This old twentieth century view depicts one blustery day beneath the outstandingly grand entrance to Birkenhead Park. The idea for a public park came from Liverpool shipping magnet and town commissioner Sir William Jackson. With the remarkable skill of design genius Joseph Paxton, work commenced to transform what was then just an area of unhealthy swampland into a blossoming Victorian paradise. In 1847, the project was finally complete. This was to be the first ever official public park in the world with over 100 acres of landscaped gardens, lakes and pathways made available for all. The colossal renovation took over 1000 men more than three years to complete at a cost of approximately £70,000. Here we see the main entrance on the corner of Park Road North and Park Road East. The gatehouse was built to the design of James Gillespie Graham, the mastermind behind Hamilton Square. Inside it contains two lodges, one on either side respectively known as the North and South lodges adding to the very imperial look of this inner-city section of Wirral. At the time this impressive gateway allowed Birkenhead to vie with such famous architectural wonders as London’s Marble Arch and the iconic Arc De Triomphe in Paris.



On visiting Birkenhead Park today you will notice that the imposing and robust stone gatehouse continues to stand with a truly awesome visual impact. The central archway stands at 43 feet high and temptingly draws the eye through to the gardens within. All of the original stone columns have survived and have been superbly maintained over the years. They provide a somewhat Roman influence to this Northern English shipping town. Looking up the date mark of 1847 can be spotted inscribed upon the top centre of the structure. The park was opened on April 5 of that year and was a day chosen to coincide with the opening of the Birkenhead dock system. On that date the surviving cobbles seen in the foreground of this image were trod by the great masses of people, 56,000, who had turned out to celebrate the milestone in their town’s emerging and growing history. The park became an international sensation and left a great impression on one American visitor, Frederick Olmsted. He came to Birkenhead twice in the 1850’s and it was here from where he drew inspiration towards the design of his own public project, the now world-famous Central Park in New York City.




This thoroughfare was named after John Colquitt, a customs collector and owner of a large plot of land in Hanover Street. His family made their fortune from plantations in America but these were later confiscated during the War of Independence. To the right of this image stand the remains of the Fanny Calder School of Domestic Science. In 1875 Fanny Louisa Calder began teaching cookery classes for adults at St George’s Hall aiming to improve the diets and lifestyles of the area’s more humble residents. So successful was her scheme that it was developed into a fully functioning school targeted towards young girls wishing to improve their abilities within the field of domestic science. Florence Nightingale was highly impressed and described Calder as the, “Saint of the Laundry, Cooking and Health.” Across the road several men can be seen loading a van outside the entrance to the Royal Institution. Based in Thomas Parr’s converted mansion, The R.I was established in 1814 to promote literature, science and the arts, with many varied lectures given by respected speakers and housing a number of important cultural works. The mass of rubble in the foreground is made up of Jason Carter’s property, theatrical furnisher, and the shop of Jacob Finestone, a tailor.



Colquitt Street still exists but looks a great deal different. The Domestic Science School was destroyed and its place stands an apartment block, Elysian Fields. This was built in 2008 by the Liverpool based Iliad Group and valued at £25M. It contains 105 individual flats and car park. Iliad claim their role to be that of architectural revitalises in a historic city of multiculturalism, arts and energy. They have created and refurbished numerous buildings across Liverpool with fashionable and sought-after properties in Stanley Street, Leeds Street and Madison Square to name but a few, featuring highly in their portfolio. The Royal Institution building also exists but is now hidden from view by the block of student flats which have arisen from the rubble. During the mid twentieth century the majority the institutions collections were moved to more accessible galleries and museums based around the city whilst other items were transferred to the University of Liverpool for educational purposes. The Royal Institution itself was formally dissolved in 1948. The premises now operates as offices for the children’s charity Barnardo’s with its upper rooms serving as yet more student pads for young academics of the nearby lecture halls of John Moores University.




This image shows two manual workers oiling one of the most famous roads in one of the most affluent parts of the city. Rodney Street was named after Admiral Rodney after a triumphant naval victory over the French in 1782. The battle helped strengthen Britain’s influence in the West Indies and boosted her stake in the controversial slave trade. These charming and luxurious Georgian houses were built over a number of decades by William Roscoe, one of Liverpool’s most pioneering and enterprising sons (who himself was ironically an opponent of slavery). The properties were soon swept up by the city’s elite and wealthy as an escape from the increasingly crowded and congested quarters of Liverpool. A number of notable residents moved into the street over the years such, as poet Arthur Clough, medical extraordinaire Doctor Duncan, the distinguished photographer Edward Chambre Hardman and four-times British Prime Minister William Gladstone, who was actually born at No. 62.




