Knowsley is 50!

A new exhibition in the Archive Exhibition Space, Kirkby Library celebrates the beginnings of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley…

Knowsley’s Coat of Arms, designed by Mr. H. Ellis-Tomlinson, M.A., F.H.S. and presented to the Council by Sir Harold Wilson at a Special Meeting of the Council, 18 May 1977

The Borough of Knowsley as we know it today was formed under the Local Government 1972, coming into being on 1 April 1974.

It had been a long road to Local Government reorganisation: the Royal Commission on Local Government was convened in 1966 to set the criteria for the establishment of the new local authorities. The Commission reported its findings to Parliament in June 1969, including 10 general principles which underpinned the Commission’s proposals:                  

1. They must be based upon the interdependence of town and country;
2. Local Authority areas should give a sense of common purpose;
3. All environment orientated services must be contained in one authority, which must be large enough to meet the growing population needs and its residents must have a common interest because of their life pattern;
4. If possible, all local authority services should be contained in one authority;
5. All authorities should be bigger than most county boroughs and all county districts;
6. Authorities should contain at least 250,000 people;
7. Those authorities that provided personal services should not contain much more than 1,000,000 people;
8. In those parts of the country where the area required for planning and the environmental services had too large a population for the personal services, there should be a two tier system of local government. In these cases the related services should be kept in one authority;
9. The new system, wherever possible, should come from the existing system.
10. All personal services should be in the hands of one authority.

Terms of Reference for the Local Government Reorganisation Metropolitan District 11(c) Steering Group

As the relevant Unitary Authority, Lancashire County Council responded to the Royal Commission on Local Government in England. As part of the negotiations and preparations for re-organisation, a Steering Committee was set up with representatives from Huyton-with-Roby, Prescot and Kirkby Urban District Councils and Whiston Rural District Council to manage the transition to the new Borough – but what to call it?

Two names were considered: Biccford (an amalgamation of BICC and Ford, the two major employers in the district), and Knowsley, the family seat of the Earls of Derby. By a show of hands, Knowsley was the winning choice, which was duly recorded by the Secretary of State for the Environment. A borough was born!

The first elections under the Local Government Act, 1972 took place in May 1973, when Knowsley District Council was created to allow for the transition to the new arrangements.

The first meeting of the District Council on 13 June 1973 includes minutes relating to the form of a petition to Her Majesty the Queen, requesting that the District of Knowsley be granted Borough status in accordance with Section 245 of the Local Government Act, 1972.

The very first volume of Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council minutes dates from 1 April 1974 and records minutes from committee and sub-committee meetings, standing orders, terms of reference and financial regulations of the new Metropolitan Borough Council.

High on the agenda of the first meeting of the Borough Council on 1 April was the election of Mayor for the 1974-1975 cycle.

KMBC Minute book showing the minutes of the first
meeting of the new Borough Council

Cllr and Mrs J Maguire, featured on a
decorative plate

Moved by Councillor Tempest and seconded by Councillor Gleeson, it was resolved that Councillor John Maguire be elected Mayor of the Borough of Knowsley for the year 1974 -1975 and was duly invested with the Chain of Office. Councillor M. Burke was elected Deputy Mayor.

In addition to the Chain of Office, to outwardly signify their civic status, Knowsley’s Mayors traditionally wear full a robe, a hat and a fine lace stock, or jabot.

Here are examples of the robe, bicorn hat and jabot which feature in the exhibition. If the Mayor is male, the hat worn is a bicorn style, as shown here; a female would wear a tricorn, or three cornered hat:

Mayoral Robe and below, a Bicorn Hat

The Jabot, a fine lace stock

Throughout the year, there will be a rolling programme of exhibits that tell the story of the Borough of Knowsley through the lens of the Archive Collections. You’ll find us in the Archive Exhibition Space, Kirkby Library. Keep a look out for new displays, or get in touch for more information or to share your stories.

Contact Knowsley Archives Service, The ARK, 1st Floor, The Kirkby Centre, Norwich Way, Kirkby L32 8XY, call us on 0151 443 4291 or email us at infoheritage@knowsley.gov.uk.

The Season of Goodwill…

Christmas is coming and the shops are bustling with people preparing for the festive season. In Knowsley’s Archive, as we take a moment to pause and reflect on the last twelve months and to look ahead to the New Year and those impossible to keep resolutions, we’ve been having a look at some of the more seasonal items in the collections and asking, what can the Archive tell us about the season of goodwill and its celebration in our communities?

One of the collections, the Cross Heuller Archive [KA189/B], reveals how a company might reward its staff for their loyalty and hard work throughout the year whilst involving their families during the Christmas and New Year period.

The Cross Company was founded in 1898 in Detroit, Michigan. Cross International arrived at Kirkby Industrial Estate to begin its machine tool manufacturing operation in April 1969, spending a brief spell in the Ward and Goldstone factory before settling into a new plant on Randles Road, Knowsley on 29^th December 1969. The official opening of the factory took place on 20^th March 1970, with Prime Minister and local Member of Parliament Harold Wilson as guest of honour.  Much effort went into getting the plant up and running and perhaps for this reason, the Company’s Christmas party for the employees’ children was held in early January 1971. Photographs of the event, captured in a scrapbook featuring key landmarks in the company’s commercial and social development, show that the festive spirit was still very much in evidence: the children are pictured tucking into sandwiches, jelly and ice cream whilst wearing party hats and pulling Christmas crackers.

