Can i throw these Chalets in to the mix, maybe i should remember them but i don't, Were they by the bathing station or pool, they were in or off Harrison Drive
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
As an interesting comparison, here's the mid 1930s OS map of the Derby Pool area and the same area in an early 1970s aerial view. The aerial photo clearly shows the Bathing Pool and Bert's chalets, by the West Cheshire Sailing Club slip, were still there - but the main section of the Sea Bathing Station that contained the cafe and changing cubicles has clearly been demolished and replaced by another building, with what appears to be a crazy golf course behind it.
Brill! The aerial shot so clearly shows the Derby Pool, even the storage tank (= after hours pool?!) and the car park / bus stop - complete with the bus 'turning-circle' thingy!!
Where DO you get these pictures from, you guys???!!???? Wow, this stuff is fantastic!
That car park early 60's would be half full after 10pm with couples having a little er quiet time!!--memories!!
I remember having a bit of a fumble there one night when a car came in with bright lights shining on my car, so I switched on my headlights, then my full beam, followed by my spotlight, then fog light. With that the police car pulled up alongside & the office said " Can you see all right now sir". Lights off --- end of fumble!
My grandmother had a chalet for years & it was almost next door to the Westerly end one that was kept for the nurses from the old Cottage Hospital on Claremount Road. Unfortunately I was too young to appreciate the attraction!
Just as well you were to young, you'd have had it full of women, Were they rented or owned, where they still exist they seem to change hands for quite a few bob.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
They were rented from the council & were only supposed to be for one season, but that all depended on who you knew! If they were still there, they would be worth a few bob now.
They must have had quite some wealth in Wallasey back then, to be taking all all those mammoth building works and build 2 major swimming pools... makes you wonder how it was all funded? What would it take to do all that today?
They borrowed the money. It was a scheme similar to todays private finance initiatives. The Council were still paying back the cost of building New Brighton pool to investment companies after it was demolished.
Bert's picture of the chalets looks as though it predates the prom between the slipway at the end of King's Parade and the Derby Pool. My memory of the chalets (early 70s - had a friend whoise family used one) is that there was just the width of the prom between the front of the chalets and the steps down to the beach. That could be a false memory of course - don't have any photos to prove it.
I think the chalets were more or less destroyed in the storms around new year ?1977/78.
This has been a great thread - many memories, particularly of the play area next to the Derby Pool that I'd almost forgotten. What are the three lines in front of the that play area on the aeriel photo?