Today Rodney Street remains largely unchanged and makes up a conservation area, considered 'outstanding' in the national context by the Historic Buildings Council. In all there are over sixty Grade Two listed buildings in the street with many blue plaques from English Heritage adorning the walls. Edward Chambre Hardman’s former house has even been converted into a very interesting museum. Frozen in time, the house now reflects how it was during Hardman’s post-war heyday in the 1950’s. Visitors can view the very studio where he developed his famous shots and the rooms where he lived and worked with his wife Margaret. This image captures the corner of Rodney Street where it meets Mount Street. The picture shows No. 51, and it now houses Liverpool John Moores University’s European Institute for Urban Affairs. Inside are the offices of a committed team of consultant researchers who focus on areas of key concern to urban policy-makers across the globe. As the modern day photograph shows Rodney Street remains a fine looking road with some superb examples of classic Victorian architecture.



This photograph shows the terrible damage done to Charles Dashley’s butcher shop in Oxton Road. Charles, (real name Karl Deuschle) was a German national who by 1896 had moved to Britain seeking a better life. At No.35 he had set up shop as a pork butcher but in the May of 1915, the people of Birkenhead turned against him. That month saw some of the worst rioting the town had ever seen as the Cunard ocean liner, Lusitania was sunk off the coast of Ireland en route to Liverpool. U Boat U20 under the control of Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger fired a torpedo at the unarmed passenger ship causing her to sink in only eighteen minutes. The attack claimed the lives of nearly 1200 passengers from both sides of the Atlantic and caused a widespread public backlash against anyone suspected of German origin. Mr Deuschle’s shop was totally ransacked as crowds broke in and incinerated its contents. That eventful day turned this normally quiet part of Oxton Road into a scene of utter bedlam that even twenty policemen were unable to control. Many suspected shops in the area and indeed across the whole country suffered similar fates as Germany’s abhorrent naval actions turned the world against them.



No.35 Oxton Road bears little resemblance to its former twentieth century appearance nor does it exhibit any of the tragic scars it received during the chaotic riots of 1915. These premises also no longer operate as a pork butcher’s but have instead become a repair centre for domestic appliances such as washing machines and boilers. The area outside the shop has also changed somewhat with the installation of a public crossing and a set of traffic lights. The old shops of baker John Duff to the left and Mrs Ellen James’ confectionery store to the right have also altered. The insurance company Swinton occupies No.33-35 offering home, car, travel, business, pet, life and motor Insurance to the people of Wirral whilst a highly-signed Chinese takeaway stands at No.37.



Liverpool’s beautifully gothic Diocesan Church House was situated in South John Street, housing the offices of the local Diocese and its associated records and literature. The building replaced an earlier structure known as Clarendon Buildings and covered plot of over 1000 square yards. On the afternoon of August 1, 1899 the foundation stone was laid by the Countess of Derby who formally declared the commencement of this new and ambitious pious project. It was to feature a hall with enough seating for 400 people, a diocesan registry, bishop’s quarters, committee rooms, finance offices and even a library and reading room. Officials, (particularly Bishop Ryle who spearheaded the project) felt that Church House would be a superb addition to society, promoting widespread unity by establishing a common centre where the clergy and laity of the diocese could meet together. It is shown here in 1941 after a vicious air raid the previous year. Repair work can clearly be seen on the front portion of the construction where there was once an elaborate pillared tower. The lower rooms of the premises are also shown to have been totally destroyed.



After the war Diocesan Church House was demolished and replaced by a rather bland and lacklustre office block. It wasn’t until the 21st century that South John Street underwent a complete makeover when Lord Grosvenor’s development company invested £500 million towards the costs of the construction of Liverpool One, Britain’s largest open air shopping complex. Now the site is taken up by a very colourful branch of Costa Coffee with its vertical rainbow tubes creating a truly self-assured optical statement. Critics have applauded the design commending its unique confidence of combined art and architecture. To the right stands the large department store that is Debenhams which opened in Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year, 2008. They supply everything from Menswear and Womenswear to electronics and home furnishings. As shoppers stroll further into the complex they find that space in South John Street has been cleverly utilised using the very best in modern planning; the thoroughfare has been transformed into a two-tier street. Rows of stores, including the dimly-lit clothing shop of Hollister, a branch of the bank Natwest, a Lego store, Sports Direct, an Odeon cinema, and many more besides, are all linked by a series of lifts and escalators.