Friday, 17^th December 1971 was the occasion of Cross International’s first employees’ dinner dance, set at Allerton Hall, Clarke Gardens with entertainment provided by the Barry Noble Discotheque. The menu included iced melon as a starter (a running theme in later celebration menus) and a traditional turkey roast with all the trimmings, followed by plum pudding and plum sauce.  Again, the Children’s Christmas Party was held in the early New Year. This was a very lively affair, with Father Christmas making a popular appearance to distribute gifts amongst the children. Entertainment included musicians, a clown and a film show. A letter of thanks, written by 3 of the children to the ‘Dear ladies and gentleman’, voiced their appreciation of the film show and the entertainers in particular.

The Cross International factory was cutting edge, with all the latest technologies incorporated into the machines and building design. Even the staff canteen was modern and streamlined, with an automated system for heating frozen ready meals in microwave ovens and vending machines to dispense drinks. Technology was likewise applied to Christmas: the scrap book contains a wonderful example of word processor art, with a seasonal greeting to overseas colleagues at Fraser and Crew created using the word ‘Cross’ repeatedly. The message seems quite primitive by today’s standards, but in 1971, this was the stuff of tomorrow’s world.

The first Christmas Dinner Dance in 1971 was organised by the Committee of the Sports and Social Club, a growing sense of community, identity and social awareness developing within the company. This gathering was held at Allerton Hall, Clarke Gardens, where guests danced to the Barry Noble Discotheque and enjoyed a traditional turkey roast (with iced melon for starters).

Such attention to the workforce, with an apprentice scheme and favourable conditions of employment – plus an investment in the factory of around £2 million – certainly seemed to be paying off for Cross International. In November 1975, the Managing Director, Ralph E. Cross Jr., reported a turnover of over £3 million and an enviable expansion programme, all at a time of recession for the machine tool industry.

Sending season’s greetings to friends, family and colleagues is another way of showing goodwill at Christmas. Christmas cards first appeared in the UK in 1834 and were devised by Sir Henry Cole [1808-1882] who, in his early career as a civil servant, was involved in the development of the Penny Post. Coincidentally, he commissioned his artist friend, J.C. Horsley, to design the first commercial Christmas card. This featured a traditional family enjoying seasonal fare flanked by portrayals of charitable works and retailed for 1 shilling.

Designs have varied over the years, but the sentiment remains constant. One example from the Archive collections was sent by a Huyton father to his young daughter in 1918. He had served in the Royal Flying Corps throughout the Great War: a previous card sent whilst he was on active service had been far more austere in its design, showing fighter planes in drab monochrome. That design was appropriately far more restrained than the whimsical depiction of three robins nestling in a bouquet of festive holly leaves that adorned the first card sent from father to daughter in the post war era.

Another of our collections, the Margaret Whitaker née Hodge collection, documents the experiences of the young Miss Hodge, a tutor at Kirkby’s Malayan Teachers’ Training College in the mid-1950s. She built a strong bond with her students, who kept in touch with her for many years after they had all left Kirkby. Amongst her correspondence we find some beautiful international examples of Christmas cards from across the decades. The first, a Chinese design depicting a beautiful pagoda resplendent with bright colours and glitter, dates from around 1954:

Our next example from the 1960s features poinsettias and holly tied up in red ribbon:

Our final card dates from 1996. Created by Miss Hodge’s former student, Hanna-Cheriyan Varghese for the Council of Churches of Malaysia and in contrast to the other cards featured, it illustrates a contemporary Nativity scene – a timely reminder of the reason Christmas is celebrated.

Whilst each generation adapts and develops new trends that reflect the times in which we live, re-enacting the traditions that have come down through the decades offers our communities touchstones that mark the passing years and strengthen those bonds that tie our families and communities together.

Under the Hammer: Estate Sales in Knowsley

Who was it said, ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’? Whether purchased or rented, the biggest financial commitment made by most people throughout their lives is probably their home. Turn on the television and there are countless programmes telling us how and where to buy, how to avoid the pitfalls of buying and renting, how to give our homes a makeover and even how (or how not!) to build a house…

It is possible to pick up a property bargain at auction. This is not a new development, as shown by one of the collections in Knowsley’s Archive. The Estate Sales Catalogue Collection is made up of a number of auctioneers’ catalogues which offer us a different perspective on life in the early to mid-20^th century. During the 1920s and 1930s, some of the larger private estates in the area, such as the Tarbock Estate and the Halsnead Estate in Whiston were dispersed. These sales included the sale of land and property and the catalogues set out in detail the particulars and conditions of sale for each lot.

The Tarbock Estate sale took place at 1:00pm on Tuesday 1^st June 1926, at the Hare and Hounds Hotel, Tarbock with auctioneers John D. Wood & Co. and Boult, Son & Maples wielding the gavel. The estate covered about 2,272 acres, comprising of 20 corn and potato growing farms, 10 small houses which were ‘nicely situated in Good Gardens, suitable for week-end or permanent occupation of business men’, 40 good detached and semi-detached cottages, small holdings and market gardening land. Ripe building plots from three quarters of an acre were advertised, with water, gas and drainage available. In all, a total of 135 lots were on offer.      

The Halsnead Estate dated back to the 13^th century and was in the continued possession of the Willis family from 1684, when Liverpool merchant Thomas Willis purchased the Hall and estate, until its sale by Charles Rodolph D’Anyers Willis in 1929. The auctioneers, Osborn & Mercer of Albermarle Street, London, held the auction, coincidentally, at the Hare and Hounds, Tarbock at 2:00pm on Thursday 27^th June 1929.  At that time, the freehold estate extended to some 1,540 acres split into 78 lots. These included 12 compact dairy, corn and potato farms, various small holdings, 80 cottages, building and accommodation land and woodlands. The Hall itself was offered as ‘a fine old commodious residence, well adapted for use as a School or Institution or in conjunction with a Golf Course which can be formed in the undulating Park’. Such ambitions were not realised, however: the Hall was demolished in 1932.

