Look at the day it opened Easter Monday
10th April 1882
Bobby
Bootle Town Hall
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bob. b
- Posts: 5725
- Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 1:04 pm
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the mayor, John McArthur, on 8 July 1880.[5] It was designed by John Johnson in the Renaissance style[6] and was officially opened by the mayor, Alderman William Poulson, on 10 April 1882.[7] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with eight bays facing onto Oriel Road; the left hand bay featured a large round headed window on the first floor with a pediment above, while the second bay featured a round headed doorway with a tympanum flanked by Corinthian order columns supporting an open pediment with a two-stage clock tower above.[1] The next three bays featured dormer windows at roof level while the last three bays featured mezzanine floor windows.[1] Internally, the principal room was the assembly hall which featured stained glass windows depicting the coats of arms of Lancashire towns.[1] The building was extended to the south by five bays to include a library and museum in 1887.[8] The town hall became the headquarters of the new county borough of Bootle in 1889.[9]
Memorabilia associated with Captain Johnnie Walker, who gained a reputation for his successful anti-submarine warfare exploits in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War, included the ships's bell from HMS Starling which was given to Bootle Town Hall in October 1964.[10][7] The colours of the 7th Battalion the King's Regiment (Liverpool), which had been based at Park Street in Bootle and which evolved to become the 40th (The King's) Royal Tank Regiment in 1938, were laid up in the town hall in October 1966.[7]
The building continued to be the local seat of government when the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton was formed in 1974.[11] The main administrative base for new council was established at Bootle Town Hall[12] although the council continued to maintain a presence in Southport by holding some of the meetings of its full council at Southport Town Hall.[13] In March 2020, the town hall, along with the Atkinson Art Gallery and Library and Waterloo Town Hall, was the venue for A Nightingale's Song, a video production produced by Illuminos as part of Sefton's Borough of Culture celebrations, which involved the projection of a story describing local coastal communities onto prominent buildings.[14][15][16]
Works of art in the town hall include a painting by Marcel Gillis depicting the fabled Angels of Mons which protected the British Army in the First World War[7] and a painting by Edward Halliday depicting the 40th (The King's) Royal Tank Regiment parading before Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in October 1960
Memorabilia associated with Captain Johnnie Walker, who gained a reputation for his successful anti-submarine warfare exploits in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War, included the ships's bell from HMS Starling which was given to Bootle Town Hall in October 1964.[10][7] The colours of the 7th Battalion the King's Regiment (Liverpool), which had been based at Park Street in Bootle and which evolved to become the 40th (The King's) Royal Tank Regiment in 1938, were laid up in the town hall in October 1966.[7]
The building continued to be the local seat of government when the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton was formed in 1974.[11] The main administrative base for new council was established at Bootle Town Hall[12] although the council continued to maintain a presence in Southport by holding some of the meetings of its full council at Southport Town Hall.[13] In March 2020, the town hall, along with the Atkinson Art Gallery and Library and Waterloo Town Hall, was the venue for A Nightingale's Song, a video production produced by Illuminos as part of Sefton's Borough of Culture celebrations, which involved the projection of a story describing local coastal communities onto prominent buildings.[14][15][16]
Works of art in the town hall include a painting by Marcel Gillis depicting the fabled Angels of Mons which protected the British Army in the First World War[7] and a painting by Edward Halliday depicting the 40th (The King's) Royal Tank Regiment parading before Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in October 1960
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bob. b
- Posts: 5725
- Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 1:04 pm
Never got told about Bootle history or Liverpool in my school days think it would have been interesting in my school days.
Has the college got anything on the history of the area ,I would say no? not interested on the people or the history.
The war and the docks , the people in the area.
The Bootle JOC . Bootle Baths . The Bootle Tech. Work industry in the local area.
Bobby
Bobby
Has the college got anything on the history of the area ,I would say no? not interested on the people or the history.
The war and the docks , the people in the area.
The Bootle JOC . Bootle Baths . The Bootle Tech. Work industry in the local area.
Bobby
Bobby
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Dan
- Posts: 4730
- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:24 pm
In 1880 John Douglas submitted the unsuccessful design below for the new Town Hall.
If you think of Chester, you'll be remembering John Douglas. The half timbered buildings. The Eastgate Clock.
He was based in Chester, and did a lot of work for the Grosvenor (Duke of Westminster) family.
John Johnson was based in The Strand, London.
He designed many churches, Staines Town Hall and completed the Army and Navy Club in St James' Square.
John Johnson's design predated that of Douglas. Johnson died in 1878 before the foundation stone for the Town Hall had been laid.
Johnson's most famous design was, in conjunction with Alfred Meeson, the Alexandra Palace.
If you think of Chester, you'll be remembering John Douglas. The half timbered buildings. The Eastgate Clock.
He was based in Chester, and did a lot of work for the Grosvenor (Duke of Westminster) family.
John Johnson was based in The Strand, London.
He designed many churches, Staines Town Hall and completed the Army and Navy Club in St James' Square.
John Johnson's design predated that of Douglas. Johnson died in 1878 before the foundation stone for the Town Hall had been laid.
