Spring 2013
Gate
Order
The order was approved by the two-member highways committee at a meeting in the Town Hall on 20 February attended by supporters and objectors to the proposal.
The order was made on the grounds of anti-social behaviour or crime.
West Derby Society (WDS) Stephen Guy pointed out that the footpath would remain a public right of way and would need to be maintained. However, the Society’s request for access to the path was turned down. WDS wanted the path to have stiles along its length similar to the Sustrans old railway footpath / cycleway.
The following letter from Stephen was published in the 13 March edition of the influential Country Life national magazine:
SHUTTING THE GATES
Your
item on public footpaths (Town and Country, February 6) highlights the general
confusion on this issue. Some recent legislation has more in common with
A public right of way can be gated by the local authority under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 on the grounds of anti-social behaviour or crime. Once the gates are put up, they can only be opened by approved persons. Then we have the bizarre situation of a public right of way that no member of the public can go down. To my knowledge, these gating orders are seldom lifted, thus ensuring the closure of public footpaths by the back door – or rather, gate. I know because my local council is planning to gate an ancient cattle-drovers’ path used by generations of my family for pleasure and recreation.
The letter was prompted by a Country Life article about the re-establishment of public rights of way. Some paths under scrutiny have not been used in living memory or even centuries.
Closed
The
Society is seeking clarification about the closure of another section of the
footpath between
This path, known as Blessig’s Stile after the Russian consul who lived at Blackmoor House, was closed by magistrates in 1965 following a criminal assault.
·
Work has started to divert the stream running alongside
Transport and other memories
It was demonstrated within the confines of Metropolitan Electric Tramways, Hendon, in September and October 1909.
The word trolley bus was not in common use until the 1920s - the full name is a railless or trackless trolley car.
The
four-wheel car ran on the city’s last day of trams in Sept 1957 and has not
run since. The only other example of the type was shipped to the
The
St Petersburg Tram Company
Although
the picture is of a model tram, it is a good reminder of a
Barber
Does
anyone remember local character Harold the Barber whose shop was in
He ran an old-fashioned gents’ barbers, was a fanatical Everton supporter and used (in those heady days of hair) to call me Ginge (my ginger hair is now only a distant memory!).
His shop was always full of footballing men and there was a kiddies’ tall seat into which he used to lift me to assault my hair with an electric cutter. This was less painful than the hand clippers used by Mr Corlett of Town Row who used to practically rip the hair out if he did not clip fast enough.
Harold’s shop, like Harold, is long gone and replaced by a small block of flats.
Restoration
Parts of the 300-year-old Queen Anne (or south west) wing of Croxteth Hall, gutted by fire in December 1952, are to be restored for public use.
Two of the rooms next to the Old Dining Room will return to their former grandeur in a £400,000 programme funded by Croxteth Estate Endowment Trust Fund.
Work includes plastering, new wood panelling and windows, lighting and decoration resembling the original as agreed with English Heritage.
An extra bar and toilet will also be provided and it is estimated that up to£140,000 will be generated from the Library and Old Dining Room, as well as the restored rooms, being hired out for weddings etc.
The work should be finished by late summer 2013.
William Smithwick
This is the tale of one of Liverpool City Police’s most courageous members.
The
William was born in 1888 when Jack the Ripper was causing a stir but on the banks of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal John Smithwick, a goods shipper, and his wife were content with their son William.
Little
is known of young William but around 1908 he joined the Liverpool City Police
and was posted to
War
In 1914 he was married to Evelyn Edith Jones and, having passed his exams for promotion, all looked well.
However, this idyll was shattered by the First World War. The Liverpool Watch Committee announced that any man who answered the call to arms and made the rank of sergeant would be a police sergeant on his safe return. The Earl of Derby started recruitment, establishing the Pals’ battalions of the Liverpool Regiment - William enlisted.
He served with such bravery that he was brought to the notice of Lord Derby on many occasions. He was wounded and invalided home where he took charge of training. At the end of the war he returned to the police as a sergeant, but was not paid a sergeant’s wage.
William became a champion of colleagues who, like himself, had to contend with low pay and atrocious working conditions. He joined the embryonic National Union of Police & Prison Officer, becoming an official.
It was William who attended and gave evidence to the Desborough Committee and his performance was remarked upon by Lord Desborough. William became very active in union affairs and was returning from a union meeting when the police strike started.
Strike
William’s role in the week-long strike is not known but some officers stayed at home, some picketed police stations while others went to such extremes as beating up a lone constable in Wallasey who had refused to strike. It is probable that William, a reasonable man, called for calm and made visits to other unions and police to secure support.
Whatever
role William was called on to play it is known that, along with 954 other
After the strike No Police Striker Need Apply was the employer’s cry.
William became very active in the campaign to have strikers reinstated and to such an end a meeting was arranged with Lord Derby, who held him in high esteem, and the Police strikers who had served in the Liverpool Pals.
Meet
The
Earl could not openly meet Jack Hayes, a sacked
Mr Edwards was in fact Lord Derby acting as a peacemaker.
It is believed Jack Hayes attended the meeting as Mr Edwards with the full knowledge of Lord Derby. The meeting
took place but what was discussed was never revealed by either side – it all came to nothing.
The Labour Party promised that if it came to power all strikers would be reinstated.
Great effort was made by the police strikers to ensure a Labour victory. When it came, the promise was broken and for a lot of the old guard of NUPPO and the strikers in general it was the last straw.
The
Government vowed that no police striker would ever put on a police uniform
again. Many went to
Some joined non-Home Office police forces such as parks police but most ended up on the dole or doing unskilled work.
Market
William was held in such regard that Liverpool Corporation, although vociferous in its condemnation of the strike, offered him a position as a market constable.