Not all auctions involve the sale of land and property: some of the sales represented in the Archive were dispersal sales of an individual’s household effects. One such auction was taken by Brown and Brown of Liverpool at Dumbreeze House, Knowsley Park on the instructions of the executors of W.H. Crook Esq., deceased.

Walter Harris Crook was born in 1849, the son of Thomas, a tailor and draper, and Charlotte. The 1851 Census indicates that he was the youngest of 7 children living at Pleasant Street, Liverpool and in 1861, Joseph and his youngest children, including Walter, are listed at an address on Everton Valley. By 1871, a 21 year old Walter, who is employed as a clerk, is found living with his oldest brother George in Clarence Grove, Everton. The following year, on 17^th October 1872, Walter marries Mary Ann Barker in Doncaster, before setting up home at 5 Poplar Terrace, Tarbock Road, Huyton.

By 1881, Walter and Mary have a daughter, Ethel Mary and the family seem to be living comfortably off Walter’s business as a wine merchant based in Liverpool: they are served by a cook and a housemaid. By 1889, the business, wine merchants Daniel Wilson & Sons, has vaults at Gilbert Street, Liverpool and a counting house and warehouse in Campbell Street. The 1891 census reveals that the Crook family, supported by 2 maids and a cook, is living on Tarbock Road and in 1896, Ethel marries William Glasier. Walter and Mary’s home address is listed in the 1899 Gore’s Directory of Liverpool as ‘Brooklands, Tarbock Road’ and by 1914, they have moved their household to Dumbreeze House in Knowsley Park.

Walter Harris Crook passed away on 1^st November 1922 and probate records place a value of £38, 989 6s 22d on his effects and estate – around £1,875,259 at today’s prices! Probate was granted to Ethel, John Edward Willis Crook and Frederick Stanley Morris (Chartered Accountant) in London and the executors proceeded to order the sale of the valuable household appointments of Dumbreeze House by auction.

The sale took place at the property over a period of 2 days – Monday and Tuesday, 4^th and 5^th December 1922. Everything, from the beautifully grained pollard oak dining room suite, Axminster carpets, works of art and porcelain to a lawn mowing machine, stacks of hay and 2 jersey cows was open to bids. The catalogue itself is set out by room with a brief description of each item for sale within that space, taking the prospective purchaser on a virtual guided tour of the property. Day 1 started in the Maid’s Room No. 1 and proceeded through the servants’ quarters to the bedrooms, then on to the Drawing Room with its mahogany furniture and antique tall pedestal clock, made by A. Timer, Wellington. The 1^st day’s sale ended with a selection of water colour drawings and the mainly leather bound books in the library, including Shaw’s Zoology in 29 volumes, published in 1811.

Day 2 began in the Kitchen, where furniture, carpets and equipment were for sale: even the Axminster runner in the passage to the Dining Room was to be bid on. Next, bidding moved to the Butler’s Pantry and the Back Hall, where a bronze gong and beater could be purchased. On then to the Hall, where there were 5 stags’ heads and antlers amongst the furniture, grandfather clock and artists’ proof etchings and engravings. The furniture and fittings in the Library were dealt with on this 2^nd day, as were items of glass and china, silver and electroplate.

The Dining Room presented a quality oak extendable dinner table with 10 single chairs and a pair of carver chairs, and amongst other items, a bronze statue of a horse and a number of oil paintings, including 2 attributed to the Victorian equestrian artist, J. K. Herring. Other items for sale included a 12-bore double barrel hammerless sporting gun made by W. Richards of Liverpool and, in a nod to Walter Crook’s trade, a selection of fine wines and spirits.

The contents of the outbuildings were also up for auction, with various tools, gardening equipment and bicycles on offer – not forgetting the 2 Jersey cows and approximately 70 head of poultry and 800 eggs preserved in lime and stored in a wooden tub… In all, there were 633 lots up for auction.

For more information about Knowsley Archives Service or to find out about the archive, visit: http://archives.knowsley.gov.uk/ email infoheritage@knowsley.gov.uk or call 0151 443 4291

Gather Round: Tales of Autumnal Mystery…

Autumn has arrived; the trees are shedding their gold, red and brown leaves, the clocks will soon be turning back and as the evenings draw in, temperatures are falling.

Lancastrian dialect poet Edwin Waugh [1817-1890] captures the feeling with his poem ‘What makes your leaves fall down?’ when he laments:

‘What makes your leaves fall down,

Ye dropping autumn flowers?

What makes your green go brown,

Ye fading autumn bowers?

Oh, thou complaining gale,

That wand’rest sad and lone,

What sorrows swell the tale

Of that funereal moan?’

[from ‘Poems and Lancashire songs’ by Edwin Waugh, 4^th edition, published by Abel Heywood and Son, 1876: ARK Special Collections]

Winter is just around the corner and since prehistoric times, people have gathered together to share tales of bravery, hope, daring and the supernatural to defend against the dark of a long winter’s night. We have delved into the Archive to rediscover some local tales of mystery from long ago…

Legends of headless horsemen and ghoulish galloping steeds are told all around the country, but one such story relates to a place much closer to home.