Johnson's most famous design was, in conjunction with Alfred Meeson, the Alexandra Palace.
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awelfryn34
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:56 pm
I and many others have painted the hall when I worked for the Council, we had a lead sheet which spanned the floor which disappeared. Each of the ceiling panels were individually different colours
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Dan
- Posts: 4730
- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:24 pm
Ball room and meeting room.
Growing up one, of the things I looked forward to was what colour the corpy would paint the front door.
I can remember the red and the sky blue years.
Not a clue how many litres of paint they would get through in a year.
Growing up one, of the things I looked forward to was what colour the corpy would paint the front door.
I can remember the red and the sky blue years.
Not a clue how many litres of paint they would get through in a year.
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Walsh
- Posts: 105
- Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2014 4:44 pm
- Location: Southampton
Dan & Bob b. Great to see the series of postings on Bootle Town Hall. Thanks. As a kid, I expected Bootle Grammar School (Netherton in 1963)) geography and history lessons to start with Bootle - but no. The history teacher, Harry Flood, started with Stonehenge. But he sent me to the library, next to the Town Hall to collect a specialist book about Pompeii - it took me another 20 years to visit the remains, but I was inspired. Geography was a bit better. Mr Etherington's first lesson was about the importance of Bootle docks and its hinterland, including Manchester textiles. My Da (a rigger, often at Gladstone Dock then pumphouse operator) , many family members and neighbours worked in or around the docks so I was familiar with them and needed to know more. I believe that all local schoolkids and college students should be well versed in Bootle's origins and heritage. Best Wishes. Walshy.
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Walsh
- Posts: 105
- Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2014 4:44 pm
- Location: Southampton
Dan, I appreciated your posting on the terrible suffocation in the sewer. As adventurous (and sometimes foolish) kids, we sometimes lifted a manhole cover at the top of Little Brookhill Road and climbed down a vertical wall ladder into a drainage channel, watching and listening to surface water/rainwater flow. Time progressed and I qualified as an industrial chemist and engineer engineer. My assignments included inspection of ship's ballast tanks/void spaces and sewers for corrosion. I became 'the troubleshooting professor most likely to wear wellies and a hard hat'. We were careful to wear suitable protective clothing, carry poisonous gas (e.g., CO, CO2 + H2S) detectors, wear breathing apparatus and remain in communication with outside colleagues. But a curious and wonderful early training in the backstreets of Bootle. We not only played footy most days but were surrounded by bomb sites, jiggers and factories (e.g., graphite processing, steel machining, woodworking, food processing and canning, the Cut, the Docks, several parks, the Corpy Yard an army barracks, car scrapyards and tips. Bootle had such a strong and diverse industrial heritage and workforce. An incredible upbringing and place to train. Walshy.
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Dan
- Posts: 4730
- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:24 pm
When I posted this morning, I was wondering about "The entry into confined spaces" legislation.
I was shocked that it was enacted as late as 1997.
From Health & Safety International.
Earlier in this article, the definition from the Confined Spaces Regulations was quoted. This was, however, not a new definition, but taken from the Factories Act 1961. A confined spaces incident in 1996, in Crymlyn Burrows, near Swansea, was the catalyst for the 1997 regulations to be written.
“Ryan Preece was 27 when he was killed along with colleague Robert Simpson as they entered an underground chamber at a sewage pumping station near Swansea and were overcome by toxic fumes on October 10, 1996.
The two sewerage workers were experienced workers employed by the local authority. They had entered the sewage network, as they often did as part of their role. Unbeknown to them, an adjacent chemical factory had suffered a ‘loss’ of 3 tonnes of a refrigerant chemical which had leaked into the sewer. Refrigerant gas is heavier than air and the level of oxygen was displaced to the point where the atmosphere was not sufficient to sustain life."
Working in vegetable oil extraction and refining, I was used to "explosimeters" and much later personal monitors,
But either way, being the chemist on site, I had to ensure all the instruments in use were calibrated and functioning correctly.
I dread to think how many people lost their lives before this legislation was introduced.
I was shocked that it was enacted as late as 1997.
From Health & Safety International.
Earlier in this article, the definition from the Confined Spaces Regulations was quoted. This was, however, not a new definition, but taken from the Factories Act 1961. A confined spaces incident in 1996, in Crymlyn Burrows, near Swansea, was the catalyst for the 1997 regulations to be written.
“Ryan Preece was 27 when he was killed along with colleague Robert Simpson as they entered an underground chamber at a sewage pumping station near Swansea and were overcome by toxic fumes on October 10, 1996.
The two sewerage workers were experienced workers employed by the local authority. They had entered the sewage network, as they often did as part of their role. Unbeknown to them, an adjacent chemical factory had suffered a ‘loss’ of 3 tonnes of a refrigerant chemical which had leaked into the sewer. Refrigerant gas is heavier than air and the level of oxygen was displaced to the point where the atmosphere was not sufficient to sustain life."
Working in vegetable oil extraction and refining, I was used to "explosimeters" and much later personal monitors,
But either way, being the chemist on site, I had to ensure all the instruments in use were calibrated and functioning correctly.
I dread to think how many people lost their lives before this legislation was introduced.
