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The Liverpool Nobody Knows Tour

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The Liverpool Nobody Knows Tour

Tourism, Liverpool A tour that takes you to long-forgotten locations and reveals the city's most well-hidden historic treasures.
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04/09/2024

The Toxteth and Canning walk.
This Sunday (8th September 2024) meeting outside the Quarter restaurant at 12 noon.
To book a place - just message the page!
Please note, the tour has no link to this fantastic eatery- it’s just the best place to meet!

27/08/2024

A return visit to the old warehouse on Bankhall Street in Liverpool. The Grade II listed building dates from 1874 - located on the Leeds Liverpool canal, barges were able to navigate into the building.
Since my last visit three years ago, the sheds to the left of the warehouse have been demolished - it doesn’t seem the quiet and peaceful spot it was before.

27/08/2024

The Klondyke Estate in Bootle.
I mention the Klondyke Estate on the Bootle walk.
It was built from the late nineteenth century onwards by William 'Klondyke' Jones, a Welsh house builder, former carpenter and then Mayor of Bootle.
His nickname 'Klondyke' - after the Klondyke Gold Rush in late nineteenth century Canada - came about because he was so wealthy.
William Jones built over 900 homes on the estate and even supplied the materials. They were two up, two down houses and they were the first working-class dwellings in Bootle to be connected to the electricity supply.
About a decade ago, the process of demolishing the entire estate began. It was quite an eerie experience to walk through the estate when demolition began. All the front doors had been removed and replaced with clear unbreakable perspex - to prevent people kicking the doors in and getting inside the properties.
Many residents didn't want to leave and fought a long campaign to stay.
But nothing escaped the bulldozers. Save Britains Heritage tried to save the 110 year old Welsh Presbyterian church on Springwell Road - they took Sefton Council to court and sought a judicial review - but to no avail.
The row of shops disappeared too.
These photographs were taken about ten years ago.
New builds were laid out on the site.

25/08/2024

The St Winifreds Hotel pub on Knowsley Road in Bootle may have gone but one of the two beautiful signs that once hanged outside the pub survives.
It can be viewed with a number of other relics of the old Liverpool at Karma Antiques on the corner of Derby Road and Bankfield Street in Bankhall, Liverpool.

24/08/2024

James Stonehouse was a local historian in Victorian Liverpool. He wrote a history of Liverpool - 'The Streets of Liverpool' in 1869.
The story of 'The Mole of Edge Hill' and the Williamson Tunnels is very well known. James Stonehouse wrote about some houses Mr Williamson had built on Mason Street in Edge Hill - they backed onto Back Mason Street.
The houses were 'vaulted to an immense depth.' 'they were as low in depth as they are in height.' James Stonehouse wrote that some of the houses had five or six tiers of cellars. He actually visited some of the cellars, which swarmed with rats 'of immense size.' He saw a snow white rat, 'a most beautiful animal' and tried to catch it but it escaped into a 'long passage.'
'Strange and unaccountable' noises were reported as coming from these cellars. James Stonehouse related a tale he was told by a man living on Mason Street. One night, the man and his family were awoken by the most terrifying 'yells and sounds of agony' that seemed to be coming from the vaults under their house.
A search of the vaults was organised and carried out...but nothing was found.
Presumably, the cellars and vaults must still be there!

19/08/2024

In Victorian and Edwardian times, Britannia really did rule the waves. The Royal Navy was always larger than any two rival navies combined. The Royal Navy enjoyed a great deal of prestige and public support.
Such was the importance of Liverpool as a port that the Royal Navy Channel Fleet would often carry out exercises in the Irish Sea. The Channel Fleet would then sail into Liverpool and would stay for some days.
The port of Liverpool has seen many impressive sights in its long history but few could rival the sight of the Channel Fleet sailing into the River Mersey. On the 20th August 1907, the Channel Fleet which sailed into Liverpool consisted of fourteen battleships and three cruisers.
The city of Liverpool greeted the fleet with great enthusiasm and hospitality. In October 1888, the Mayor of Liverpool hosted 1,330 sailors and marines at St Georges Hall. The dinner they were served consisted of roast turkey and sausages, roast goose with onions and apple sauce, roast beef and potatoes and cauliflower - a dessert of plum pudding and apples and pears followed.
At an earlier dinner in St Georges Hall in 1863, a Royal Marine, Sergeant Diamond had made the following speech-

'The town of Liverpool is the only place we have lately visited that has even thought of entertaining the inferior officers and men of the fleet and I know that everyone of us will carry to our graves the memory of your kindness and ever wish every prosperity to the world-famed town of Liverpool.'