Our source for the ‘Legend of The White Horse of Whiston’ is local historian and author Bill Blinkhorn, who retells a tale told to him many years ago by Mr. Horn of Rainhill. According to legend, a ghostly white battle charger can be seen galloping across Halsnead Park:

‘See I galloping Saxon White Horse ghost

Once leader in battle with Ancient Host

Frights maidens of the villagery

And oft makes the milk bear no balm

Misleads night wanderers, laughs at their harm

With ouglie hobgoblin Puck, no imagery

But with Lickers Fold sprites at early dawn

Speed away to rest like startled fawn’

[from: ‘Whiston: a young person’s guide’ by Bill Blinkhorn, published by KMBC Department of Leisure Services, Libraries Division, 1990: ARK Special Collections] 

Often, traditional tales such as this are passed from generation to generation, recounted as narratives or poems which are rarely written down but shared though storytelling. Others may have their origins in 18^th century chapbooks, cheaply produced works of popular literature which were sold on the streets and covered everything from tales of the supernatural to current affairs. Take for example the ghostly tale of ‘The Spectre Horseman of Giller’s Green’, recounted by James Hoult in a press cutting from the Prescot Reporter of January 25^th 1924 [KA57/P/Z9: Prescot Grammar School Collection].

A tale of thwarted love, this story was, it is said, repeated to customers by the landlady of a local hostelry, the Angel Inn, sometime during the 1700s. She told of a rich farmer from Giller’s Green (then a village in the old township of Eccleston – the area is now known as Gillar’s Green) whose daughter was engaged to an unsuitable young man. The farmer had the engagement broken off and his daughter sent away to stay with relatives. Tragically, the young man died of a broken heart, but the daughter wasn’t aware that he had passed away.

One night, she was awoken by a horseman banging on the door. It was her beloved, come to take her home – and because he was riding her father’s horse and carrying her mother’s hood, she believed that all of their troubles were over and that they could return together. She climbed onto the horse and riding pillion behind her fiancé, they galloped back to her father’s house.

On arrival, the young man dismounted, complaining of a terrible headache. The daughter took her handkerchief and bound his head before he left her to enter the house alone. Her parents, who had no idea that she was returning, were shocked by her arrival and could not believe what she was telling them. In disbelief, the farmer ran over to the stables to check on his horse. The beast had obviously been ridden hard as it was exhausted and sweated up – but how?

The following day, the farmer persuaded the sexton to open the young man’s grave, to make sure that he had been buried properly. His body was there in the coffin – with the daughter’s handkerchief tied around his head…

Could there be an echo of truth in this sorry tale, or was it merely a work of fiction used as entertainment in a local pub?

Cautionary tales are often told to warn people to keep away from dangerous places. Old Lancashire folklore is riddled with tales of boggarts, goblin-like spirits who would inhabit marshes, pits and dangerous roads, causing children to disappear and, in olden days, horses to spook and injure their riders. Many of us will be familiar with tales of Ginny Greenteeth, a frightening, hag-like creature that would inhabit waterways and canals. In wartime Huyton, young women working in the Royal Ordnance Factory in Kirkby were encouraged to get home quickly for fear of being caught by the ‘Galosher Man’, a sinister figure who would stalk lone females walking along dark country lanes. Again, these tales are rarely written down: we learned of the Galosher Man, a more modern urban myth, when talking to Blue Bell Estate residents about their wartime memories.

Knowsley’s Archive is a fabulous source of local stories. Why not visit us, take a closer look at the collections held in the ARK and discover the treasures that reveal the stories, facts, places and people that are at the heart of our communities?

Visit the ARK at the Kirkby Centre, Norwich Way, Kirkby, L32 8XY. For more information about the ARK or to find out about the services on offer, call 0151 442 4365 or email infoheritage@knowsley.gov.uk. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook and find Knowsley Archives on YouTube, Flickr, WordPress and Soundcloud.

Forging a New Life: Stefan Skura – a Polish migration story

Knowsley’s Archive contains many stories of individuals’ journeys and experiences, from wartime exploits to stories of the everyday.

One such story is that of Stefan Skura, born on 11 March 1911, who was a Polish National who came to Britain in 1947 as a private in the Polish Resettlement Corps (P.R.C.).

Stefan was a blacksmith by trade, having served his apprenticeship in Łuck, Poland, where he qualified as a journeyman blacksmith after passing the journeyman’s exam in the blacksmith’s craft, Certificate No. 166/39 at the Chamber of Crafts in Łuck on January 27, 1939.

The P.R.C. was created by the British government as a holding unit for Polish armed forces who, having served alongside British forces during World War II, did not wish to return to Poland.

On discharge from the army unit, Stefan, like other former soldiers, had to re-adjust to civilian life. They were placed on the Unemployed list or on the Class ‘W’ Army Reserve. This identified them as eligible for employment. Grants for civilian clothing and a rail warrant were also given, and these could be withdrawn along with wage reductions and paid leave entitlement if the individual did not meet the requirements of discharge.

Personnel had to report to their local police station to apply for a civilian ID card and coupon book for food and clothes. Any subsequent changes of address had to be reported to the police.

Stefan was discharged into civilian life on 2^nd February 1948. His address at the time was given as Knowsley Park Camp, Prescot and he went on to live at various addresses in both Prescot and St. Helens. He was employed at the British Insulated Calendars Cable factory (BICC) in Prescot. He married Betty Howard on 1^st April 1953 in St Helens and passed away in 1991.

The Stefan Skura Collection (GB1076.SKU) includes a bundle of booklets, such as a national registration identity card and papers, savings books and soldier’s service and pay book, photographs and cards and official documentation concerning alien registration (non-British people had to register with the local police), enlistment and discharge from the Polish Resettlement Corps and other local authority documentation. documents.

