Continuing the series on Shopping In Wallasey

Liscard Village



The 'Queen's Arms Hotel' is the hotel on the corner of Liscard Village and Queens Street and was the original meeting place for the newly formed Commissioners of Wallasey in June, 1845. (Further reading please read Wallasey Local Government)

Joe McCabe was once the landlord in the 1930s, previous landlords being Jack Fewtrell and George Lloyd. There used to be a stable attached to the old public house. Crosville buses use to leave from the Queen's Arms. Buses here also left for Llandudno and Heswall/Parkgate. Edward Mackie, the monumental mason, started up his business next to these premises. Alf Ince once had his smithy opposite Egerton Grove and he had a large horse-shoe above the board bearing his name. Alf used to live at No.14 Valkyrie Road. The post office was built in 1913 on the site of 'Trafford House' and the smithy's building. Prior to 'Trafford House' being built the site was originally occupied by 'Liscard Hall Farm'. When the Post Office was built Alfred Ince moved to 28 Fairview Avenue

On the corner of Manor Road in the 1930s was Griffith's the chemist. At one time there use to be speaking tube by the side door where visitors could speak to the chemist if something was needed during the night. The Central Fire Station was on the opposite side of the road. The superintendant at the time was William Nicholson. The police were also here at one time. There was also once a weighing machine. A company who painted show bills and other forms of advertising matter had the next premises next door was Jim Barnaby, the motor mechanic .Walter Eastwood was the butcher on the corner of the entry. This business was taken over by Thomas Bell, who was a noted butcher in Liscard. It is hard to believe nowadays that back in the 1930s sheep would be slaughtered at the rear of the premises. The village abattoir was once situated close to where Barnwell Avenue is.



Next to the butcher was Monteith's, the grocers, later taken over by Thomas Jones. Fred Clairmont had the small greengrocers at No.22. Sam Spence, the ex-New Brighton footballer took over the shop when he retired from the game. Enoch Roles was the saddler in the next little shop. Alf Poole had what was the Bon-Bon sweetshop and there was a ladies outfitters on the corner of Liscard Crescent. James Byron started as a carrier, then went in for selling and repairing bicycles. Above the windows of his shop he had enameled metal figures of men on bicycles. Also in this block of buildings was Mrs Dillion. She was a wardrobe dealer. The business could have been started by Frank Dillon. The draper's was owned by Mrs. Woodman and then there was Rivett's, the bootmaker. After Rivett's left, George Young, who was also a Wallasey Councillor and Mayor of the town between 1951 and 1952, opened a very successful pork butchers. Miss Loucisa also had a cake shop along here at one time. Maeginn and Curtis then became the confectioners and everybody who smoked cigarettes or a pipe know Marriot's the tobacconists, who had taken over Bailey's old shop. There were insurance offices above and William Brothers were the grocers . The Bank of Liverpool and Martin's were on the corner of Liscard Village and Liscard Road (modern day Liscard Way). They had opened the branch on 22nd August 1908. George Mason, the grocers, took over the grocery business at No. 6-8 and the Home and Colonial Stores opened where the drapers used to be.

On the right-hand side of the village from the Rake Lane end was 'Egerton Cottage'. It had a thatched roof and was demolished in 1913 and 'Hebron Hall' was built on the site. There was also Egerton Grove Cottages and Popular Terrace. The Christian Scientists used to meet at No. 63 in the 1930s. Egerton Grove School was erected in 1928.



Dean Terrace was built in 1782 and was three-storeys high. Only the end of the terrace still exists; that being 'The Royal Oak', which was once in the care of Mary Gibson. Jim Creevey had the public house in the late 1920s.The little shops were occupied by Tom Brown, the confectioner, Jack Cooil, the saddler and next to him, the chandler, Mrs Menkie; the shop later became known as the 'Dinky Wool Shop', where the two Jones sisters were in business.

Other businesses were Irving and Hall, the decorators. In 1915 there use to be Pritchard and Davies on the same site. Robert Rawlinnson opened a wine stores in the old Jack Gray's ironmongers.