The Royal Navy Channel Fleet sailing into Liverpool, 1887.

18/08/2024

The St James gardens, the old cemetery, walk today!

16/08/2024

This weekends walk. The St James gardens, the old cemetery, walk.
Meeting outside the Oratory at 12 noon - Sunday 18th August 2024.
To book a place, just message this page!

14/08/2024

The Mere Lane Picture House in Everton opened on the 4th November 1916. The first film screened there was the now lost American silent movie 'Infidelity.'
Over the years, ownership of the cinema changed hands a few times - the cinema finally closed for good on the 14th September 1963.
The last film to be shown there was 'Barabbas' starring Anthony Quinn.
The building was then used as a bingo hall, a snooker hall and then a sports centre.
It then became the Mere Lane Social Club, which I remember. The social club was gone by 2007 and the building still stands empty.

11/08/2024

A face at the window on todays Dale Street and Castle Street walk!

10/08/2024

The sun was shining on todays Bootle walk!

07/08/2024

Taking advantage of the nice weather, this weekend is a busy one for the Liverpool Nobody Knows Tour!

Saturday 10th August 2024 - the Bootle walk - meeting outside the Wild Rose pub on Stanley Road (Bootle New Strand) at 12 noon.
(Please note, the tour has no connection to this great pub, it's just the best place to meet!)

Sunday 11th August 2024 - the Dale Street and Castle Street walk - meeting outside the old Borough Hotel pub on the corner of Great Crosshall Street and Standish Street at 12 noon.

To book a place, just message this page!

07/08/2024

An important and poignant memorial just off Everton Valley in Liverpool.
The location was once the site of the Everton Valley Presbyterian church - which opened on the 12th June 1866 and held its final service on the 31st July 1960.
On the 6th December 1937 an RAF aeroplane, a Hawker Audex from RAF Sealand crashed into the steeple of the church. Two local men, Thomas Flood and Thomas Baguely tried to save the pilot but were beaten back by the flames. The pilot, Gordon Dutton Angus, aged 20, died at the scene. It was reported that the smog in the area from countless coal fires would have made the church steeple impossible for the pilot to see.
In 1891, two meetings were held in the church to decide who would take control of Everton Football Club - George Mahon won the vote. John Houlding, the owner of Anfield, his supporters and commitee would later create the Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Ltd in 1892. And the rest as they say is history.
When the church was demolished, the sandstone pillars at the entrance were saved. They are what you can see today.

06/08/2024

A derelict house and encroaching nature on Everton Road in Liverpool make for quite a nice picture.

05/08/2024

A return visit to the old theatre on Breck Road in Liverpool.
The Theatre Royal opened in 1888 and it had capacity for 500 people. It became the Theatre Royal Palace of Varieties just three years later. From 1906 to 1920 it was used as a playhouse.
In 1920 it became a cinema, the Super Royal cinema. Over the years, ownership changed hands and the cinema finally closed in 1965. The last films screened there were ‘Robin and the Seven Hoods’ starring Frank Sinatra and the ‘Bugs Bunny Show No 3.’
The building was a bingo hall until 1997, then a carpet warehouse and later a furniture shop.
The building has been empty for some years, planning permission for its demolition was granted but it is still there.
Little of its original interior now survives.

19/07/2024

Renovation work on a beauty shop on Stanley Road in Bootle has revealed the amazing original shop front.
Keen to find out about the original shop I chatted to a local gentleman who remembered the shop very well.
It had closed well before the Bootle New Strand (opposite) opened in 1968. Strand Road in Bootle was were the local gentleman and his family shopped before the Strand opened.
The shop sold models and accessories, prams and bikes. The main focus of the business was bikes.
The owner of the shop was very helpful to young modellers and gladly offered help and advice to his customers. I wondered if he was a local chap? Unfortunately the local gentleman couldn’t remember!