Stefan Skura was able to put his skills as a blacksmith to good use in civilian life, and where better to follow his story than in a traditional blacksmith’s forge? This summer, the Stefan Skura Collection is on loan to The Smithy Heritage Centre, Eccleston, St Helens WA10 4RA where it can be viewed weekends, 1:00pm-4:00pm until 17^th September 2023. Contact The Smithy by email smithyheritagecentre@hotmail.com for more details.

You can find out more about Knowsley’s heritage by visiting our website  http://archives.knowsley.gov.uk/ email infoheritage@knowsley.gov.uk or call 0151 443 4291/4365.

One small step…

The Artemis 1 mission successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center at 6:47am GMT (1:47am EST) on Wednesday 16^th November, marking NASA’s renewed mission to explore the lunar environment and deep space possibilities. The mission will extensively test the Space Launch System and the Orion module, which will travel out into deep space at a distance of approximately 65,000 miles beyond the moon before returning to Earth and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11^th 2022. Although this flight is unmanned, it heralds a renewed drive for space exploration.

If we cast our minds back some 53 years, we can recall another feat of trailblazing space travel. This momentous event occurred on July 20^th 1969. Three men – Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins – had piloted Apollo 11 to the moon and two of them – Armstrong and Aldrin – had landed the Lunar Module on the moon’s surface at Mare Tranquillitatis – the Sea of Tranquility. Its safe landing was announced to Mission Control and the waiting world by Mission Commander Armstrong with the words,

‘Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed’. 

The following day, July 21^st 1969, saw Neil Armstrong take the first steps on the lunar surface, when he delivered the immortal line:

‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’

It was. Who can forget being enthralled by the grainy black and white television images of these heroes as they explored the barren wastes of the moon, pictures beaming almost impossibly from space into our homes, schools and workplaces? Everyone stopped and watched, or so it seemed…

Back on earth, the local newspapers were busy reporting the day-to-day goings on of the communities they served. Delving into the Archive to look back at the microfilmed Kirkby Reporter, we can see that in the run up to the Apollo mission, the edition of Thursday 15^th May 1969 ran a feature which looked at a local school’s contribution to the Merseyside Science Fair to be held in June 1969 at Liverpool University, under the headline ‘In the name of Science’. All of the 335 pupils from St. Michael’s Junior School, Westvale, were involved in carrying out detailed scientific research for inclusion in the Fair. For example, one group studied the comparative heights and weights of girls and boys; pupils followed and plotted the progress of their teacher’s new born baby and one boy created a questionnaire to find out about blood, interviewing a local G.P. before putting the questionnaire together. Even the school budgie and Smokey the rabbit got involved – they had their pulses taken and recorded by pupils.

The period before the moon landing was an exciting time in Kirkby: the first Kirkby Show was held over two days on Friday 11^th and Saturday 12^th July and the Reporter was there to capture the fun in the giant marquee, declaring ‘It’s a Hit!’ in its headline from the 17^th July edition. 14,000 visitors attended the Show – reportedly a fifth of Kirkby’ population.

The front-page headlines of 24^th July featured the visit by Princess Margaret to Fazakerley Hospital’s new £740,000 maternity unit (she had been unable to attend the official opening in May due to an attack of gastro-enteritis) – and the moon landing inspired a number of witty advertisements from local companies. Don’t worry that you can’t book a seat on Apollo 11 – Phythians Travel Agency of St. Helens will put your name down in their Lunar Flight Register for early booking once moon flights are available (we’re still waiting…). In a tongue in cheek feature article, Budget Rent-A-Car International, a subsidiary of Trans International Airlines, appears to have beaten them to it, offering commercial charter flights on the TIA ‘949’ Super Spacecraft, luxury accommodation at the Hotel Luna in the Sea of Showers and, of course, lunar vehicle hire. The space race certainly inspired the imagination!

The Kirkby Reporter is also the source for some interesting accounts of sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects and alien beings. In December 1970, the Reporter put out a call for anyone who had witnessed several incidents involving U.F.O.s flying over Kirkby and the Industrial Estate that had been reported back in 1964. A man who was working as a security guard at the time of the phenomena was writing a book about the encounters and wanted to gather people’s evidence. He had witnessed unidentified objects flying singly and in formation, at times at very high speeds, throughout July and August 1964. The book – U.F.O.s Over Kirkby by John Parkinson – was published in 1972 and contains very detailed accounts of the mysterious craft sighted in the Kirkby area. It is available to view in the Archive.

Other sightings have been captured in the Kirkby Reporter.

As reported on Friday 24^th May 1963, two local teenagers were stunned when a beam of light lit up the sky close to Kirkby Fire Station at around 10:30pm. One witness stated that ‘…it was a funny shape and a beam was coming from it at intervals’. The featureless object was hovering about 100 feet from the ground and circled the area for about an hour.

The front page headline on Friday 6^th January 1978 declared ‘Serious Sighting Shocker’. Four young men had been driving along Old Cut Lane in Simonswood when they were confronted by an eight foot tall monster. The creature, described as wearing ‘an asbestos-like spacesuit’, blocked the road and approached the vehicle, at which point the men fled the scene, calling the police from a nearby farmhouse. The police took the sighting very seriously and emphasised that there was no indication that the men were drunk or that they were the victims of a prank. However, this didn’t deter the Reporter’s journalists from doing their own investigation – the following week’s edition featured a Reporter staff journalist dressed as an alien and parading around the town to get reactions from the local residents!

Whether sightings of other-worldly crafts and beings were prompted by the excitement of the space race of the 1960s and 1970s, or even the impact of Hollywood blockbusters like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the Star Wars franchise, we continue to look to the stars. With advancements in technology – the James Webb Space Telescope is capturing the most incredible images of the earliest galaxies in the universe – we continue to find inspiration in space travel and exploration.  

