Years ago when i was just a young whipper snapper when men where men and women knew it and you couldn't buy sheep dip (lager) in a pub, well maybe the odd bottle, We use to start off in the Stork and have a pint and walk around the corner and have a pint in every pub in Market St up to the Glass Barrel and include the Letters for good measure. Jimbob reckons there was another pub further on from the Glass Barrel, towards Chester st (anyone know). At that time if you wanted anything to eat, it was normally the Capitol you went to, you couldn't starve in Market St now. I can't remember all of the shops but Haylocks shoes were on the corner and there was a little diy shop and a tobacconist also a jewelers there somewhere, I bought my wife's wedding ring there and yes her finger is still going green. What else was in Market St at that time ?
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
was it 223 Ranelagh Family and Commercial Hotel La Bodega 2 Market Street 2 88 Chester Street 88 It would have been on the corner of Chester St where there's a bit of wasteland I don't remember it I think there was a pub called the Castle on the other side of Chester St round that area 224 Glass Barrel 14 Market Street 14
The pub you're talking about was on the corner of Chester Street near Pilgrim Street, next door to the county court building, but I can't remember its name. It was certainly there up to the mid-70s. The Castle was further down towards the tunnel entrance, on the corner of Chester Street and Ivy Street.
looked at a map on the wall going into the Archives and Raneleigh hotel shows up on corner of Market St
Looking at a 1909 map of Birkenhead shows a pub also there On the corner of Albion st it doesn't show the Glass Barrel but shows another pub on the other corner of Albion Street which would have been on the empty site next to Hornblowers/Market Inn etc Sorry can't help with name
On the corner of Market Street and Chester Street, just along from the Glass Barrel, was the offices of the UAB (Unemployment Assistance Board), where in the old days men who were out of work had to go to sign on for the dole and be questioned by officials. It was known locally as 'The Brew' and was an intimidating place. Does anyone remember going there? On the other side of Market Street opposite the UAB, in the 50s and 60s, there was a small sweetshop called Lay's. Lay's was in the same impressive Victorian terrace as the former Fox's Lodging House, which had quite a reputation among older folk as having been a bit of a rough place. All this block (the Market Cross) was one of the original developments in Birkenhead from around the 1840s, when the town was being planned by the Lairds and their associates as an elegant vista of handsome buildings and wide streets. It was a tatty and neglected old place for many years, but has since been restored and is now offices and flats.
wasnt the shoe shop known locally as oddbods because you could buy pairs of shoes of odd sizes very cheaply,my wife seems to remember this from when she was a little girl and her parents were skint.
In the late 60s-early 70s, these are some of the places I remember if you were going up Market Street from Argyle Street on the left-hand side: On the corner with Argyle Street, there was a record shop, then a chip shop, the Caledonia pub, the Crown and Cushion pub, an amusement arcade, an off-licence and the Hamilton Vaults pub (later renamed The Copperfield) on the corner with Hamilton Street. Across Hamilton Street, on the section of Market Street going up to Chester Street, there was a jewellery shop (which also sold sporting equipment such as air rifles) The Market Inn pub, The Globe pub, the Glass Barrel pub and the UAB offices. Going up Market Street on the right-hand side from Argyle Street, there was a carpet shop, a cafe, a newsagent / tobacconist (I think) and Haylock's shoe shop on the corner of Hamilton Street. Across Hamilton Street on the right-hand side was the outside section of Birkenhead Market, where stalls were set up only on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (if I remember right). I know I've missed out some places, so please fill them in if you can.
Well done yoller, that's helped a lot, brought back many memories, i do remember the Air rifle shop now. The jewelers was definitely a stand alone jewelers, didn't sell anything else. I seem to remember a butcher on the corner of one of the side streets, that sold spit roast chickens. On the corner of argyle/ market st opposite the outside market was there a lighting shop and further up a shop which may still be there that sold blinds and curtains etc
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
Well done yoller, that's helped a lot, brought back many memories, i do remember the Air rifle shop now. The jewelers was definitely a stand alone jewelers, didn't sell anything else. I seem to remember a butcher on the corner of one of the side streets, that sold spit roast chickens. On the corner of argyle/ market st opposite the outside market was there a lighting shop and further up a shop which may still be there that sold blinds and curtains etc
My mistake, lighting shop was corner of Hamilton st/ Market st
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
Thanks, Bert1, - you're right about the sports shop being separate. We used to sneak in there as kids and drool over the air rifles, which we could never afford. Was this shop, or the jewellery shop (which was next door), called Murphy's? That name seems to ring a bell. And you're right, there was definitely a butcher, I think on the corner of Market Street and Henry Street.