05/07/2024

A lost Liverpool pub.
In 1869, Elizabeth Quigley ran the 'Theatre Tavern' at 12 Williamson Square, Liverpool. Ms Quigley was fighting to keep her license because the 'Theatre Tavern' 'bore a very bad name.' A year earlier, the 'Theatre Tavern' had lost its spirits license. It was said at a hearing that 'a certain class of woman.....congregate in her house.' They were described as 'ladies who are not very particular.'
There had been a terrible incident in the 'Theatre Tavern' the same year. A young gentleman, Mr T P Carstairs, from Southport, had travelled to Liverpool with a friend. They went to the theatre and then to the 'Theatre Tavern' for a drink.
For some reason, Mr Carstairs began singing 'The Bonny Blue Flag' a Confederate song from the recent American Civil War. Unfortunately for Mr Carstairs there were a group of American sea captains in the 'Theatre Tavern' too. They asked Mr Carstairs to stop singing the song, he refused and started to sing it a second time.
A fight started, two groups pelted each other with glasses and a man was thrown threw a window. At that point an American captain hit Mr Carstairs over the head with a champagne bottle. Mr Carstairs later made his way back to Southport but died the next day. Some of the Americans involved in the incident left Liverpool as quickly as they could - no one was ever held to account for Mr Carstairs death.
Elizabeth Quigley lost her license and the 'Theatre Tavern' was shut down. On the 4th May 1870, the 'Theatre Taverns' entire contents including two fine tuned cottage piano-fortes, oil paintings and handsome gas chandeliers were sold at auction.

01/07/2024

The 1st of July marks one of the most poignant dates in British and indeed Irish history.
The first day of the Somme was the start of the Battle of the Somme in France which lasted from the 1st July to 18th November 1916. Over one million men were killed or wounded on all sides - it was the deadliest battle in human history.
The battle began on the morning of the 1st July 1916, In bright sunshine, British and Dominion and Empire and French forces attacked the German lines.
By the end of the day, the British forces had suffered 57,470 casualties, 19,240 being killed. They gained three square miles of territory. That most terrible day, the Kings Liverpool regiment - 'The Pals' lost 200 men killed, 300 wounded, captured or missing.
The Kings Liverpool regiment committed fifteen battalions to the battle in total- and lost 3,305 men.
On the first day of the Somme, it was only the 36th (Ulster) Division and the Kings Liverpool regiment that achieved their objectives.
The 36th (Ulster) Division suffered 5,000 casualties including 2,000 killed. Later in September, the 16th (Irish) Division would suffer 4,500 men killed or wounded in the battle.
Lest we forget.

01/07/2024

When working in Chester, I like going off from the main shopping centre and visitor sites - The Liverpool Nobody Knows Tour style!
That's were all the most interesting sights and stories are.
I'm putting a few photographs on the tour page, while not Liverpool related, I'm sure they will be of interest to followers of the tour page.
Parkers Buildings are a block of flats off Foregate Street in Chester. They were built between 1888-1889 by the 1st Duke of Westminster. They were built for former employees of his who had retired from working on his Eaton Hall estate.
The building work was carried out by a Chester firm, Douglas & Fordham and supervised by Cecil Parker, the Duke of Westminsters nephew and agent - hence the name of the buildings.
Cecil Parker was very unhappy with the completed building, complaining of 'poor workmanship and materials.'
Parkers Building consisted of thirty flats over three floors, there were no inside toilets or bathrooms for the original inhabitants. A separate wash house was constructed on the site.
The block was modernised in 1982 and it is now a retirement complex.

Parkers Buildings, Chester.