We Shall Remember…

At 11:00pm on 4^th August 1914, Great Britain, under the leadership of Herbert Henry Asquith, entered into what was to become known as ‘the war to end all wars’ [H.G. Wells].

Few would have imagined the full horror of what was to follow, and many men willingly volunteered to join the ranks of soldiers fighting for King and Country in the trenches on the Western Front and other theatres of war.

The townships that make up the borough of Knowsley also offered up their men, many of whom did not return after the Armistice, which was declared on 11^th November,1918. They are commemorated on war memorials throughout the borough.

One such memorial stands at Eccleston Lane Ends, Prescot. The Eccleston Lane Ends War Memorial on the corner of St Helens Road and Burrows Lane pays tribute to the men of the old West Derby Hundred of the County Palatine of Lancaster for their service during the Great War. It was commissioned by Frederick Richard Dixon-Nuttall, of Ingleholme, Central Avenue, Eccleston Park.

F R Dixon-Nuttall inherited his father’s glass bottle making company (in Ravenhead Road) and was later instrumental in the formation of the United Glass Bottle Company (UGB) later United Glass. He was a respected local figure, being a founder member of Windle Bowling Club and Lifetime President of Grange Park Golf Club. He was a past Mayor of St Helens (1891, 1902), an Alderman until 1923 and he was involved in the establishment of the new St Helens Church in 1926.

His middle son, Lieutenant John Frederick, was killed on the night of 20/21 May 1915 whilst serving with the 1^st West Lancashire Field Company Royal Engineers. He had joined the unit straight from Repton School in Southport, where he had been in the Officer Training Corps (OTC) and is buried in the New Irish Farm Cemetery near Ypres, Belgium.

Eccleston Lane Ends memorial

Following John’s death, F R Dixon-Nuttall commissioned the Eccleston Lane Ends war memorial which was unveiled on 23^rd July 1922 by the then Bishop of Liverpool.  The monument is said to be modelled on eldest son Major William Francis Nuttall-Dixon, of the Royal Engineers, and his wife. Youngest son Thomas also served in the Royal Engineers, as a 2^nd Lieutenant.

Kirkby’s Municipal Memorial stands in the Civic Square after being relocated from its original position outside the now-demolished Civic Buildings. The fallen from conflicts spanning the years from the First World War to Afghanistan in 2011 are commemorated. One name on the memorial is that of John Beesley.  

From information found in the Archive, we can piece together some of the story behind the name. John Beesley was born in Kirkby in 1881 and was baptised at St Chad’s Church, Kirkby on 13 March 1881. His parents were James Beesley, born in Simonswood in 1857 and Elizabeth Beesley nee Smith, born in Netherton in 1858.  Married on 16^th August 1880, they lived in Kirkby for a short while before moving to Liverpool for several years, prior to returning to Kirkby, where the family lived on Ribblers Lane in a 4 roomed house. Over the years, James Beesley supported his family through working as a labourer, a carter and a forester. Sadly, Elizabeth Beesley died on 12^th November 1892, at the age of 34, shortly after the death of her youngest child, Hannah, who passed away aged one year old in 1891.

In 1911, the family, headed by James, was listed in the census as living at the family home on Ribblers Lane. John, the oldest of the surviving siblings, was recorded as working as a labourer at the local stone quarry. His sister Ellen was born in January 1883 in Liverpool. Interestingly, in the England and Wales register of 1939, she is recorded as being employed as a 2^nd Housemaid at Croxteth Hall, family seat of the Molyneux family, the Earls of Sefton. It seems that she never married and died in 1960. Brother George was a Christmas baby, born 23 December 1884 in Liverpool and he also saw active service, serving in the Royal Navy from 9^th Jun 1905 until 13^th May 1919. The youngest member of the family recorded in the 1911 census was Charles, who was born in May 1888, with his baptism taking place in June 1888 at St Peters, Everton.

St. Chad’s Burial Register entry for John Beesley

However, times were changing and in 1914, John Beesley signed up for military service with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps. His service number was 2012 and he served as a Private in the 2^nd Battalion, before gaining promotion to Rifleman in 1916. He was killed on 3rd February 1918, his burial taking place in St Chad’s graveyard where he rests in the family grave.

Extract from A. Bolton’s attestation form

Another of Kirkby’s WWI fallen whose name appears on the Kirkby Municipal Memorial was Anthony Bolton. He enlisted on 7^th September 1914 at Seaforth and was posted to ‘B’ Company, 14^th Battalion King’s Liverpool Regiment on the 17^th of that month. He was killed in action whist serving as a Sergeant in the 18^th Battalion King’s Regiment on 4^th November 1918, the location listed as ‘France & Flanders’ in the ‘Soldiers died in the Great War 1914-1919’ listing compiled in the War Office and originally published in 1921.  

Back at home, men who were perceived to be shirking their duty to fight ‘for King and Country’ would come under pressure to enlist: women would present men out of uniform with a white feather to publicly shame them. The ‘On War Service’ badge was issued during the First World War to identify men who were employed in essential war work and to protect them from such accusations of shirking and slacking. These badges were initially issued ‘unofficially’ by the companies who employed the men, but the scheme was adopted by the War Office in 1915, when the unofficial badges were withdrawn.

