WOOLTON REVISITED

Woolton is at the south end of the City of Liverpool in Merseyside

In The Electric Light Orchestra's 1982 hit "Is This The Way Life's Meant to be?", part of the lyrics state: "As I gaze around at these strangers in town, I guess the only stranger is me!"  That sums up how I feel on the rare occasions I appear in Woolton.

I lived in Woolton, Liverpool 25, from my birth in 1959 until I moved to Yorkshire in 1989. I very rarely go back. When I walk along the streets where I drove my home-made go-karts and rode my bike, it all seems so different. Yet so much seems the same. The photographs above were taken in July 2005 and July 2006. They stirred up many memories.

CLICK ON EACH PICTURE TO OPEN IT.

Photo 1: The house in Halewood Drive where I grew up. I knew every brick in the place. The house was owned by the Salmon family from 1951, when it was built, until 2003. Now strangers live there, it's painted a different colour and the bricks are hidden.

Photo 2:  Looking down Halewood Drive towards Mackets Lane and the English Rose public house. The driveway across the pavement was paid for by my parents in 1980 when my brother and I bought our first cars, (a Cortina Estate and a Mini Clubman respectively).

Photo 3: On Hunts Cross Avenue, near the top of Halewood Drive , the extra bit of paving by the kerb was laid in 1968 when the number 5 bus terminus was moved there. The bus stop was moved again the following year to the top of Layton Road.

Photo 4: The sign in Layton Close remains, although all the footpaths have been relaid since I left. We were frequently chased by residents of this quiet cul-de-sac when we raced up and down it on our bikes and go-karts.

Photo 5: Brian's hairdressing salon is the only shop on this block (Hunts Cross Avenue, opposite Manor Road) that has not changed hands since I moved away.

Photo 6: This off-licence was formerly known as "Cellar Five" As 15- or 16-year-olds we would go into this shop and ask in deep voices to buy cans of Woodpecker Cider. Sometimes we were more successful than others. I was evicted on one occasion when the manageress literally saw through my mascara moustache! Our games of football against the side of this shop were frequently abandoned when the residents of the flat above gave chase. The flat looks sadly neglected in this picture with several windows broken.

Photo 7: Woolton County Primary School in Out Lane was where I received my education from 1964 until 1971. The nearest classroom in the picture was Infants Class 1, where I started. I understand that the last teacher from my days - Mr J Jones in the Junior Department - retired in 2006.

Photo 8:  I am pictured in 2005 on the rail outside the Infants' gate. My mother would be leaning against this rail waiting for me at 12 o'clock and 3.30 every day. (I always went home for lunch, and never enjoyed the pleasure of a meal prepared by the legendary Mrs Duff!)

Photo 9: The "Junior Drive".  This leads to the main entrance of the Junior Department, which is built behind the Infants'. The original kerbs are still in place on the left, although an extra layer has since been laid above them.

Photo 10: The electricity substation and the path that leads down Out Lane. The "lollipop lady", Peggy Bellringer, would see us safely over the road into Hunts Cross Avenue. In the mornings the 676 school bus would drop its load at the bottom of this path.

Photo 11: Looking over the sports field towards the buildings. My final classroom was the nearest one on the top floor - (Class 15 with Miss Morgan). I spent many horrendous afternoons freezing between the goalposts on the field while the girls did "needlework" in a cosy classroom! The "pre-fab" classrooms were added in 1970 as a temporary measure. At the time, it was planned to build a permanent extension to the school in 1975. Thirty years on, this has not yet happened. Incidentally, Woolton County Primary School celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2007.

Photo 12: Dicky Jones' barber shop near the swimming baths in Woolton Village. This old guy cut my hair on a few occasions. He had been there since at least the 1930's. Someone else is running it now.

Photo 13: St James's Methodist & United Reformed Church in Woolton Village. This was solely a Methodist Church until the late 1980's, having been built in 1866. I grew up through the Sunday School and ended up teaching in it. I also sang in the Choir and ran the Junior Youth Club from 1977 until 1989.

Photo 14: The font which was used for my baptism by Rev Stan Johnson in 1959. It was rescued from a church in Liverpool that was bombed during World War 2. Sadly, it was discovered to be unsafe around 1980, since which time it has lain in the church garden. The weather has done to it what the Germans failed to do, and its ornate design is fast disappearing.

Photo 15:  In the late 1980's I helped to produce the annual Circuit Youth Pantomimes in St James's Church Hall. In 1988 I rewired the stage lighting system and installed some dimmer switches. A group of us painted all the backstage walls white, and I wrote the wiring instructions on these with a black marker pen. For the first time since 1989 I was in the building this month (July 2006) and was surprised to discover everything exactly as I left it! Sadly, I have been told that no pantomimes have been performed there since I left.

MUSIC!

BUSES