Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request Noctorum Estate

Just wondering if anyone lived on the Noctorum.We moved up there in January '68 - one of the first families to move in.We lived in Neville Close , just by St Peter's. I had to go to Manor County on the Ford,as Hillside didn't open up until '69. Had a great time playing football on St Anselms until we were chased away by the groundsman and then we played on St Peter's until we were chased away by the school caretaker (seemed to spend most of our time running away from someone!). Spent a lot of our time playing by the Fender - this was before the M53 came - and in the Mops , where we all wondered what was on the other side of the wall by the bridge (Bidston Court Gardens as it turned out.Happy days ..............

I lived there when I was a baby early 80's, I dont remember much about it, It was only when I was reading a book called Bothered and it was about the noctorum that she memtioned it.

i moved on the noctorum in 1973,and am still on here now! but the estates not what it use to be like for us kids years ago! there use to be 3 shops on the estate,now weve only got a mobile! and i remember the st peters caretaker,fella with grey hair,cant think of his name at the moment! i also remember a girl that lived in the house where st anslems field is! kids still go up the mops now,but i bet its only to have a sly drink of cider,lol!

In the 70s, a lad on the estate known as Mad Andy went down for torching one of the schools. Hillside I think.

Incidentally, Aussie musician Marty Willson-Piper has a band called Noctorum: http://tinyurl.com/38cter

My family moved here in 69 the houses were brand new and i have photos of our back garden unturfed and just sand.We all still live here now we did live in stratford way but our house got knocked down so we moved to noctorum ave formly Raymond way I think, me and my family are still here scattered about my childhood here was amazing and I wish the estate had beed that way for my kids but alas things change and not for the better.

I also lived in Neville Close and moved there in 68.I am 46 this year and went to Hillside and then Ridgeway.The caretaker for St Peters was called 'Froggy' he use to ride an old pushbike dead slow.The three shops were 'Birdys' at the bottom 'Rainbows'at the top end and i think the one in the middle was called 'Webbs' but might be wrong with that.I remember a bread van used to come round when i was a kid and you could buy crisps off him also the alpine pop wagon.I remember going on a coach trip to see the lights in Blackpool organised by all the mums.I lived by the three garages at the top of the close.

it was schoolfields the pop man when i was a kid,,pop off the back of a lorry! lol! jack the milkman was the milkman when i was a kid,,and the corner shop got took over from,as i remember,2 married couples going into buisness,then man left standing as it were,ended up owning birdies shop,and sold his other shop to a man named paul,who after being robbed loads and loads of times,ended up selling up,and getting off the estate,then there was lyn and cant think of her husband,but come from the moreton estate to serve the people on the nocky and ended up selling their buisness,to some indian people, who were very lovely and then they were told they had to go, so unfortunetely, unlike us when we were kids with r,,3 shops,mobile, mobile chippy,are no longer!

Hi can you remember who the author of the book was? Was that the full title,any idea were i can get a copy?

I lived in Tamworth Way (now Ridgeview Road I think) from 1971-1983. I remember Rainbows, the mobile chippy and the Alpine pop man very well. I attended Hillside school and I was all set to go to Ridgeway when we moved from the area. I had many happy years living on the estate. We had many day trips to Blackpool Lights and one of my greatest memories was the 1977 Silver Jubilee street party - my mum made me dress as Charlie Chaplin and I hated it lol.
I would love to hear from anyone living on the estate at that time or indeed see any photos from the area.

I lived in the flats in Olivia Close off Ormond Way from 1974-1979, until they were demolished. I remember there being some hauntings in our block - anyone else know about that? I went to Hillside School for the primary years and 1st year of middle school, before moving to Woodchurch. We used to go to Birdys on the way to school and buy crisps for 3p a bag. I remember the houses being built on Cross Hey Ave, we'd play on the building site. Other favourite places to play were the Mops, the field at the top of Noctorum Dell and we'd sometimes go up to Noctorum Lane or across the Ridgeway rugby fields to the pond, it's now a housing estate. I remember in the news about two boys being hit (possibly killed) by a car with a trailer at the bottom of Noctorum Dell. I also remember Hillside School being burnt and the older kids having to go to another school. We used to walk down the "Ave" to the main shops on the corner of Upton Rd. I remember walking over the railway bridge, along the fender and under the subway onto the Woodchurch to go to the fair which would come once a year.

Martin is actually Birkenhead Born and Bred, he lives in Sydney and has a band called The Church.