‘On War Service’ badge

A badge for female munitions workers was issued by the War Office from May 1916. Over 270,000 ‘On War Service’ badges were issued to women between May and December 1916. An example of one of these badges can be found in the Archive. Issued by the War Office in 1916 to a female war effort worker, it was made by J R Gaunt and Sons Limited with the serial number 765152. J R Gaunt and Sons Limited was established in 1750, producing military and uniform buttons since 1870 in Birmingham and in London from 1899.

The impact of the Great War was massive: never had there been such tragic loss of life on all sides and the social and political ramifications were to be felt for many years to come.

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.”

[From For the Fallen by R.L. Binyon]

Huyton’s Forgotten School and Landing Ground

Written by Rob O’Brien

On leaving his post as senior English Master at Liverpool College in 1926, a position he had occupied for the previous five years, Hubert Desramaux Butler set his sights on opening a school of his own. Hubert was born at Farnworth, near Bolton on 9th March 1899, the third son of a Church of England clergyman. Educated initially at Rossall School, he later gained a B.A. Honours degree in English at Oxford University.

The school H.D. Butler envisaged (of which he became both headmaster and owner), was to be unlike the normal preparatory school of its time. He was a man of vision, a modernist, with many unique ideas that he incorporated within his new venture.

Huyton Hill Boys’ Preparatory School began in a small way, comprising just a handful of pupils in a large semi-detached villa at the extreme end of Victoria Road, Huyton. As pupil numbers increased, the adjoining villa was bought to accommodate them and later a third property was added. The popularity of the school was such that by 1939 there were 53 pupils of whom 27 were boarders.

Ranging in age from five to fifteen years, the pupils at Huyton Hill received not just a rounded academic education but they were involved in decision making and encouraged to develop a sense of individual responsibility. On Saturday mornings, boys took part in collective work not only around the school grounds, but also carrying out half an hour’s work for the local community. In turn, the boys learnt about the use of tools by accompanying the school handyman when repairs were necessary on the premises. In the garden area of the school, pupils had the use of a swimming pool, a small boating pool and a large summer house which they had helped to construct.

1926 Huyton Hey Trust Plan

(Ref: KA23/P/P1- Knowsley Archives)

Apart from purchasing the school buildings, Mr Butler had also bought the land adjoining the school which comprised an area of some thirty acres. Part of this land was used as a recreational area and the rest eventually used as a landing ground for aeroplanes. Once more the headmaster’s ability to plan ahead was in evidence. The school landing ground opened on 1st July 1932, an event reported in the local press:

Evening Express – 1st July 1932

© Liverpool Evening Express
(The Master of Sempill shows boys of Huyton Hill School, Liverpool, how to start an aeroplane after opening the school aerodrome today)

Liverpool Daily Post – 2nd July 1932

© Liverpool Daily Post
(Headmaster H.D. Butler with Colonel, the Master of Sempill addressing the boys of Huyton Hill School, Liverpool, yesterday, after opening the school aerodrome)

Later that month as the summer holidays approached, one of the pupils was picked up from the school by a parent in a light aircraft. Huyton Hill was the first school in the country to have its own landing ground!

Prescot Reporter – 29th July 1932

To enable pilots to confirm the airfield’s location, yet again pupils were involved. They helped to construct a series of markers on the landing ground itself. Concrete letters depicting ’H H’ and measuring thirty-feet in size were set into the earth in the middle of the landing ground together with a second concrete marker stating HUYTON HILL in ten-foot letters, which was set into the corner of the landing ground in order to show incoming aircraft the line of approach.

A 1930s postcard below shows the scene: the landing ground and completed concrete markers, with the school buildings shown in the background:

Huyton Hill School and landing ground, Huyton

© Aero Pictorial Ltd, London

By the start of the Second World War, Huyton Hill Boys’ School had left Huyton for new premises in the Lake District, firstly at Newby Bridge, then in 1942 a further move to Pull Wood House, beside Lake Windermere near Ambleside. Similarly, most of the pupils at Liverpool College for Girls, Huyton, also moved to the Lake District for safety reasons following bombing raids on the Liverpool docks area; inevitably, some bombs did fall within the Huyton district.

After the war, the girls’ school pupils returned to Huyton College (it had been renamed in 1945), but Huyton Hill Boys’ Preparatory School remained operational in the Lake District until its closure in 1969.

Huyton Hill School – Lake District

© Aerofilms Ltd, London

Postscript: The Master of Sempill (who officially opened the landing ground at Huyton in 1932), had previously been investigated by the authorities for alleged national security breaches but that’s another story…

 

 

Family History Help Desk Dates 2020

Every month throughout the year, Knowsley Archives offers a series of Family History Help Desks in libraries across the borough. They’re ideal if you are new to family history research, or are trying to find your way through the maze of information and resources: expert advice and guidance is available to help you on your way.

If you would like help with your family history research, staff at the ARK – Knowsley Archives’ base in The Kirkby Centre– are available to help during our normal opening hours, but the Family History Help Desks are an opportunity to get support at a time and location that may be more convenient for you.

Sessions are free of charge and they are run on a drop-in basis. We will do our best to answer your questions on the day, but more complicated queries may need to be followed up after your visit or require an additional appointment.