In the late 1800s and early 1900s there were a great number of horses within the town and so consequently this meant animal fodder was in great demand. Fred Cheshire sold hay and straw and his business was taken over by Alf Beynon. At one time Alf was a Coal Merchant. Another member of the family was at No.23 - John Benyon, the florist and nurseryman. At No. 17 Bob Dugdale had a milk-house in Miss Curtis' old shop. Bill Albones was the cobbler. Next to the garage was Joshua Milss and Sons, the painters. They were also plumbers and did a lot of work all over Liscard and other parts of the town. Mrs Eva Nichol was a 'wardrobe dealer' and William Gibbon lived at 'Inglefield' with Stephen Gibbons at No. 1. There used to be a butcher named Jack Fellows along here at No. 11, and Tom Peers had a greengrocers.



Gibsons' stables were at the end of the road and was established in 1860. Today the site is now derelict though at one time was the Capitol Cinema. Gibsons' had a large yard, stables and carriage buildings. They hired out horses for the Fire Brigade. They were carriage proprietors and they were often hired for weddings and funerals. They were soon to move with the times and went over to motor vehicles. Mr Gibson moved down the road to No.25 and had a fine, large garage. Mr Harold Gibson was at No.23. In front of their forecourt were large iron gates which were kept closed and only opened to allow the cars to go in and out. As the years went by, the firm became part of the John W. Griffith and Son, the leading wedding and funeral directors in the town. The buildings were later demolished to make way for rebuilding.

One of the most popular shops in Liscard Village was 'Ellison Brothers' at No.15. They then took over Nos.13 to 17. The business was started by Harry and his brother in King Street, long before the First World War. The local plumbers persuaded him to stock their needs and soon Ellison's were to sell cast-iron toilet cisterns bearing their name on the sides. They moved to Liscard in the early 1930s and soon became the leading the leading shop for wallpaper and paints, selling a large selection of colours in all sorts finishes and brands.They opened new premises in Oxton Road and Conway Street, as well as keeping the the one in King Street (although they had moved to new premises) and Heswall. Eventually the business was taken over by a Yorkshire company who called their shops 'Decca Mecca' and a few years later they in turn were taken over by 'Fads' and the old building was demolished to make for a modern D.I.Y store. Today Tesco Metro occupies the site.




Shops in 1966

1 Capitol Cinema
5 Barclays Bank
9 J Lloyd & Son - Footwear
11 R. Zalud - Gowns
13-17 Ellison Brothers Ltd Builders
23 Gibbons Funeral Directors
25 P.J Pratley Carpet Dealers
25a County Borough of Wallasey Welfare Food Distributing Centre
27 Adrienne Ladies Hairdresser
29 W.H. Farrell Ltd Builders
31 J. Charles Dodd & Son Opticians
33 Royal Liver Friendly Assurance Society
33a Anthony Lockhart
33b Joe Brown (Wallasey) Turf Commission Agents
35 The Salad Shop
39 Royal Oak
41 Misses C&W Jones Woolen Drapers
43 Misses H.& E.Brown Newsagents
45 Richard Breheny Boot & Shoe Repairers

Martins Bank
George E.Jones & Son Certified Accountants
Borough Of Wallasey Butchers
Hannaford & Taggart Solicitors
6-8 George J.Mason Ltd Grocers
8 Pearl Assurance Co.Ltd
10 Marriots Tobacconist
10 Lloyd Beachcomber Int. Travel Bureau
12 George Young Pork Butcher
14-16 Telefusion Ltd TV Sales
18 National Provisional Bank
20a Exchange Mart Gentlemen Dealers
20a Joe Brown (Wallasey) Turf Commission Agent
20b Haworth & Gallagher Solicitors
20 S. Hewlett Newsagent
22a Jones Bros. Fruiterer
24 Kenny Campbell Ltd Athletic Outfitters
26 Thomas Ewart Bell Butcher
Fire (Central) Station
30 Griffiths Chemist 30 Ching Ming
Wallasey Post, MOT and Telephoic Express Delivery Office
Queen's Arms Pub



A lot more memories of shopping in Liscard Village at my site. Link is in my signature.

very interesting read cheers Paul. av just moved to Queens Street and was wondering when it date back to,the house we are in seems old and can be creepy at times. anyother info or photos would be appreciated.

