Thermopylae

A Memory of Upton.

I was brought up in Claughton Village (Wirral) and in the holidays as children we regularly walked through Bidston Hill to Thermopylae Pass.  We would spend all day on the Hill and at Thermopylae and walk home at the end of the day exhausted and happy after playing and running about all day.  At the time we didn't know its real name, and called it The Moppoly Paths.  Sometimes we called it "The Mops".  The grandmother of a friend used to live in the house in this picture, I recall that there were stables on the west side of the house. I am not sure whether she owned it or just lived there. We used to love Thermopylae, it was wild and free, more so than Bidston Hill.  Even as a child I felt disappointed that housing in Noctorum was encroaching on the Thermopylae Pass as I felt it spoilt the vista and the wildness of the place. It was then truly a beautiful place and I hope it still is (what remains).  I currently live in Australia but after seeing this photograph on your website plan to visit "The Mops" next time I am in England.