Crosby in the 1960s picture quiz - the answers

Posted by Crosby Herald newsdesk on April 29, 2008 9:15 AM

How many did you get?
Did you guess which roads were featured on Thursday?
The answers were: 1. College Road, 2. Ince Avenue, 3. Coronation Road, 4. Victoria Road, 5. Cooks Road, 6 Grosvenor Avenue.

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Museum secures link to docks' past

Posted by Crosby Herald newsdesk on April 25, 2008 11:58 AM

THE new Museum of Liverpool has secured a link to an important moment in the city's past at an auction.

A fine and rare cased hunting knife commemorating the opening of the dock gates into Liverpool’s New North Docks by H.R.H. The Prince Of Wales on 8 September 1881, was sold to the National Museums of Liverpool for the new Museum of Liverpool at Bonhams auction of Fine Antique Arms and Armour on April 23.

Sharon Brown, a curator at the Museum of Liverpool, said: “This is a unique piece which relates to an event to which we have very few physical links. As we are currently developing the new Museum of Liverpool which will open in 2010 I am delighted that we have managed to secure this dagger with its historic link to the city. It will fit well within the Port City element in the new museum.”

Elkington & Co of Liverpool made the knife which has a 22.7cm blade. The dagger has a single-edged blade of Bowie type. Its handle boasts an image of two bear cubs playing on an ivy-clad tree-stump. The blade is inscribed: 'The Fac-simile of This Hunting Knife Was Used As A Lever By H.R.H. The Prince Of Wales For Opening The Dock Gates At The Sea Entrance Into The New North Docks Liverpool 8 September A.D. 1881.”

The scabbard features the Prince of Wales' feathers and motto, and the coat-of-arms and motto of the City of Liverpool.

The dagger is offered for sale with photocopied extracts of The Illustrated London News for Saturday, September 17, 1881 describing in detail the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to open the new North Docks, at Bootle, constructed by the Mersey Harbour and Dock Board of Liverpool.

The actual opening of the docks is described by the newspaper. 'Arrived at the North docks, the Royal party landed amid a Royal salute from her Majesty's ship Agincourt. The Prince opened the Langton Dock by moving a lever, when the ponderous gates, acted upon by hydraulic power, opened slowly and almost noiselessly. The performance of their act by his Royal Highness is shown in our first Illustration. The handle was removed from the lever, and found to be a handsome hunting-knife, which was placed in its scabbard and presented to the Prince as a souvenir of the occasion.'

The initials on the dagger case are without doubt those of George Fosbery Lyster (1821-1899) who was appointed Engineer-in-Chief to the Mersey Docks & Harbour Board in 1861. He was responsible for building most of the Birkenhead docks on the Wirral side of the River Mersey and new docks at the north end of Liverpool's dock estate. He also built the Herculaneum dock and the new Harrington and Toxteth docks as well as new grain warehouses on both sides of the River Mersey.

David Williams, Bonhams Director of Arms and Armour comments: “This fine dagger commemorates a key moment in the development of the Liverpool docks which were the major British gateway to North America. The ship traffic in and out of Liverpool was phenomenal. This period at the end of the 1880’s saw the city at the peak of its wealth and power, which with its new status this year, as City of Culture, seeks to recapture in a new and creative way. You might say that this dagger recalls a Liverpool with a real cutting edge, something it seems intent on regaining. It is therefore fitting that the Museum of Liverpool secured the dagger for the city.”

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Crosby in the 1960s picture quiz

Posted by Crosby Herald newsdesk on April 24, 2008 9:15 AM

CAN you tell which Crosby roads feature in these black and white images?
The snaps were taken by a former Crosby resident and keen photographer around 1967.
There are no prizes, but if you do want to test your skill against other readers (or just show off your knowledge of the area!) post your answers here.
You don’t need to log in or use a password and you don’t even need to use your real name. You just need an email address, which will not be published.
We’ll publish the answers here on the website on Tuesday morning and in next week’s Crosby Herald.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

Picture 6

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The Liverpool Riots of 1919

Posted by Crosby Herald newsdesk on April 23, 2008 3:21 PM

A RARE hardwood truncheon commemorating The Liverpool Riots of 1919 will be sold at Bonhams, in Knowle, on May 13.
The truncheon was designed in honour of police officers who did not go on strike in the summer of 1919 and who served through the ensuing riots.
In August 1919 almost half of Liverpool’s constabulary walked out and went on strike.
The result was two days of out of control rioting in the streets of Liverpool and the pillaging of countless shops.
On the first night of raids looters mainly targeted clothes shops as well as jewellers and pawnbrokers, running home with armfuls of suits and ladies furs.
By the second night however the raiders were more indiscriminate and very few shops remained unscathed - sweet shops were looted and pianos were dragged out of music shops and played in the street.
The New York Times, which reported extensively on the events in Liverpool in August 1919, described the chaos as “an orgy of pillage and violence” and warning “Liverpool is in the grip of hooliganism”.
To cope with the chaos, 2,800 troops were drafted from nearby military camps and the Battleship Valiant, along with two other warships, were sent to the Mersey.
Tanks were strategically positioned around the city and soldiers brandishing bayonets were posted in the main streets.
On the second day of rioting the soldiers, along with the remaining half of the police force, started to fire shots above the heads of the mob as a warning.
The looters retaliated by showering the police with bricks and stones causing many injuries. Law-abiding citizens begged to be allowed to help the police, one saying, “Give me a rifle and I’ll clear the street myself”. At least one man was shot dead.
The morning after the riots children where found rooting around the decimated shops, climbing through shattered glass windows, cutting themselves and reappearing with bundles of sweets.
A beer-bottling factory was also broken into and men, women and children emerged loaded down with bottles of beer and stout.
Barrels were rolled out and crowds flocked bringing with them glasses and jugs with which to have a drink. The rioters drank and danced in the street, laughing and jeering at the soldiers.
Order was eventually restored to Liverpool and police officers on strike were delivered an ultimatum, either they came back to work or they would be dismissed and not allowed to rejoin the force.
Over 370 people appeared in court on charges of shoplifting or being in possession of stolen goods.
The truncheon forms part of a collection of truncheons and tipstaffs belonging to the late Detective Chief Superintendent Kenneth Gordon.