The normally happy leisure spot that was the Derby Pool in New Brighton is now yet more evidence of the desolation and sadness the Second World War brought to our shores. The Derby Baths opened seven years before the outbreak of hostilities and by that time a visit to the pool had become an all round family favourite. It had been opened by its namesake Lord Derby here in Harrison Drive on June 8, 1932 after £35,000 worth of construction. It was estimated that up to 1000 bathers could take a dip at any one time while another 2000 could laze carefree around at the poolside. The pool itself was 100 yards long and had depth of 7 feet. The surrounding Derby Baths buildings are depicted here after bombing in and around the shore line in 1940. Liverpudlian Louis Freeman died at a shelter based in Harrison Drive in the December of that year and Margaret Rogers of Danehurst Road was also fatally injured, dying from her wounds two days later in Leasowe Hospital. Further along the promenade past the Derby Baths the authorities had set up a mine field in the sand dunes for fear of invasion. Regrettably the only fatalities were to four young lads who had ventured onto the dunes not realising what terrible tragedy lay buried beneath the grain.




This vibrant view of the site of Derby Baths shows that the pool is sadly no more and now a pub and restaurant stands at the location. It is owned by the nationwide Harvester chain which just off Harrison Drive at a new address called Bay View Drive. Naturally it boasts some beautiful views across the bay and can be found packed with families on warm sunny afternoons. The pool site itself has been filled in and now a vast expanse of grass land helps create this pretty seaside vista. Its associated buildings that would have been situated to the foreground of this scene were also dismantled. The restaurant takes its name from the scene’s aquatic past and was officially named The Derby Pool. It was only built in the late 1990s but possesses an earlier Art Deco style appearance. The development team at Neptune are currently working on several multimillion pound projects in New Brighton with a new supermarket, a Travelodge hotel, a digital cinema, bars, restaurants and much more are soon to be kick-starting the resort’s renaissance. Their Plans also feature a brand new public pool reminiscent of The Derby Baths and its sister, the New Brighton Open Air Baths. The latter had been considered to be the largest outdoor swimming pool in Europe but in 1990 this too was demolished after serious storm damage.



This view shows Ranelagh Street from the corner of Church Street and features in the distance is the original Adelphi Hotel. The street derives its name from the gardens that once occupied the site since taken up by the Adelphi. It was a quiet place for the well-to-do to take tea, stroll around the greenery and admire the fishponds that emulated those in London. The park was named after the original Ranelagh Gardens of Chelsea and they could only be accessed after paying a small fee. A recollection from 1836 described the floral setting:

The gardens extended a long way back. Warren-street is formed out of them. These gardens were very tastefully arranged in beds and borders, radiating from a centre in which was a Chinese temple, which served as an orchestra for a band to play in. Round the sides of the garden, in a thicket of lilacs and laburnums, the beauty of which, in early summer, was quite remarkable, were little alcoves or bowers wherein parties took tea or stronger drinks.

To the left of this image are a number of businesses with their awnings protecting passer-bys from the temperamental elements of the weather. To the right is Central Station which first opened in 1874 to transport travellers the length and breadth of the country via the increasingly popular mode of rail.



Ranelagh Street is a busy crossing point for both cars and pedestrians moving in and about the city. The Adelphi still stands at the foot of Mount Pleasant after being rebuilt in 1912 by hotelier Arthur Towle into a luxurious Edwardian hotel. Today it has 402 rooms for Liverpool tourists and business travellers and is one of the largest hotels the city has to offer. Central Station is still in use but with long-distance travellers now departing on trains from nearby Lime Street. In 2009 Central Station was identified as needing some much-needed improvements and is in line to receive a share of fifty million pounds worth of national rail refurbishment money. To the left of the photograph stands Miss Selfridge, the ladies fashion store, and up ahead stand a series of shops including a bookmakers, shoe seller, a fish and chip shop by the name of the Lobster Pot, and a branch of the travel agents, Thomson.

