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Posted By: DanLongman Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 18th Sep 2012 6:02pm
Was this Hollybank Road building part of the Birkenhead Institute. or did it have another purpose?

(pic taken from Whetstone Lane)

Cheers smile

Attached picture ss.jpg
Posted By: Capt_America Re: Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 18th Sep 2012 9:43pm
Looks like two asymmetrical houses.
Posted By: BandyCoot Re: Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 19th Sep 2012 9:43am
Hollybank was seperate from the BI. Hollybank was a girls' school with a seperating wall and fence. We used to chat to them through the wire once we realised what girls were, nothing frenzied though like it is now, we weren't under the same pressure to be sexually active.
Posted By: derekdwc Re: Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 19th Sep 2012 10:31am
I thought it may have been the back of the main school at a later date than the pic I've posted
Also off 1916 Wilmers street directory

Is that building now
Wirral Islamic Cultural Centre and Shah Jalal Mosque
click
Tried to find a decent map which may show what was/is there

Attached picture 1916 hollybank2.jpg
Attached picture BI_back.jpg

Description: Front
Attached picture BI_buildings.jpg
Posted By: DanLongman Re: Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 19th Sep 2012 6:47pm
They have just knocked down the mosque and I believe they are building a new one. It's a shame as this great view will be lost again.

So it was a girls school?
Posted By: lauren0151 Re: Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 20th Sep 2012 2:09am
I THINK THEY KNOCKED DOWN PART OF THE OLD BUILDING, WHICH UNSAFE, AND THE MAIN BUILDING REMAINS A MOSQUE, AND THE EMPTY SPACE WILL BE A CAR PARK FOR WOODLANDS SCHOOL I THINK, WELL THATS WHAT I HERD.
Posted By: chriskay Re: Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 20th Sep 2012 9:53am
Originally Posted by lauren0151
I THINK THEY KNOCKED DOWN PART OF THE OLD BUILDING, WHICH UNSAFE, AND THE MAIN BUILDING REMAINS A MOSQUE, AND THE EMPTY SPACE WILL BE A CAR PARK FOR WOODLANDS SCHOOL I THINK, WELL THATS WHAT I HERD.


Please don't shout, lauren.
Posted By: BandyCoot Re: Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 20th Sep 2012 10:58am
I'm losing it, the school was Beechcroft next door, not Hollybank. Suddenly came to me trying to figure out the angle of the photos, no wonder I couldn't quite figure it. Sorry fellahs, I'll put it down to being a soft arris.

oldman
Posted By: derekdwc Re: Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 20th Sep 2012 11:37am
Result of a google
Music lessons on a Friday afternoon with Mr Shaw in the Gym, or in "Beechcroft" next door. (Beechcroft is still there today). click

Also by digging deeper on another site
Beechcroft is being knocked down , along with the small gym beside it to make way for a car park.

I've tried to look up the history of this building before without much luck.

I presume that it is only the front modern extension that is being knocked down and not the old yellow sandstone building behind.

In 1938 it was part of the "Educational Settlement Association" which was a group of 29 adult colleges.

After WW2 it was incorporated into the Birkenhead Institute next door and used for music classes as well as other functions.

It has been called Beechcroft Hall and Beechcroft theatre in various references since.

Other uses it has had include:-

Birkenhead Girls Junior Instruction Centre
Youth centre
Beechcroft Training
Beechcroft Business Centre
National Union of Public Employees
Unison (Union)
Wirral Islamic Cultural Centre & Shahjalal Mosque
Posted By: DanLongman Re: Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 20th Sep 2012 11:42am
Thank you very much. I've always wondered what it was. Again, many thanks.
Posted By: Norton Re: Birkenhead Institute or seperate? - 20th Sep 2012 1:00pm
Dan's picture is taken from Whetstone Lane, and still looked like that yesterday, except that the carpark is now fully tarmac'd and lined out, so it should be safe to say that they are not going to build on it in the near future.
Chris's top picture has to be taken from Hollybank Road, due to the angle of the sun and incline of the road, when all the surrounding buildings were still there.
The lower picture is taken from Whetstone Lane and I always thought of it as the B.I., without attaching a name to the building. Obviously, it would have helped if I had.

The attached map is from the 1966 OS, which might help a bit. I'll try to find a larger one, but I can't do that at the moment.


Description: Clifton Park
Attached picture Clifton Park.jpg
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