The Boat House and Swimming Pool at Parkgate - 2nd May 2009 11:40pm
The Boat House in 1928
The present Boat House was built as a tearoom in 1926, it was built in the shape of a boat, with a terrace at the front forming the prow.
Aerial view of the Boat House with the outbuildings of the Pengwern Arms in the background
The Boat House was built on the site of an old inn which had been there since at least 1664. The old inn had several names over the years. In the 1850s it was known as the Boat House, but in its later years it was called the Pengwern Arms.
A ferry service operated from the inn to Bagilt and Flint from about 1740, a steamer, the Ancient Britain was introduced in 1817 and this operated until 1864. The owner of the inn also ran a Stage Coach service to Rock Ferry pier, so passengers could travel from Wales to Liverpool, using the two ferries and the stage coach.
A storm lashes the Boat House
It’s hard to imagine now, but the old inn was very exposed and suffered greatly from the ravages of the sea in stormy weather. Following a storm in 1885, the inn was severely damaged and had to be demolished, although some of the outbuildings remained. The outbuildings were finally demolished to make room for a car park for the new Boat House.
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The Boat House from the lane to the swimming pool
At the end of the lane running past the Boat House was Parkgate swimming pool. The pool was built by Mr A G Grenfell, headmaster of Mostyn House School in 1923. The open-air pool was built as a facility for the school, but it was also open to the paying public.
Parkgate swimming pool in the 1930s
The pool was very successful, however with the silting of the River Dee, the water supply for the pool disappeared. The cost of pumping the water into the pool increased as the water level fell. The baths were closed in 1942 due to the war, and the cost of running them.
In 1947 the baths re-opened thanks to the efforts of some of the local people, however the cost of piping and pumping the water was too much and the venture was not successful. The swimming pool closed again in 1950, this time for good.
Parkgate swimming pool
The baths lay abandoned for many years. I remember walking past then in the late 1950s (I was very young at the time) the pool was half full of green slimy water, and the diving boards had collapsed into the pool.
Eventually the site was cleared, the pool filled in and it became a car park for the Wirral country park.
The popularity of the swimming pool can be judged from this picture of the car park in the 1930s
– ironically, the swimming pool is now a car park