Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request What used to be next to the little brighton ?

Can anybody tell me what used to stand behind the sandstone walled area next to the Little Brighton pub (you never know what you've got till it's gone)I wonder if anyone has any photo's?

There was a house or cottage there m8 and was told it was owned by a drug dealer and when he got stuck away it was flattened. Prob around 8 yrs ago i think.

Wasn't there a dance school there at one time ?

greenbank

Yes Greenbank was a dance school and I think a dance hall at some point.
I also heard that a drug dealer lived there,was sent to prison and the house put up for sale.It was on the market for some time,then out of the blue it was bulldozed!
This looked as though it was purchased and the buyer wanted to re-build,but this never happend and the 'For Sale' sign remains.

From my site

Mansions of Wallasey

Greenbank

Rowson Street, Upper Brighton was the site of three adjacent houses, 'Fern Hill', 'Dalmorton House' and 'Olinda'. There was, as it happens, a fourth house on the same side of the road, at the corner of Magazine Lane, and although it did not approach the others in size, it is worth recording if only by virtue of the fact that it had been in existence for over a hundred years. Since 1870, at least, the house had been known as 'Greenbank'.

In spite of the fact that the building looks like three separate small dwellings in a cottage style character it had only ever been one property. When 'Greenbank' was first built it was for very many years, apart from one other dwelling, the only house on the north side of Magazine Lane for its full length from Rowson Street down to the promenade.

The earliest traceable resident was John Charles Pooley, son of Henry Pooley, of 'Home Croft' (later the Y.M.C.A), and a partner in the family firm of weighing-manufacturers, Henry Pooley & Sons. He was to be found at 'Greenbank' in 1870, having been married some years previously to a Miss Beatty, but ten years later he had given way to Mr John Gunning, a partner in the firm of Goodlass, Wall & Co., the paint manufacturers, who in turn was succeeded by a Mr. Currie, a Manufacturers' Agent. From then onwards there was a variety of occupants, principally a Mr J.H Simms, a team owner, who spent over ten years there, followed by Mr Adolph Gottschalk, a steam-tug owner, for a similar period.

By 1934, however, the property appears to have fallen vacant but eventually it became a well-known Dance Studio known as 'Greenbank" and many local people learnt Ballroom Dancing here before daring to try the magnificent sprung floor in the New Brighton Tower Ballroom.

In 2008 'Greenbank' was demolished to make way for plans of erecting four storey block flats.

Hello John1788 Hello John Are you sure .I knew him as a scrap dealer ,He didn`t get sent to prison he died and left a wife and children And she sold the house to a developer, who had it knocked down and that`s how it remains today

Deff a drug dealer love.yer he died but after going in nick

Thats the thing with the Wirral torryman, same story with the Mariners home and Mother Redcaps, Wormholes etc etc, places like stockport utilise their history, Wirral just knocks things down and replaces it with pointless amenities noone will ever really use, who cares about sentimentality or local history, absolute shower. The saying is true don't know what you've lost till it's gone.

No not sure he was a dealer as i said in my post just what i was told but as other posts say the same good chance it is true.

I recall the Greenbank dance studio as I played my first "professional" gig there as a singer, with a band called The Poltergeists, around the spring of 1963. If I remember rightly we received the princely sum of 10 shillings (between 5 of us!!). I was terrified and, lacking proper "stage gear", borrowed my younger sister's brown school pullover to go over my black polo neck sweater. This rebounded on me as there were some girls there from her school who recognised the garment due to a hole under 1 of the arms and I took a bit of ribbing over it. I wonder if anyone remembers the occasion. (I'm still singing professionally some 48 years later so it didn't put me off!!!

Well hi Bob,'tis I who used my "Svengali"-like influence to launch you on the glittering path to stardom! I only play for self amusement and the torture of innocents;possibly should be banned under the Geneva Convention. Great time eh? I remember having a couple of pints of much-needed Dutch courage during the course of that evening next door. We seemed to go down ok,I think it was your famous jumper that broke the ice.I think we may even have "played" there again,so just goes to show what you can get away with,ask most of the modern chart acts.It would be gret if any of the audience were on here.