has anyone got any pictures or information about rake lane in Upton please

Have a look on uptoncx site see if there's anything, I'm sure he will help you when he can. http://www.upton.cx/newwebsite/

Rake lane was originally the main road from Upton to Woodchurch, until the bypass (now Arrowe Park Road) was built in 1938. Rake lane ran as far as Arrowe Hill (also sometimes known as Bunkers Hill). There is a painting of Rake Lane in about 1904 in the Williamson art gallery



The painting is looking up Rake towards the Village. The pond on the left is about where the Shell garage is now.

At the top of Rake Lane is the Eagle and Crown, and until the 1960s, on the opposite side was the Horse and Jockey.

The Eagle and Crown was originally a little further down Rake Lane, the present building was put up about 1840 and extensively remodelled in 1926. The pub has been home to various organisations over the years, including the Wirral Farmers Club and the Order of Oddfellows.

Next to the present Eagle and Crown, on what is now its car park, was a grocery store owned by the Birkenhead and District Co-operative Society, one of three shops they owned in Upton until the late 1960s. In the 1960s the Co-op bought The Horse and Jockey and built a new supermarket on its site.

Next to the Co-op is a block of five houses, the first of these included a shop, which from about 1892 to 1901, was occupied by Mary Manifold, Grocer.

The last house in this block was a Beer House, called the Travellers Rest. In the early to mid nineteenth century this site was occupied by a smithy.



The Travellers Rest closed about 1903 and is now a private house.

Continuing down Rake Lane there was a block of four cottages, numbers 11 - 17, now converted into a single house.



Next to this block of houses is the old school house. This was built n 1852, and it appears that an extension was added, possibly to accommodate the library and reading room which was opened around 1854.



The school had a short life due to its small size and closed in 1869 when the new school next to St Mary’s Church opened. The Rake Lane building, which is still there, has had a varied life since the school closed. In 1901 it was leased by Thomas Quine, the builder, as a warehouse; in the 1930s the British Legion rented the building; during the war years it was a SAMS (Soldiers, Airmen, Marines and Sailors) canteen. Following the war the building was rented to various manufacturers while their own buildings were repaired, these included J Bainbridge & Co and Orriel & Rowlands. It remained in the ownership of St Mary’s Church until a few years ago, when it was sold.

Opposite the old school is a block of new houses, while digging the foundations for these the builders came across an old mill stone, this is now a ‘garden feature’ in the communal front garden of the houses.

Just below the new houses, in numbers 28 and 30, Mrs Sarah Jane Dean opened her fried fish shop in the 1930s.

At the top of Rake Lane on the even side was, as already mentioned, the Horse and Jockey, this was built about 1850. (There is some evidence to suggest that the Horse and Jockey was called the Upton Hotel around 1896 and the Furness Hotel around 1891, but this requires further research).



Next to the Horse and Jockey is Egerton Terrace, a block of six houses. The first house incorporates a shop, which from about 1891 until about 1920 was occupied by Charles Arthur Smith, Butcher. By 1938 it was occupied by Mrs Robinson, draper.

By 1902, the village smithy had moved to the ground floor of numbers 22 and 24. The smithy at this time was Joseph Lea.

I hope this helps, if you need more, or specific information, please ask.

Top class info that, thanks for sharing!