Hope you enjoy
A few more and updates at: http://www.facebook.com/DanielKLongman

Thanks for an excellent series of pictures and write-up.

intersting pics and info, more please

Enjoy the pics
But how sad it is to see Oxton road these day.
I used to deliver the paper to dashly the butcher.
Used to give me a good christmas tip every year.

How long did he trade there for?

I was a paperboy from 1979 to about 1984 the shop was still trading till 1991..

brilliant pics. such a shame things change so much not always for the better.

Thanks a lot!. Just added a few more local bits and bobs on to the tumblr.

Enjoying your tumblr site Dan. Very interesting stories and photographs.

I'll put up the link for it here in case anyone's having problems finding it:-

http://danielklongman.tumblr.com/

Excellent content but very dull to read, then again i hate that grey on black.

Many thanks for the excellent photo's and associated text. I have to echo Bert's comment re: grey on black. Just heading for the paracetamol now. You haven't got shares in Specsavers have you Dan? ha.ha.

All good stuff.

Lol, point taken and after many hours of umming and arring and changing, it's been redesigned. Please let me know if this layout is any better

Much better Daniel, now you keep listening to Uncle Pinz and Uncle Bert and you'll go places.

Will do

Are there any similar sites on tumblr you're following yourself Dan?

Thanks for your efforts Dan. That's MUCH better! A re-read is underway!!

I haven't actually looked properly yet as the whole tumblr is still quite new to me. Surprisingly easy to use once you find the right template However it can get stressy - like yesterday's redesign the code nightmares I'll have a nose and let you know. Top of my head however Colin Wilkinson's Streets of Liverpool non-tumblr website is good, but it is for the dark side of the Mersey. Still ok

Great! I think it does look better now too

Have you changed it again? (tmblr?) All I see is big white spaces!

Enjoyed that. Thank you.

No probs Shambo. Will always try and add new stuff to it.

You sure CV? It should be fine on most browsers

Yep, just tried it again, see screenshot below. I am on IE7 here at work, will try at home later (I have IE9 at home)... the black & whilte header at the top of the page is OK (it just scrolled off the screen, in the screenshot, is all!)

Should be getting this. Try at home and see how it goes:)

When I mouse-over a topic in the topic list on the left side, the topic appears - in green...!
I will try it at home tonight and let you know... do you know anyone else with IE7?

Never mind, I just tried connecting this same PC via a Wi-Fi connection, instead of through my work LAN - and it displays just fine!

For some unknown reason, only when I connect via my office corporate LAN, the black background of the main page area, remains white. So the white text is invisible. The header section's black background is just fine. No idea at all why that is happening - probably some kind of firewall issue - rather odd, but it does look like it's 'my problem' - not yours. Sorry for the red-herring!

Phew!I hope you think it's still worth looking at now after these technical issues

Yes, indeed! Love this stuff, please keep it coming!!

Great pictures Dan. I was home last month first time for 42 years and all I can say is the place is a dump. I know things change but not always for the better. Where has Charing Cross gone? Now nothing more than a few sets of traffic lights. Oxton rd has lost all it character and I wont even mention Borough Rd from Singleton Avenue down. From Singleton Ave down it was the most depressing site I have ever seen. But Birkenhead Park and Arrowe Park looked magnificent. Even my wife said the best part of the trip was the walk through Birkenhead Park. Oh well.
Also we spent a night in Liverpool on the way North and I wanted to take my wife on the ferry, however the ferry did not start until 10am so we had to go to Secombe instead what a dissapointment, sob sob.
Sorry if I have offended anybody with comments above.

You're right. Wirral has been criminally mishandled in recent decades and our tourist trade leaves a hell of alot to be desired. The town centre died years ago and apart from Wirral Waters to look foward to in a few 'decades' time, our current appeal is almost non-existant. Liverpool continues to thrive and us, only a stones throw away, sit and wallow in her shadow. The whole of Wirral needs motivation to become great again.

Your words are so true Dan

I am fortuate enough to travel the world through work - some interesting places to say the least.

3rd world countries so they say - much more appeal than Birkenhead and 9/10 friendlier - I joke not.

It is probably the same for all us "oldies" on this site - when we think how Birkenhead was and how Birkenhead people behaved / conducted themselves it is VERY depressing.