26/06/2024

The extraordinary stories of two Liverpool serviceman of the Great War.
Jack Traynor was born in Liverpool in 1883, the son of an Irish mother. He later joined the Merchant Navy before joining the Royal Navy. Jack Traynor saw extensive service in the Great War, he was severely wounded in the Gallipoli campaign of 1915. Serving with the Royal Naval Brigade he was hit by machine gun fire and lost the use of his right arm - he also began to suffer from epilepsy.
A failed post-war operation to cure his epilepsy left Mr Traynor without the use of this legs. The operation made a hole in his skull which left his brain visible. He was permanently confined to a wheelchair and he spent his days sitting outside his home in Grafton Street, Toxteth.
In 1923, he joined a 1,200 strong Liverpool pilgrimage to Lourdes. By now he was so ill it was feared that he would never return. On the journey to Lourdes, on three separate occasions, Mr Traynor was taken off the train. But on each occasion there was no hospital in that particular town - so his journey continued.
On arrival in Lourdes, Mr Traynor was dying and arrangements for his funeral began. Mr Traynor was bathed in the waters and incredibly all his afflictions were seemingly washed away.
News of what had happened reached Liverpool and crowds gathered at Lime Street railway station to greet Mr Traynor on his return.
Medical reports written by local doctors confirmed that his afflictions had seemingly just disappeared. There was no explanation on this earth to account for what had happened.
Mr Traynor later started his own coal haulage business and returned to Lourdes every summer to act as a stretcher bearer.
Jack Traynor passed away in 1943 and he now rests at Allerton cemetery.

26/06/2024

This picture below is one of the best known photographs of an Australian soldier taken during the First World War - it is entitled - 'Wild Eyes - The Souvenir King.'
The man in the picture is John 'Barney' Hines and he was actually born in Liverpool, England to Irish parents. He was born in the city in 1873 and tried to join the army aged just 14 - but his mother prevented his enlistment.
John Hines later served in the Royal Navy and the Kings Liverpool Regiment. Later in life, he emigrated to Australia.
When the First World War broke out in 1914 he enlisted in the Australian army - he claimed to be 27 years old when he was in fact 42. He was medically discharged a year later but managed to join up again.
He was described at the time as being 'powerfully built, covered in tattoos and speaking with a strong accent.'
John Hines was then sent to fight on the Western Front. He proved to be a brave and fearless soldier. One army officer said that his presence inspired calm and confidence in his comrades.
John Hines refused to carry a standard issue rifle, he carried a bag of hand grenades instead. And no one, not even his officers, told him what to do. When he saw a Lewis light machine gun in action, he armed himself with one saying 'That'll do me, I can hose the b**tards down.' He could (on occasions) get in trouble for fighting, drunkenness and forging army pay books. Others remarked on his often strange and erratic behaviour.
But John Hines had one great obsession - collecting German war souvenirs, most of which he took from German prisoners.
On one occasion he brought a grandfather clock back from enemy lines, on another a piano!
He became very well known for this and the famous photograph of him was taken in September 1917. Legend has it that the German Kaiser became enraged on seeing the photograph and placed a bounty on John Hines head.
John Hines was later discharged from the army and went back to Australia to live. It was believed that John Hines had been terribly traumatised by this wartime experiences. The war had also taken a physical toll on this brave gentleman. He was to spend the next 40 years living in a shelter made from cloth bags on the side of Mount Druitt near Sydney.
He lived on his army pension, doing odd jobs and occasionally selling some of his souvenirs. Once a week John Hines would collect vegetables from his garden and deliver them to a local army hospital.
In 1934,when his situation was made public, many of his old comrades, who had always had great respect for him, sent him money. The Australian government doubled his pension.
When the Second World War broke out in 1939, John Hines, then aged 66 (!) tried to join up again but was rejected. The quiet teetotaler was interviewed by an Australian newspaper in 1950. The interview seems to show that Mr Hines had never lost his Liverpool accent.
John 'Barney' Hines died on the 29th January 1958 aged 85.
He now rests in Sydney's Rookwood Cemetery.

23/06/2024

A beautiful and tranquil place in Liverpool, todays St James gardens, the old cemetery, walk.

21/06/2024

The St James gardens, the old cemetery, walk.
This Sunday (23rd June 2024) - meeting outside the Oratory at 12 noon.
To book a place, just message the page!