From Liscard Village end, on the right hand side of Queen Street, the properties were built from 1890. On the left side the houses were built about 1910.

The actual street was once the outter boundary line to the Liscard Hall Estate.

Great pictures and a fantastic read!

cheers Paul, 1890.

My nan and grandad lived in Liscard. Pear Tree Grove which was at the back of where Macdonalds is now. A small car park is there now. I haven't been able to find any pictures of Pear Tree Grove, does anyone out there have any

Still wrecking the place now, why they build that crappy new hospital? Why they cover the water tower with those new office blocks? Why replace the mansions on warren drive with blocks of cheap, new flats?
Greed! That's why!
Gets right on my tits it does!
Next it'll be that old house at the bottom of limekiln lane in the hands of peel holdings!

Issues with my router is not always allowing me onto Wiki so on the rare occurrence it is...have a pic that you requested..

When I win the lottery, I will buy the Birds House in Limekiln Lane & shift it stone by stone & rebuild it somewhere in the country, because it sure as hell can't be happy surrounded by Tate & Lyle!

You can still see the outline of the old Queens on the wall of the former GPO which was built up against it. When they knocked the Queens down the outline was very vivid as the bricks had kept their newness due to being shielded from the weather by the old Queens. They have weathered since but the shape of the gable end of the Queens is still visible.

ye i spoted that the other week. will get a shot of it...

Great pic Paul, but not Pear Tree Grove, which was a terrace of 11 houses built about the 1870s. Lived there from 1944 to 1967 so I might know sparky's nan and grandad. Might have some old pics from the 1950s somewhere. Will post if I can find them.

I remember it well and my brother in law had an uncle that lived there. I worked in the co-op that stood where McDonald's/Iceland is and a girl who worked in the admin had a grandad who livd there too. I have seen a pic of it in a book but not sure which one.

Theres the photo. I dont think it is the outline of the queens could be another building. look at the 2nd pic to the right of the pic it dont look attached to a building. i may be wrong. and also the pub was on the corner of the road.. Were the outline is on the post office it looks to far back to be the old queens pub...

Think av got it right??


NOW




AND THEN

Definitely part of the Queens though may have been the back bit. I remember it being knocked down.

Yes spot on. See the house on the right covered in ivy? In the later pic it is white. Now it is some finance office but I remember it as a private house in the sixties with a garden in the front. When it came empty we used to look through the window and it still had wall and ceiling mounted gaslights.

Hmmmmmmmm

I remember the pub front was right on the road because we used to get the bus to West Kirby from outside it. But then there was a bit at the rear which was atached to the GPO/telephone exchange.

It's troo! It's troo!

Yes, sorry the picture is of Pear Tree Cottage, not the row of terraces !

Pic taken from front bedroom of 10 Pear Tree Grove abt 1961. Building in the middle is Wesley Hall Methodist Church with the Co-op behind.

I worked in that Co-op in 1969

thanks ever so much , ive been trying to find pictures of these cottages for so long, they and the coop were knocked down soon after i moved over from liverpool.

The owner of the middle cottage game me and a friend a little plastic snooker table with marbles a few days before they all had to vacate

Were there any photographs of Pear Tree grove published, I'm in the process of looking into my Mitchell family tree, and one death certificate of my Gt Gt uncle James Mitchell has him listed as living at No. 2 Pear Tree Grove.

I lived in PTG from 1944 to 1967 and took a load of photos in late 50s early 60s. Problem is they've probably all got people on them and the houses are just background. Will plough through the negs and see what I've got as a few people seem interested. Some years ago I gathered a lot of info about the inhabitants of PTG so if you want to pm me Merseyman about the family history details you're looking for I might be able to help.

Oh that would be great. Please look for them soon!

p.m sent Nightwalker