Thurstaston, St Bartholomew's Church c1955

Monks and Pirates

I used to live in a house at the top of Grange Hill in a road called Monks Way. At the top of our garden, just opposite Tottey's garage, there was the remains of a round sandstone tower. We were told that the area used to be a monastry or abbey, hence the name "Monks way". The monks were apparently persecuted and the tower was a watch tower to warn of any trouble. It was claimed that there was an underground tunnel to the beach, from where the monks could sail to Hilbre Island for sanctuary. Never found the tunnel but as a lad we fought plenty of battles from the tower!

Vikings and Saxons

How many young vikings and saxons would have been slain trying to capture this ancient landmark.Memories of sword fights blood and guts in a childs fantasy. A wonderful place to explore and imagine.
The view from the rock across the Dee estuary is magnificent and I would think that countless photographs would have been taken from this vantage point.

Camp & Fish

What a wonderful place to camp and fish in the 1950's and 60's. Plenty of fish and sea birds and so very peaceful. In recent years the old railway track Hooton-West Kirby line, which ran alongside Thurstaston shore, has been ripped out to make the Wirral Way walking track. I have heard from U.K. friends, that now in 2008, that the track is being widened even further, and is now known by the locals as The Wirral Highway. Such a pity so called progress destroys our history.

Irby

I moved to Irby in 1957 and remember the sandstone cottage that was there before the library. I think a lovely girl called Prudence Cottrell lived there and she had a strawberry roan pony that was always in the garden. Mrs Matthews had the corner shop at the top of the road into the village and the hardware store was owned by the Carter family, The Oak Tub was definitely right and next to the hardware shop was a little cafe place where my mother used to stop and chat with her buddies each day. I think this was owned by Mrs. Steele. I can remember the Post Office in a little cottage that was pulled down quite soon after we moved there. I don't remember Dawpool Farm but I used to work for Henry Rogers at Benty Farm on the common at the weekend when I was at school. I thought at one time I'd like to go into farming but I was hopeless! We lived in Heathbank Avenue then and I now live just around the corner from there. My house is part of an estate that was built in the 1970s on the fields where we used to pay as kids and where I would walk home from the bus stop in the village from school. We moved from Irby to Greasby in 1962 but came back to Irby after my father died. We lived in a bungalow in South Hey Road which is the other side of Irby towards Pensby and Pensby Schools.  When I married I moved to my present address off Far Meadow Road (as described above). Those early days in Irby were great but it was the early 1960s and I started to work in Liverpool which was the place to be in those days. Irby isn't the same now, but what is?