Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History The Pyramids, Birkenhead

Collingwood St. was much further down Grange Rd., beyond the church. The Pyramids started at about Coburg St. which is the next street down from Horatio St. in the picture. I remember Fabbri's (think it was a double 'b'), but I remember it being next to Forizo, garden shop, which was on the corner of Huskisson St., which was where St.John's church was. We are probably thinking of different eras; I'm thinking 1940's. Incidentally, Forizo still exists; they have a unit in Holborn Square.
You have a PM.

Cheers, Chris.

On the opposite corner from the Forizo shop on Grange Road was Dunn's hat shop. Further down towards the town centre, on the same side of the road, there was a pub - but I can't remember what it was called. Does anyone know? Can anyone remember any of the other shops that were on Grange Road before the redevelopment which started in the early 70s?

Bibby & Perkins Outfitters. On the RH side at the Charing Cross end of Grange Road. Used to go there with my Mum for school uniform, shoes etc.

Had one of those X-Ray machines. You stood with your feet in a small recess. You and the assistant looked down through a visor at the top to see if the shoes were a correct fit. Rough outline of the shoe with a skeletal foot within ! Great fun.

As course, X-Rays were harmless then. ha.ha.

Rushworth & Dreaper, music shop, near Bibby & Perkins; I got my school uniform there too. There was a barbers in the basement. Timothy White's & Taylors, chemists. W H Smith's, where I worked in 1952/53, next to Pyke's jewellers. Robbs, of course; upmarket department store. Montague Burton "The Tailor of Taste"; there was a billiard hall above. (Who were "The Fifty Shilling Tailors"?) The Co-Op of course, at Tudor House. Norvic shoes. All these were on the Charing Cross side of St.John's. I didn't often go down below the bend in the road. What was the name of the big pawnbrokers lower down?

I think the pawnbrokers were called Bentley's

Was it the Atlas

There were a couple of tailors , Hymie Jacobs and Alexanders, a shoeshop, charing cross end, Freeman,Hardy and Willis and at the Beatties end a tool/diy shop called Stretchers.

Wasn't the old fire station down at Exmouth Street? That's nowhere near where Netto is now.

The fire station in Exmouth st is the one that replaced the old station where Netto is now.

nice pixs and intresting infomation and history thanks!

The new fire station is on Exmouth Street, the old fire station was on the corner of Borough Road and Whetstone Lane.

This is another view of the fire station (on the left) looking from Charing Cross towards Borough Road.

Now and then pictures of the old and new fire station can be found in the Lowther, Fox & craven street topic

I will start now and then topics for these.

Now and then for the photo above will be done soon too

Years ago, my dad told me they had a basement in a pet shop in this area. It got flooded and all the animals in the basement drowned!

Birkenhead Fireman with the Merryweather fire engine 1896

Can't ... quite ... see the YMCA from that photo.