ess051 otterspool prom
everysinglestreet

#everysinglestreet [15/11/20] Otterspool Prom and Grandma’s house!

Graham Holland   

Stats

  • Sunday 15th November 2020
  • 37 streets – Acer Leigh, Silver Leigh (hello to Margaret‘s friend!), Alma Road, Alresford Road, Alston Road, Bentfield, Bilston Road, Braunton Road, Chequers Gardens, Cheyne Gardens, Desford Road, Dulverton Road, Errington Court, Hailsham Road, Hiniton Road, Horringford Road, Ivyhurst Close, Jericho Close, Jericho Farm Close, Jericho Farm Walk, Jericho Lane, Kigraston Gardens, Langford Road, Lynmouth Road, Maybank Grove, Mersey Road, Minehead Road, Mines Avenue, Otterspool Drive, Otterspool Road, Parkgate Close, Rockmount Road, St Annes Gardens, St Annes Grove, St Anne’s Road, Silberton Road, Stratford Road
  • Total: 1,780 (31.66%)
  • Remaining: 3,843

Notes

This was a special run for me as you’ll see when you read my account below.

I parked at Otterspool Prom in the Mersey Road car park. Otterspool Promenade (to give it it’s full name) was originally a dump for household waste and the rubble from the Queensway Tunnel. It was landscaped and opened as a recreation space in 1950, and is a popular place for walkers, runners and promenaders. This morning the tide was the highest I’d seen it for a long time.

Mersey Road allotments is massive. You can just about see it from the road but it’s only when viewed from above you appreciate the scale.

There’s a block of flats on Alma Road in place of where an old house used to stand. The developers left the wall at the front, and the original front gate.

Mines Avenue and Minehead Road. Local history buffs, was there a mine here by any chance, and if so what did it mine? Given the proximity to the Cast Iron Shore is there a connection?

Back when I was a wee nipper and the trains still ran from Gateacre Station my mum would take us to Grandma’s on the train and we’d alight at Aigburth Station. From there we’d walk (OK, I’d probably have been in a push chair!) along the passageway that connects Mersey Road to the bottom of Lynmouth Road. I’ve taken a photo of a section of fencing on the right hand side. This fence replaced a brick wall. In that wall there used to be a single white brick recording the location where a bomb hit during the May Blitz of 1941. My mum tells me nobody was hurt as the bomb didn’t explode. I often wonder if the house owner who knocked down the wall knew it was there. It’s a shame to lose that little piece of history.

Auntie Betty was Grandma’s sister-in-law and closest friend and lived close by. Betty died in 2010 in her 100th year and her funeral was at St Anne’s Church on Aigburth Road (photographed). As I was running past the house I saw a figure in the window so I stopped to wave. I was delighted when Pat, one of Betty’s daughters, came out to say hello. We had a nice chat across the fence and I was able to tell her how the family is doing.

Grandma lived at 17 Bilston Road. The house was called ‘Varna’, named after a place in Norway that my Grandma and Grandad had visited. As kids we spent many happy times here and I’m filled with warmth just thinking about them. We used to love going to Grandma’s so much we (Jane, Graham and Sarah-Katy) had our own song that we’d sing in the car on our way there. Sometimes we’d walk down to the Prom. Sometimes we’d walk up to the newsagents on Aigburth Road to buy sweets. Sometimes Miss Harrison at 13 Bilston Road would give us sweets too. We would play in the back garden, and dig for coal buried in the ground where the coal shed used to be or make daisychains on the lawn. Sometimes we’d take Trixie for a walk round the block. Happy days!

There are some old sandstone cottages on Mersey Road, and a strange looking house at the end of Minehead.

Most of the streets here off Aigburth Road are lined with trees that have been cut back over the years. Many of the houses still have the original front doors and windows with stained glass. What amazes me is that a lot of these houses still have their original letterboxes and they’re tiny. I mean, they’s so narrow that you can imagine when these houses were first built the only mail they’d receive would have been DL letter size or greeting card size.

The shops on Aigburth Road either side of Mersey Road have all changed. The bank is now Space Coffee and Restaurant. The chippy and the premises next door are now Justino’s Ristorante & Bar. And Cooper’s Coffee Shop now stands where the newsagents used to be.

Otterspool Road runs off Jericho Lane. It’s unadopted and is closed off to traffic by a gate. As I was wading through the puddles and mud I wished I’d put on my trail shoes! But I was there, and it was a road to run, and I was curious! At the end is a house, still lived in given that there were two cars outside. They obviously don’t want visitors, as shown by the three signs – “PRIVATE GROUNDS – NO THRU ACCESS”, “BEWARE OF THE DOGS – ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK” and “WARNING CCTV IN OPERATION”.

At the end of Jericho Lane is ‘The Tip’ – a local authority waste centre. I took some photos of the queue!

There’s a small building with a circular roof inside Otterspool Park. This used to have a cafe selling drinks, snacks, and ice cream. Back in the 1980s a summer season of Why Don’t You? (short for Why Don’t You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go and Do Something Less Boring Instead?) was broadcast from here. This TV show was popular amongst kids because it was presented by a gang of children. (Fun fact – one of the early producers and directors was Russell T Davies who went on to write Queer As Folk and relaunch Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston.)

Question. We’re in Lockdown 2, so why is Otterspool Adventure allowed to open?

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