21/06/2024

Who or what was Spring Heeled Jack, the Victorian ghost/demon/prankster, will never really be known. But whoever he was, he enjoyed visiting Liverpool. It is well documented that he was spotted on the roof of St Xaviers church and William Henry Street in Everton in 1888 and 1904.
But the terror of Victorian Britain was actually in Liverpool a year earlier. In 1887, he was spotted on the Pleasure Ground adjoining St Augustines church on Shaw Street. There was a 'rocky mount' on the Pleasure Ground and Spring Heeled Jack was seen standing on it in a 'statuesque pose.' He was described as wearing a garment that was white fronted but black at the back. When he spun around, eye witnesses described it has giving the impression of a lighthouse lamp.
That he was there is in no doubt, hundreds of people gathered to watch him. On one occasion, two local policemen attempted to catch him. They crept up behind him after squeezing through a gap in an iron fence. As they were about to grab him, Spring Heeled Jack literally disappeared, convincing onlookers he was indeed a spirit.
Spring Heeled Jack was later seen at Walton Church and a number of people claimed to have seen 'flying ghosts' at Bootles South Park - he was also sighted in Widnes.
If this wasn't scary enough, there were reports at the same time of a ghost at Anfield cemetery. He was named Andrew and was seen (dressed in white) moving in and out of the gravestones. A human head was also seen floating over the cemetery wall(!)
These strange events were reported nationally and were to lead to tragedy. On Tuesday 13th September 1887, an inquest was held in Southport concerning the death of six year old Miss Halsall. The little girl, described as of a nervous disposition, had stopped her father on his way home from work.

'Father, there is a ghost at Liverpool and it is coming to Southport.'

Despite her parents trying to reassure her, the little girl took to her bed and died a couple of days later. It was later ruled that she'd died of 'shock to the system consequent upon fright.'
The coroner believed the poor little girl had been frightened by other children and condemned them as 'mean, cowardly and dispicable fellows.'

18/06/2024

I saw this in Chester last week and I thought it might be of interest to followers of this page!
The letters EWS and an arrow painted on the wall of a parish centre on the corner of Brook Street and Milton Street. You can still see similar signs in other parts of the country.
It dates from the Second World War. Emergency Water Supply points were laid out in towns and cities in the event of the mains supplies being put out of action as a result of enemy attack.
A canal is close by so I can only assume that it would have been used as the emergency water supply!

13/06/2024

Two very different walks in the near future.

The Bootle walk - Sunday 16th June 2024.
Meeting outside the Wild Rose pub on Stanley Road at 12 noon.
The tour has no connection to this great pub, it’s just the best place to meet!

The St James gardens, the old cemetery, walk - Sunday 23rd June 2024.
Meeting outside the Oratory at 12 noon.

To book a place on either walk, just message the page!

11/06/2024

The old street sign in Kirkdale, Liverpool is now so worn you can barely read it - but it points you in the direction of the Kirkdale recreation ground - a pleasant park and green space.
If you approach from the opposite direction you do so along Sessions Road - which gives you some clue to the history of the site of the Kirkdale recreation ground.
For the site has probably the darkest history of any place on Merseyside. The Kirkdale recreation ground was the site of the Kirkdale House of Correction (the gaol) It had its own court - the Sessions House.
Kirkdale gaol opened in 1818 and closed in 1892.
The worst conditions prevailed and at times the gaol had the highest death rates in the country. 67 people were hanged at the prison.
Between 1835 and 1867, 30 men and two women were hanged in public on the site - usually at noon. The executions attracted huge crowds. Railway companies laid on special trains and people came from as far away as Yorkshire. A huge beer tent was erected next to the gallows.
On the 12th Sepetember 1863, four men were hanged at the same time at Kirkdale gaol - over 100,000 people watched the executions.
Often the hangmen were not very good at their jobs and some of the prisoners were slowly strangled or had their heads partly pulled off.
A year after the Kirkdale gaol closed, the bodies of the condemned who had been buried in the prison grounds were dug up and moved to a Liverpool cemetery.
The work made headlines in the newspapers, the headlines read 'ghastly work at Liverpool, removal of murderers bodies.'
The newspapers reported that the work was carried out at night and it was proving a very difficult task. 67 coffins were brought to the site but only 60 coffins were used,

The Kirkdale recreation ground in Liverpool.

