Book reviews
October 10, 2023 / March 10, 2024 by Martin Greaney | 2 Comments on Liverpool Shipping: a short history, by George Chandler
An illustrated volumne covering the industry of shipping, explaining how it worked up to the mid-20th century.
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Tourism
April 14, 2023 / July 23, 2023 by Martin Greaney | 3 Comments on An aerial point of view: St John’s Beacon 360
St John’s beacon has been a landmark of the Liverpool skyline since it opened in 1969. Originally designed as the ventilation tower for the new St John’s Market, the architects took advantage of the tall building’s opportunity to add something else. This is a flying-saucer-shaped gallery originally used for a revolving restaurant and later a […]
Landscapes
October 26, 2022 / February 19, 2024 by Martin Greaney | 2 Comments on Parkgate, Wirral
Parkgate is a small town on the western coast of Wirral, facing across the Dee to Wales, and downstream from Chester. It’s popular with people from the region for days out (and home to a famouse ice cream parlour!). But it’s not widely known that Parkgate not only has a history to rival that of […]
Buildings
April 4, 2022 / April 4, 2022 by Martin Greaney | 1 Comment on Hartley Huts, Albert Dock
The Hartley huts are three squat buildings at the entrance to Canning Dock. They were built in 1844 for the ‘gatemen’, those charged with operating the gates to allow ships to enter and leave the docks, some of which would be on their way to the graving docks nearby. The working life of a gateman […]
Landmarks
February 6, 2022 / February 19, 2024 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
Halewood was rather rural in character, before the landscape transformed it in the 20th century. Being on the edge of Liverpool contributed to the preservation of some interesting features. Two of these, once standing close to each other, were the Old Hutt and Wright’s Moat. Wright’s Moat was a mysterious thing. It’s name comes from […]
Hidden History
January 23, 2022 / January 23, 2022 by Martin Greaney | 4 Comments on Cobbles and cottages on Fisher Street
In early 2020 a Twitter user by the name of PhoenixME (@Phoenix1270) got in touch to ask about the ‘Forgotten Street’ (as they put it). This led to a very interesting little journey to discover a road that is blocked off at one end by a gate, and at the other by buildings. But Fisher […]
January 14, 2022 / July 25, 2023 by Martin Greaney | 5 Comments on Five postcards from Georgian Liverpool
A good friend of mine recently sent me a handful of postcards he’d found, showing photos of Liverpool in the first quarter of the 20th century. He’d house-sat for me and noticed my existing collection, in a folder on a bookshelf, and I don’t know whether he checked, but he managed to get some that […]
August 29, 2021 / March 10, 2024 by Martin Greaney | 1 Comment on Film Review: Almost Liverpool 8, a portrait of Toxteth in the 21st century
Who owns the truth about 'Toxtheth' - the place, the name, the people? This film tries to find out.
General
July 21, 2021 / March 10, 2024 by Martin Greaney | 8 Comments on Liverpool Loses its World Heritage Status
Why did Liverpool lose its World Heritage Site designation? Where the seeds sown early, and does the loss matter?
January 4, 2021 / October 28, 2024 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
Smart reproductions of two 18th century encyclopedias of notorious criminals. There's more to these women and men than you'd expect, though!
September 11, 2020 / May 24, 2024 by Martin Greaney
The area coming to be known as Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter (how many quarters can one city have?) has distinct landscape characteristics. The university is just one resident in a neighbourhood of academic and other institutions. The excellent Building a Better Society (2008, hard copy from Hive; download free PDF) by Colum Giles highlighted these. The […]
August 5, 2020 / January 18, 2023 by Martin Greaney | 1 Comment on Liverpool Castle
Liverpool Castle is one of Liverpool’s greatest lost landmarks, alongside the Customs House and the Sailors’ Home. This page collects aspects of the castle’s history as I find it, updated from time to time. As such, it’s not yet a complete history in its own right. See also: Liverpool Castle, and Leverhulme’s reconstruction Reconstruction in […]
July 31, 2020 / July 15, 2024 by Martin Greaney | 6 Comments on Courts and Alleys by Elizabeth J. Stewart
A colourful illustrated book about Liverpool's worst housing, from someone researching the last remaining one.
June 20, 2020 / November 15, 2022 by Martin Greaney | 2 Comments on Woolton Hall
When William Brettagh (of Holt) died, he left a cottage that would later become Woolton Hall. It was bought by the Broughton family, who began to extend it, and bring it up to date. By 1700 it was a three-storey building. Traces of an older building still survive in the south west corner. Samuel Derrick […]
June 17, 2020 / December 8, 2022 by Martin Greaney | 1 Comment on Woolton Old School
Woolton Old School has a date stone showing 1610. There has been a suggestion that the last figure is the result of later restoration, but this can’t change the supposed date of building by much. A gift of £60 was given by Edward Norris in 1606 to pay for a master, so the institution was […]
May 19, 2020 / December 8, 2022 by Martin Greaney | 1 Comment on West Derby Castle
Edward the Confessor chose West Derby for his hunting lodge, and after the conquest West Derby was given to Roger of Poitou. The castle was probably built around 1100 by Roger, and was sited near St. Mary’s church in Meadow Lane. The site may have been chosen because of its nearness to water (the Alt, […]
May 19, 2020 / December 8, 2022 by Martin Greaney | 5 Comments on West Derby Mill
Mill Lane (Mylngate in documents of 1444 and 1492) is aptly named as the site of the king’s windmill, first mentioned in 1461, along with a horse mill. This stood on the site of the recently built Marks and Spencer building. The windmill was built on the end of one of the NW-SE ridges that […]
May 19, 2020 / December 8, 2022 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
The court house was, amongst other things, the place where local copyholders deposited a copy of their freehold lease in a secure chest, and had to renew it once a year. They were bound by the contract to keep their dwelling in good condition. Copyholders were generally “men of substance and employers of labour”. The […]
West Derby Chapel was situated in the centre of the village, a space now occupied by a monument. It was first mentioned in the mid-14th Century, and mentioned again in Edward IV’s reign in relation to a repair, deemed important as the chapel was useful for holding the king’s court (and this was before a […]
May 19, 2020 / November 22, 2022 by Martin Greaney | 2 Comments on Fountain and Lamp Post, West Derby Village
West Derby’s lamp post / drinking fountain is one of those interesting features of the landscape that dozens of people must pass every day, but never take a second glance at. But this landmarks is really interesting, and points to a certain Victorian view on life at the end of the 19th century. The fountain […]
March 20, 2020 / July 15, 2024 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
Well-written memoir from a man rediscovering the landscapes of his youth, including critiques of the changes therein.
March 1, 2020 / November 15, 2022 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
Credit for this goes to Phil Nash, who posted a couple of photos to the Liverpool Hidden History Facebook group. The former Dominion pub (or Dominion Hotel) at the junction of Regent Road and Bankfield Street in Kirkdale is now the Bankfield Enterprise Hub. This, its latest role, represents the early years of a new […]
February 23, 2020 / November 15, 2022 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
A photo of this grid popped up on Facebook in early 2019. I had no idea what it really was, but was intrigued. It looked like something from the William Morris school, which I like for both design and political reasons, so I did a little snooping (i.e Googling about a bit). The metal grid […]
February 4, 2020 / July 25, 2023 by Martin Greaney | Leave a Comment
Recently, I was contacted by Monica Lewis who had found a collection of postcards belonging to her grandfather. He was in the Navy in the First World War, and Monica thinks these postcards (amongst many from other parts of the world) were accumulated over the course of his career. She’d like me to share these […]
