the crossbar of an ancient bike. What an atmosphere !!
That same sweet smell was to be had when waiting for the train at B'head Central, when the Gas Works there was working away.
Ahh. Phenols, tars, bitumen, creosotes, gasses and carcinogens galore. All good stuff!! Bring back the good old days eh?