Packing the potato crop, Kirkby c.1910

The dates for 2020 are as follows:

PRESCOT LIBRARY Tuesday 10.00 -1.00	STOCKBRIDGE LIBRARY Tuesday        2.00-5.00	KIRKBY LIBRARY Thursday 10.00-1.00	HALEWOOD LIBRARY Friday        2.00-5.00	HUYTON LIBRARY Saturday 10.00-1.00
14th January	14th January	16th January	17th January	18th January
11th February	11th February	13th February	14th February	15th February
10th March	10th March	12th March	13th March	14th March
14th April	14th April	16th April	17th April	18th April
12th May	12th May	14th May	15th May	16th May
9th June	9th June	11th June	12th June	13th June
7th July	7th July	9th July	10th July	11th July
4th August	4th August	6th August	7th August	8th August
1st September	1st September	3rd September	4th September	5th September
6th October	6th October	8th October	9th October	10th October
3rd November	3rd November	5th November	6th November	7th November
1st  December	1st  December	3rd  December	4th December	5th December

Underneath the Hazels: Unravelling the Past of C.F. Mott College

With the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Knowsley Archives have been busy cataloguing, conserving and preserving the archives of C.F. Mott College that are stored in the ARK. This remarkable and innovative college had a campus that straddled the Huyton and Prescot border and at its heart was the Hazels, a stately 18^th century building that had been owned by, amongst others, members of the Pilkington family and is still standing. The college was named after a distinguished former Director of Education for the City of Liverpool, Charles Francis Mott.

The Hazels

Founded in 1946 in response to the national shortage of teachers following the end of the Second World War, C.F. Mott College would eventually go on to become one of the largest and most successful teacher training colleges in the country with a reputation for academic innovation. By the 1970s, the college was also offering degree courses in the arts, humanities, social sciences and science, before finally merging with Liverpool Polytechnic (which later became Liverpool John Moores University) in 1983.

Three students in a halls of residence bedroom, 1952

At first, the college was women-only and relatively small. In 1951 Dr. D.M. Farr replaced Miss Whiting as Principal and she would lead a rapid expansion of the campus, with additional buildings, sports and leisure facilities, as well as accommodation for students and staff. As the campus developed, student numbers increased and the social life of the students evolved. Dr. Farr would later write proudly of the “acquisition of a good dance floor [that] changed the whole outlook of college life.” She was keen to ensure that students from the University of Liverpool were invited to take part in activities at the college (and vice versa) so that social events received a new impetus. This enthusiastic encouragement of the students’ social and leisure life was regarded by Dr. Farr as “a welcome prevention of the ‘cosiness’ which can overtake a small women’s college.”

The student choir rehearsing, circa 1966

In 1959 the college became a mixed college and male students were admitted for the first time. This was another period of rapid expansion for the college, with new postgraduate courses being added to the curriculum and a surge in staff and student numbers.

As innovative as Dr. Farr appears to have been, college life during the 1950s and 1960s can seem strangely archaic to our modern eyes. Among the college archives are House Committee minute books that reveal the very serious and lengthy debates the staff would have about aspects of the students’ lives. Over the course of several years, from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, the use of gramophones was a hot topic at House Committee meetings: how loud should they be (not very)? Should students be allowed them in their own bedrooms (can’t they just make do with the wireless and gramophones in the common rooms?)?

Even sunbathing was raised at the House Committee meetings. The sight of female students catching a few rays was resulting in “visitors being embarrassed” in 1956 and students were instructed to sunbathe only where there was no risk of them being spotted! Who these visitors were and why they were looking in the first place is never mentioned!

A student teacher with pupils, circa 1976

Another common debate that pops up time and time again in the House Committee minutes concerns the clothing students were allowed to wear. It is worth bearing in mind that, for much of its history, the college was purely a teacher training college, so students will have been working on placements in schools. For the college staff it was important that trainee teachers were perceived as smartly dressed and positive role models for children. However, it may come as a surprise to learn that this extended to what clothing was acceptable for students to wear at any time. In summer 1956, staff were reminded that no one should be wearing jeans. However, “special permission would be given to cyclists if they asked for it.” This debate would rumble on for the next few years with change only coming in 1960, when it was decided that new or clean jeans could be “presentable,” although old ones looked “scruffy and untidy.” It was agreed that smart jeans would, for the first time, be officially allowed…sort of: this change would only apply to male students!

Students playing pool, circa early 1980s

For female students, clothing restrictions would be more stringently applied for several more years. While men were strolling around campus sporting their smart new jeans, the female students were fighting for the right to wear slacks in the TV room. This was eventually allowed in 1960, but there remained a great concern about how female students were presenting themselves to the outside world and “apart from hiking and college expeditions, women students must not wear slacks outside college.”

Of course, the times they were a-changin’ and the college would become more and more liberal in its approach to student life, with late 1960s, 70s and 80s photographs in the archive showing both male and female students in jeans, slacks and all manner of clothing that would probably have appalled the House Committee of a generation before.

The traditions of constant evolution, expansion and adaptation that Dr. Farr had begun would continue with her replacements, Mr. Clarke (1965-1974) and Mr. Cane (1974-1983). The college had a number of minor name changes during its history and, following the addition of degree courses validated by the University of Lancaster, it became the C.F. Mott campus of the City of Liverpool College of Higher Education (COLCHE) in 1978. Within a few years, the college merged with Liverpool Polytechnic and the campus closed, but its expertise in arts and humanities would make a significant contribution to the Polytechnic’s fine reputation in these areas, maintained by the current Liverpool John Moores University.

Get in touch! We’re keen to hear from former college students and staff who would be interested in having their memories recorded for future generations or would like to deposit any mementos of the college with the archive.

Students relaxing on campus, circa early 1980s

An exhibition about the college will be at Kirkby Library from 14^th November 2019 – 31^st January 2020. A private view event will take place at Kirkby Library on Wednesday 13th November 2019, 6-8pm, and will be a chance to see the exhibition first and hear a short talk about the archive collection. Please note, this is an RSVP-only event. Please reserve your place by emailing daniel.copley@knowsley.gov.uk or calling Knowsley Archives on 0151 443 4291.