"Hoylake Baths"

A Memory of Hoylake.

I recall happy memories of the Bathing Pool. It had two fountains spurting over fake rocks. We used to climb on these to cool off. In those days the Summers seemed to go on forever. The baths used to attract large attendances in those days.   I can remember when the baths were closed on warm evenings. With a crowd of friends we would climb over the rear walls to enjoy free swimming until the police came and we would all scarper. Great fun & laughs, life was so much better in those days. The baths were eventually closed by the Council because of falling attendances and running costs but a local group of volunteers was formed to run it for a few years. They did a great job but eventually gave up, the equipment was becoming too costly to keep going and the council wouldn't help.  Like so many amenities in Hoylake once it broke, the council would not repair things. Although the majority of council tax was collected from Hoylake, West Kirby & Caldy, all the money seemed to be spent on Birkenhead. This wasn't so when Hoylake was run by the Urban council we had flower beds in the parks, bandstands and shelters. They have knocked down the bandstands & the shelters to save on maintenance and grassed over the flowerbeds.  Luckily the Golf Open Championship was held this year 2006. Wirral council injected a large amount in improvements but only in the area of Hoylake Station which the visitors would see when getting off the train. This was the first time in my 50 yrs of residence any large amount was spent on the village.