I can quite understand how our friend must have felt having been away for 42 years - he must have thought he had come to the wrong planet.

School Lane


Standing in School Lane in 1941 the photographer has captured the view towards Hanover Street with Church Alley to the left and the Bluecoat Chambers stands to the right. The Bluecoat was heavily damaged by enemy action with its concert hall, several adjoining rooms and a rear wing mercilessly destroyed. Construction began in 1716 funded by wealthy mariner Byran Blundell and the Reverend Robert Styth. It was their vision to create new premises for the boys of the Liverpool Bluecoat School, a charitable establishment set up to educate poor children of the area. Despite the damage of war the Bluecoat remained intact and Liverpool managed to save its most ancient inner city building. High up in the centre of the shot is perched the advertisements for Cranes & Sons Instrument sellers whilst straight up the street stands a large warehouse, the home of a number of businesses including a café and restaurant, a gown manufacturer, a tobacconist and an advertising agency. These all survived the German air raids, but many other buildings in the locality such as Magnet House, were left as nothing more than heaps of bricks and mortar.


School Lane has become useful passageway for pedestrians to reach the new shops of Peter’s Lane and Paradise Street but this route is no longer accessible to moving vehicles. The affordable Irish fashion retailer that is Primark opened its maze-like Liverpool store here in 2007. It manages to eclipse the firm’s flagship London store by some 14,000sq ft and employs a small army of 800 members of staff to run this five floor outlet. The old Cranes & Sons property is hidden in this view by summer foliage but the company has long ceased trading from this address and the building is now used as a bar and Chinese restaurant. The small Neptune Theatre, also housed in the old Crane building, is soon to reopen as the Epstein Theatre. The Bluecoat was revived in the 1950s and used as a display and craft centre for many years. In 2008 it received heavy investment to become a showcase of creative talent of all kinds. It is now home to over 30 creative industries including artists, graphic designers, small arts organisations, craftspeople and retailers all under one roof. To left of shot is a commemorative plaque highlighting the birth place of the M.P and diarist Thomas Creevey.

New Brighton

New Brighton and its beach have been popular places to visit for generations. The town was the creation of Liverpool merchant James Atherton who brought nearly two hundred acres of land to develop a rival to the much-respected royal playground of Brighton in the early nineteenth century. He envisioned grand houses, large gardens and reputable residents, but sure enough New Brighton became a resort for the working classes who came in their masses to enjoy the fresh sea air and open spaces. This image from 1902 captures one such day at the beach with a multitude of formerly dressed people strolling along the sands. In the distance stands the New Brighton Fort which was built in 1829 at a cost of just under twenty-seven thousand pounds. Fear of a Napoleonic attack upon the city of Liverpool forced officials to make plans to protect the strategic seaport. Sixteen large mounted guns were installed about the defensive battery, along with enough accommodation to house one hundred military personnel. By the time this image was taken the forts importance as a military outpost had declined but it still processed the deadly artillery to fire upon enemy vessels entering our waters.


Visiting New Brighton you cannot fail to notice the golden sands of the past now lie several feet under water. An artificial marine lake, part of the Kings Parade, was built on reclaimed land in the 1930’s during a coastal redevelopment by Wirral Council. It now covers a large part of the old seashore. The sturdy fort known as Perch Rock remains intact but no longer has any military use. In 1939, fifteen minutes after the announcement of war, Fort Commander Cocks gave the order for two shots to be fired at a mysterious vessel seen entering the closed waters. The boat turned out to be an innocent fisherman, but these may well have been the first ever shots of World War Two. The structure was eventually demobilised in the 1950’s and sold at auction to private owners. It has changed hands several times but is now owned by the Darroch family who have opened it to the public with a number of displays and exhibitions on show. After dipping popularity for decades there are plans for New Brighton to be given a new lease of life with the addition of a supermarket, a new hotel, a cinema, bars, restaurants, and a water sports centre with a new model boating lake.

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Excuse me if I'm nitpicking, but it wasn't 'Wirral Council' yet, as of then, was it? Wouldn't it have been the County Borough of Wallasey (Cheshire)?

Ah, touché. Good point. Will make amends.

i used to work in Mckenzies a few doors down from Dashleys,its now the casino,i had to do the pie run at iiam each day,they made the best pork oies i ever tasted,the whole family worked there,mr and mrs dashley sons and wives that was 1970