05/06/2024

The derelict Parrot pub on Scotland Road, Liverpool this evening - the building is now looking increasingly forlorn and not a little surreal.

04/06/2024

Apologies to the South End of Liverpool, but The Liverpool Nobody Knows Tour is focused on north Liverpool for the next couple of weeks!

The Dock Road walk, Sunday 9th June 2024, meeting outside the front riverside entrance of the Liver building at 12 noon.

The Bootle walk, Sunday 16th June 2024, meeting outside the Wild Rose pub on Stanley Road at 12 noon. (Please note the tour has no connection to this great pub, it's just the best place to meet!)

To book a place on either walk, just message the page!

04/06/2024

Pawnbrokers have been around since early history and sadly they're once more a common sight on British streets.
They were an even more common sight in Victorian Liverpool.
In 1824, Henry Booth wrote a pamphlet, 'Thoughts on the Condition of the Poor in Large Towns, especially with reference to Liverpool.' He wrote about how much money the sixty licensed and numerous unlicensed pawnbrokers in Liverpool were making from the poor. Some pawnbrokers were making over £9,000 a year in profit and were riding around in carriages - at a time when the average agricultural labourer was making about nine shillings a week.
Victorian pawnbrokers were not fussy about what they took in - jewellery, watches, tools, clothes, shawls and even sheets and bedding. Some Liverpool people were so poor they didn't even have clothes to pawn - so they borrowed clothes off neighbours or they 'borrowed' clothes from moneylenders.
People pawned their goods on Mondays and got them back on Saturdays. On Saturdays, pawnbrokers on Great Homer Street were so busy that they stayed open well past midnight. Anti-drink campaigners would frequently stand outside pawn shops handing out their tracts.
In the 1870s, it was estimated that Liverpool pawnbrokers made an incredible nine million loans a year - half of these being for two shillings or less. A mere 50,000 loans per year were for two guineas for more.
There were a number of unlicensed pawn shops in Liverpool - they were known as 'dolly shops.' Thieves would use these 'dolly shops' to dispose of stolen goods. The pawn shops would even accept goods brought in by children.
As pawnbrokers would usually locate themselves in 'rough' areas they were often the victims of crime. In the 1840s, Charles Dickens, on one of his many stays in Liverpool, visited a pawnbrokers in Whitechapel. He was surprised to see a wooden barrier between the staff and customers - he'd never seen this before.
Pawnbrokers were a feature of life in Edwardian and later Liverpool too. Movingly, Andie Clark, in his early 20th century autobiography, wrote about how the poorest in Liverpool did their best to appear presentable at funerals - visiting the pawnbrokers beforehand to buy black clothing and hats.

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Real history as told by real people, some of which definitely doesn’t appear in the history books! The Liverpool Nobody Knows Tours. This site was first filmed seven years ago. ‘You want to go and take a look at that wall on Litherland Road. I don’t remember it happening, I was born just after the war but I remember people talking about it. A German plane came out of the sky, in the middle of the day, it machine gunned the gasworks on Marsh Lane (Bootle) Tried to blow them up. People watched it, you can still see the bullet holes in the wall.’

You can now buy Christmas gift vouchers which your friends and loved ones can redeem for a New Year tour of their choice. Please message the page for details!

The forlorn house on Winter Street in Liverpool ( just past the Royal Hospital.) The house came to the attention of the Liverpool Nobody Knows Tour a few years ago. It had gone on fire and the story appeared in the Liverpool Echo. I visited the house and what was remarkable was that everything else around it had long since been demolished - but it remained standing. A check in the newspaper archives and local directories revealed nothing. The street had once been the home of skilled working class families, that is all I could find out. So I spoke to local people, one gentleman said the house was a gift or legacy of some sort, that is why it couldn’t be knocked down. A lady said that a long time ago, a lady murdered her husband in the house, another gentleman said that years ago a hearse was always parked outside the house(!) I visited the site today and the house is still there!

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