William
accepted the job and threw himself into again serving the citizens of
During late 1927 or early 1928 William was carrying out his duties when he saw an armed robbery taking place.
The gunman murdered two people and made off with his gains. William gave
chase and after a violent struggle the offender was arrested.
For this outstanding act William was awarded the OBE, although the award was not announced in the London Gazette but in the Edinburgh Gazette.
Perhaps for political reasons, he was not awarded the King’s Police Medal.
Request
Lord Derby requested that he be present at the award ceremony. William attended with his daughter and was presented with his medal by Lord Mayor Margaret Bevan.
William remained with the market police for many years, attaining the rank of chief inspector.
He
lived at
The
appearance in the King’s Birthday Honours of market constable William
Smithwick,
Yes he is one and the same Bill Smithwick who was a witness before the Desborough Commission and a very good witness too.
He has a remarkable war record in the army; he was one of the local leaders of the police strike of 1919 and had a very hard time of it.
Eventually
the
I often see him at his work, bright and cheerful and as popular as ever with all those with whom he comes into contact.
His inherent courage, bordering on recklessness, has earned for him a place in the King’s Birthday Honours list.
Annual General Meeting
The
West Derby Society AGM was held at
The
meeting was opened at
Apologies: Stan Guy.
Minutes of the 2012 AGM: The chairman read the minutes of the last AGM. They were agreed.
Matters Arising: There were no Matters Arising.
Chairman’s Report: Stephen Guy told the meeting:
The
I reckon that nearly all our members appear at least once or twice during the year unless they live far away or are indisposed. We are very grateful for this sterling support.
We had another batch of entertaining and instructive speakers during 2012.
Who can forget Matthew Lepp’s soap-making demonstration? He made it look so simple – and I regularly use his foot soap which comes reinforced with oatmeal.
Our
own David Webster took us to the often-unnoticed realm of street furniture while
Lynne Stumpe’s research into the Tree People of the
Then
there was Don Allerston with his highly-entertaining look at the history of
Hale, a community as old, if not older, than
Wendy Cocks opened our eyes to housing issues and Wei Gan guided us through the mysteries of Oriental Art.
Michael
Shankland’s erudite look at the English Speaking
Thanks again to all our speakers for helping us become such appreciative audiences.
The two outings were the most successful so far in my time as chairman – both coaches were fully-booked.
The
evening mystery tour saw us meandering in the
The day trip to Buxton was a revelation as the coach wound its way over from Macclesfield to Buxton with stunning views of the Shutlingsloe mountain with its strange conical peak.
We
had a good look around Buxton and many of us enjoyed the book fair in the
The year was tinged with sadness with the passing of our stalwart former chairman Jack Cooper in July.
Several
members attended his funeral at
It still remains unsorted and this is task I have set myself in the near future.
Jack
Cooper (right) during restoration of the
The
Society has been involved in a number of planning issues during the year,
notably the proposed Tesco store in the Village and the proposed gating of the
ancient
I have attended meetings of Stephen Twigg’s Village taskforce, giving input to planned traffic measures and other improvements. The Society has also been involved in fund-raising for a Village noticeboard and printed guides which should hopefully become reality in the near future.
The
Courthouse attracted may hundreds of visitors over the year. It is now open
during the new
I
visited a similar courthouse at
The committee thanks all the volunteers who have freely given their time to supervise our Courthouse openings.
I would also like to thank the committee for their help and support during the year, helping to make the running of the Society go so smoothly.
Most of all, a special Thank You to you all. Thank you.
Treasurers Report:
INCOMING £
Subscriptions 670.00
Misc 65.63
Donations 21.00
TOTAL 756.63
OUT-GOING
Hire of Hall 190.00
Speakers 150.00
Print / Post / Stationery 70.20
Misc 357.25
Donations 12.99
TOTAL 780.44
WDS has again had a good year, so we bought a new power point projector for£252.25. Book and magazine sales were up again this year, thank you to all. Some speakers did not charge.
The coach trips were the best for a long time this year. The coaches cost a total of £720 and both coaches were full. We took £755 for the trips so made a profit of £35. We had the annual raffle and made £86 for WDS funds. Looking forward to seeing you all again on our coach trips this year.
Community Account balance year ending 2012: £695.32
£3,005.06
Giving WDS a grand total of £3,700.38
Thank you.
Stephanie Grogan
Hon Treasurer
Election of Officers: All officers stood down and offered themselves for re-election. All were re-elected unanimously.
A.O.B.: The chairman said the payment for visitors to meetings had risen from 50p to £1.
The
AGM closed at
Chairman’s Comments
The Athenaeum has a remarkable library featuring books from the 17th century and earlier up to the present day.
Volumes of Gore’s and Kelly’s street directories are invaluable resources for those researching local history and family trees.
I was browsing through the 1952 Kelly’s the other day and decided to look up the barber’s mentioned by Alastair (above).
Harold
was known in our family as Wacker because of his strong
I remember my first haircut. My recollection is that Wacker placed a board across the barber’s chair to sit children down.
He wore a white coat and I can remember staring at the big picture of the Everton team on the wall.
Wacker would sometimes be clipping away when a woman shouted from over the road. Her head poked over the wall and he would go out to collect a big bottle of green hair oil.
Next door was the rather dingy offices of Lucas & Son, builders.
Sweets
We used to get some of our sweets from a shop on Town Row (near Searle’s) which we called Gough’s. However, the directory gives her name as Mrs Mabel Goth – an unusual surname.
One of my brother’s friends was Mike Sebborn who lived in a rather overgrown smallholding at the bottom of Spring Grove. I recall as a small child looking up at a fearsome nanny goat towering over me.
Mike’s father Robert was a police sergeant. I remember him sat in the study of their large detached house called Auburn Villa, which is still there although the smallholding was built on long ago. Stephen Guy
