if you were looking dirctly from woodchurch road then the arno would be behind the land where the petrol station was(just up a bit from the halfway house pub) up at the top of the hill,chris,the kwik save was directly opposite osmaston road on woodchurch road,kwik save has now gone and it is a couple of large shops,"home and bargain" and "lidl".
just remembered but i think the road in between sainsburys and other shops is called duck pond lane,i dont remember the duck pond,must be too young lol.i am nearly 40, does anyone know when the shops were developed or more importantly when did the duck pond dissapear.
Thanks for that; I've known where the Arno is since 1940! It used to be one of my Gran's favourite places, so I got to know it at a young age. It was Kwiksave I didn't know. Now you've located it for me, I can confirm that Derekdwc's quarries were clay pits for the brickworks.
There used to be two ponds by this lane, both towards the Woodchurch Road end, going from this end, one pond was on the left within the public area and the other was in a chicken farm on the right behind a fence that had a black steel corrugated panel fence with netting above. I think the farm also had ducks, this is going back to the 1960's before they smoothed over the fields to the west, which was done before 1972.
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thanks diggingdeeper,now my curiosity has got me again.after reading your link,the writer mentions a few pools,all of which i have heard of or know the area except for "the dungeon pool".any idea's????
The 2 ponds you are talking about, the one on the left was a natural pond, the one on the right which is where the alotments are behid sainsburies and farmfoods car parks was a MAN MADE DUCK POND. The only part of it which is still in exsistence is under the Steel manhole cover in the carpark at the back of Farmfoods
Last edited by jimbob; 22nd Jan 200911:19pm.
Ships that pass in the night, seldom seen and soon forgoten
There's a real danger that the left will drag Britain back to the 1970s, with secure well-paid jobs, ample housing, properly-funded NHS and social care, free tuition, student grants, final salary pensions, affordable rail fares and fabulous films and music. David Osland 2025
We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn
In Thustaston down by the shore on the left which used to be a military camp I think but is where the Rangers? site is the ornamental pond with the bridge is where I caught my first carp . Further along about 100 yards or so Heswall way there are some ponds we used to call the Seven sisters which were before you reached the Dungeons
thurstaston Going along the cliff top towards West Kirby we used to fish in a pond that was only a few yards from the cliff edge. The pond was only about a foot deep and was full of small 2 inch carp which we used to catch and sell to the pet shop in Grange Road Birkenhead. Nearby was a pond on Caldy golf course where we could catch Rudd or Roach?
ornamental pond with the bridge is where I caught my first carp .
my first ever fish was in that very same pool,with my dad when i was about six or seven,caught it on a bamboo stick with line tied to the end.my dad could not beleive it !....ice cream in one hand and stick in the other...aaahhh memories
Just thought I'd come back to this post as its very interesting. I took some pics the other day and may of found the sundial in question mentioned in one of the posts.
Interesting about the allotments - a couple of my late Grandfathers brothers were listed on the 1911 census as 'Market Gardeners - The Arno' so maybe this was private land. Another brother was a Greengrocer on Conway Street in 1909 - presume this was related and a very early joined-up supply chain in modern business-speak !.
Yes, I think you're right. In times gone by, vegetables would not have been moved very far. On the attached map, 1890's, although there's nothing shown at that time at the Arno, I can find at least 3 large nurseries marked. I'm sure these would have been for growing produce & could just as easily have been called market gardens.
It interesting you mention there where allotements all the way up to the arno from Woodchurch Road that might explain why there is a terrace on the field at the back of the current allotments which is great for rolling or cycling down! I think the Arno didnt open as a public garden until 1912 so probably just marked as a quarry and open land on maps before then??