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Ribble bus company memories

Posted by Crosby Herald newsdesk on April 17, 2008 9:15 AM

AHEAD of a reunion of former Ribble bus company employees next month, Litherland resident Arthur Roper told Memories about his 25th anniversary of working for the firm.
The 80-year-old spoke to Memories about his recollection of a “great night” at Preston Guild Hall back in 1977.

Mr Roper, who spent 39 years at the company, said: “I was 50 in 1977 and because we had given 25 years service to the company gave us a presentation evening.
“We had a great night; we started off with a dinner and then later in the evening we had a presentation.
“I went with my friends Stan Walker and Peter Corrigan who also worked for the company and we had a good time.”
l There will be a reunion of Ribble bus company workers at the Jubilee pub in Hatton Hill Road on Monday, May 12, at 7pm.

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WAAF pals reunited

Posted by Crosby Herald newsdesk on April 17, 2008 9:15 AM

TWO former Women’s Auxiliary Air Force colleagues have had a special reunion marking 60 years since they joined up.
Kathleen Hemsley, originally from Liverpool but now living in Derby, paid a visit to her former colleague, Kathleen Kelly, from Whitemeadow Drive, Thornton.

The pair were able to reminisce about their two years spent in the WAAF from 1947 when they were aged 18.
They struck up a friendship immediately, both meeting at Lime Street station when they were leaving the area to carry out their training.
Both Kathleens then trained and were sent on courses together as their maiden names followed each other alphabetically – McGarry and McGreavy.

The friends spent their time in the WAAF as teleprinter operators and since leaving have remained in contact.
Mrs Kelly said: “When we came out of the WAAF, Kathleen got married and lived in Derby but we still kept in contact.”
And talking about their recent reunion, she added: “We went to Southport and had a meal.
“We just had a nice get together, discussing families because mine have grown up now and so has hers.”
She added that she “loved” her time in the WAAF and was always eager to join up.

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Rolyat school

Posted by Crosby Herald newsdesk on April 10, 2008 10:00 AM

THIS picture shows a former private school in Crosby.

Rolyat School used to operate from a site on College Avenue.
It held just 70 to 80 pupils aged from four to 13 and 14.
The snap was taken and handed to Memories by a former Crosby resident and keen photographer.
Would you like to share your pictures or memories of the school?

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Crosby in the Blitz

Posted by Crosby Herald newsdesk on April 10, 2008 9:48 AM

CROSBY Herald readers have been sharing their memories of the Blitz during the Second World War.
Reader Arthur Roper told the Herald how his father Thomas Roper served in the auxiliary fire service team during the 1942 May Blitz.

His father, who lived in Norway Street, Waterloo, was one of many members of the team who rescued people from the Seaforth and Bootle areas which were both heavily bombed during the Nazis’ onslaught on the country’s main dockland areas.
Arthur, 80, said: “The Blitz went on for five or six nights. There was a lot of destruction.
“My father – who was 40 at the time – would never speak about what he did though, for understandable reasons.
“He and the other members of the team had to take out the people who didn’t survive a bombing at a cinema on Stanley Road, Bootle.
“No-one survived at all.”

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Memories of Alexandra Hall

Posted by Crosby Herald newsdesk on April 3, 2008 9:15 AM

THIS picture shows Alexandra Hall in Crosby before its demolition.
The snap was taken around 1967 by a former Crosby resident and keen photographer, who recently handed it to Memories.

In 2003, bulldozers moved in on the 19th century building which played host to the Beatles in 1961.
During the course of its long and varied history, Alexandra Hall had also been used as a courthouse.
In 1969, officials revealed the crumbling building was in desperate need of repairs and had a life expectancy of only 30 years.
In 1972, it became a temporary school for 150 sixth form pupils from nearby Chesterfield High School after work on a new block was delayed because of a builders’ strike.
And in 1977, the hall was converted into Crosby’s magistrates court.
But by the end of 2002, the hall faced an uncertain future and news broke that top secret bids had been made to buy it.
Private developers had until January 2003 to submit sealed bids for the then empty hall.
At the time, a Sefton Council spokesman said: “We do not have a guide price as the property is being disposed by way of informal tender which involves sealed offers being submitted on or before January 24, 2003.
“It is surplus to council requirements and is being sold with vacant possession.
“The hall is suitable for residential or non-residential uses but any conversion or redevelopment will be considered subject to planning.”
Sefton Council had also revealed that essential repairs were estimated at £2m.
The College Road building was sold to Chelford Homes by Sefton Council in early 2003. The firm used the site to build 20 luxury two-bedroom apartments.

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Cooks Road, Alexandra Park and Coronation Park

Posted by Crosby Herald newsdesk on April 3, 2008 9:15 AM

THESE old postcards depict scenes in Crosby.
They were handed to Memories by a former Crosby resident and keen photographer.
The first shows Cooks Road with the Birkey Hotel to the right of the shot.

The other two feature images of Alexandra Park and Coronation Park.

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