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everysinglestreet milestone

#everysinglestreet [05/06/21] The last of the roads off Longmoor Lane

Graham Holland     

This morning I finished all of the roads off Longmoor Lane. Or at least I thought I had. It was only when I got home and was checking my run against OpenStreetMaps I noticed a road off Sherwoods Lane that doesn’t show on CityStrides because it hadn’t been labeled with a street name. This means I’ll have to return to run it next time I’m up this way to run the roads in the grounds of Fazakerley Hospital. 

What’s now branded as Clock Tower Park was originally a model village called New Hall. It was built as a series of cottages (each one named after a tree) between 1887 and 1889 for children from the West Derby Workhouse. In addition to the cottages, the village had a farm, swimming pool, service buildings, and a hall in the centre with a clock tower at the top. Although the farm no longer exists, many older people have memories of being taken from school to the swimming pool. 

It’s great to see most of the cottages have been renovated and opened as office space. I just wonder what plans they’ve got for the hall and clock tower. 

I once did a stint as a supply teacher at Fazakerley High School (many years ago…!) It was an interesting experience. It was a publicly-known secret amongst the staff that the male Headteacher was banging the female deputy while they were both married. The rest of the staff were pissed off because despite her being rubbish at her job, she was given special treatment by the Head. 

I found another pocket park – Adlam Park and Garden – hidden away behind the houses on Adlam Road. Further along this road I saw the most beautiful black and grey cat! 

On Longmoor Lane, just opposite Fazakerley Station, there’s an old, red phone box looking like it could do with a bit of TLC. 

Barlow’s Lane – one of the rare roads with an apostrophe in the name. 

Immediately to the north of these streets is Aintree Racecourse, so it’s no surprise to find Red Rum Close, Hedgebank Close, Trotweed Close, Saddle Close and Canter Close. 

I ran part of the route on a footpath along was was originally the North Mersey Branch railway line, connecting the Liverpool and Bury Railway (at Fazakerley Junction) with Gladstone Dock. This is the same line that had Race Course Station on it (see previous run). The line was opened by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1867, and closed in 1986 when the route to Aintree Container Base was cut. The triangle of land between the two diverging lines was used as sidings, carriage and wagon works, and signal works (gaving their name to Signal Works Road). The area is now woodland, although there are still occasional signs that there used to be buildings here, as shown by the sandstone blocks I found. 

The footpath crosses the Merseyrail line to Kirkby at a pedestrian crossing, and I was lucky enough to film a train passing. 

Stats

  • Saturday 5th June 2021
  • 25 streets
    Hebden Road, Adlam Crescent, Adlam Road, Barlow’s Close, Barlow’s Lane, Canter Close, Clock Tower Park, Croft Lane, East Orchard Lane, Garden Lane, Hedgebank Close, Kinross, Road, Leagate, Longmoor Lane, Papillon Drive, Red Rum Close, Rycroft Road, Saddle Close, Shreburn Close, Sherwoods Lane, Signal Works Road, Trotwood Close, Twigden Close, West Orchard Lane
  • Total: 4,015 (70.71%)
  • Remaining: 1,663
  • Milestone: Passed the 4,000 streets mark

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All of the photos from this run are in a publically viewable Facebook album.

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Great North Run

I’m running the Great North Run for the first time on Sunday 12th September, raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK. My mum has Alzheimers so this charity is close to my heart. If you can spare a couple of quid to help me reach my target I would be extremely grateful.

justgiving.com/fundraising/grahamsgreatnorthrun2021

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