Church Tower shots from 1951 - St Robert Bellarmine's church

[GedTaz]

I wonder if it would be possible for some one to clamber back up the tower and take another series of photo,s to see how the landscape has changed over the years. just a thought.

[eric jenkinson]

064 the enka it is a cooling tower my dad worked there for 24yrs after he was de mobbed 149 is that walton hospital clock tower? 235 is that the site of the tar works?

[grekko]

Wonderful photographs .

Photo 4. look at the size of some of those back gardens. someone got lucky (or not) to get a garden that was also a self contained allotment.



AC

Wouldn't say for definite, but aren't those " back gardens" the allotments which are still in use today?

edit:
Think I'm wrong again, just spotted allotments on photos 2 & 3......Doh!!!

[maureen howell]

Hi Folks
THese pictures were taken on a weekday as in picture 1 I can see children playing in the playground of what was an annex of St Monicas Seniors then in the old Fever Hospita.They were senior 4.The nearer school was St Robert Ballamines
Take Care
Maureenl

[armchair]

May I suggest

153 St Mary's, Walton on the hill Parish Church.

175.5 Christ Church Breeze Hill Bootle

AC

[john j connell]

213, three turrets, the grainy on the dock road, JJC.

[Navigus]

The photos were taken around 1120 a.m. on Thursday, 15th May 1951.
The time by Silcock's clock can just be made out on the original negs.
Thanks to everybody for help.

[BOBHAMO]

Thanks Navigus if you want any local photos where you lived
work , i am sure i can photo some for you
after you have given us some great shots
bobhamo

[sal]

Hi Navigus, thanks for pictures, they have kept me busy for ages.
Photo 8. at 213 large building with three dumpy chimney's. That is Liverpool Grain Storage, bottom of Strand rd. My Dad worked there.
Photo 9 at 236 is Sampson the massive crane that was at the Caradock.
It is lovely to see the Church in Bootle Cemetery.

Cheers Sal

[Brenda M]

Thanks Navigus for those great shots!! I recognised almost all of them, coupled with a little nostalgia. I could see the roof of the house I grew up in on picture number 8. Thanks again.
Brenda M.

[emma]

Thanks Navigus for sharing such great photos. I lived in a house near the end of Harris Drive opposite St Roberts in the 1950s so I recognised the shops across the road (last pic) and also Watts Lane in some of the other pics though I only have faint memories of the names of a few such as Brennans(?) and Dawsons sweet & paper shops and of course the Post Office. I also just make out the roofs of the the Co-op on corner of Cinder Lane and also the Co-op Hall which was hired out for weddings and such. My Gran was caretaker and she also lived in one of the prefabs on Menai Road. I can also make out the Crescent shops at the junction of Watts Lane, Bailey Drive and Moss Lane.

[42aitch]

050 Vernons white clock tower
210 Mellanear
273 Is this Blackpool Tower????
252-254 Linacre Mission & Sunday School
278 Christ Church Waterloo
290 St Wilfrid's land (Have they started to build it?)
302 English martyrs tower



Eileen

[Graham@educato]

Great photos. The corrugated sheds next to the prefabs were coal sheds. The prefabs had a coal fire in the living room. I spent the first 12yrs of my life living in a prefab in South Park Square. Happiest days of my childhood. "The land of lost content/The golden highways where I went/And cannot come again"

[yozzer]

brilliant pics, they was taken 4years before iwas born,but i can recognise every inch of every picture. i had my hardest fight on the lawn of st robert bellamines, about 30 people watched as i got bashed up !!!

[matt wethered]

Hi Graham,about time you came back to the forum.
Did you ever hear anymore from Olga or Diane???
Matt (your across the fence neighbour)

[Graham@educato]

Hi Matt - I was wondering where you were! I visit the Forum everyday. I was in touch with Olga at the time you were. I was seeking any pictures of the prefabs in South Park Square/Way.She said she had some of friends in the garden, but didn't know how to post them. I posted one of me, Chris Carney, Billy McDonald, Gordon Anderson & Frannie Pyke on my dad's motor bike. It was taken in the Square on my 3rd or 4th birthday, 1951/52. Did you see it? I really appreciated the one you posted of the kids in the square at the Coronation party in 1952. I spent ages trying to identify who's who. Olga was very helpful with some details/memories of the confectionary shop we opened at the bottom of South Rd, Waterloo. I was back in Bootle/Liverpool lin Sept & will be back there again on 18/19 Dec. I took loads of pictures of South Park. Some places I haven't seen or walked along for more than 50yrs - St Mary's in Crosby, where I went to school. Fantastic to see with adult eyes what I last saw with a child's eyes.

[matt wethered]

Hi Graham,we were also in Merseyside at the end of September/ beginning of October but we only went over to the Liverpool side for
one day for a family wedding in Bromborough.
I make a post nearly every day,do you ever look at the rest of the forum subjects i.e "chat about anything".
Never heard anymore from Olga as we were hoping to meet up
when I went back 2 years ago,again for a family wedding but she
was leaving for S.Africa the day after we got to Merseyside and
would be really pushed for time.
Great to see you post and hope we can stay in touch.
Matt

[Donna_D]

I absolutely love these pics. Thanks so much for sharing them! I just want to look and look some more at them. I went to St Robert Bellarmines school and they always had a massively enlarged version of one of these pics on card, It was the one overlooking the pavillion of Silcocks. They kept it in the school hall. I loved to look at it. I agree with Gez suggestion in this thread, it would be good to compare a recent panoramic view with these. Life looked so clean and peaceful in your pictures. Plus I always wondered what the old house looked like where Orrell Hey is now. Its also amazing to see Thackeray Gardens flats being built and the site of St Wilfrids, which wasn't built until 1954. Someone said it was a munitions base previously? Could this be what's there on the pics? I'm going back for another look!! Thank you so much!!!

[Navigus]

That pic in the school couldn't have been one of mine, I've never given these out before to anyone.
I'd like to get up there and do a modern sweep for comparison but it isn't that easy these days. It's a vertical steel ladder without any guard rails to get up and to climb it you're supposed to do an elf and safety course and wear all the gear, belts, hardhat, etc. Also I'm 82 and don't balance that easy any more! Somebody else might try it if they know how to do panoramic pix.
I've now patched all the pix together using Photoshop to make a continuous panorama but the file is much too big to put on here.
BTW, the corrugated iron sheds are old Anderson shelters. Never throw anything away!

[glossybonce]

Is that an air raid shelter on the 5th one on the bottom left of the photo, I remember seeing the remains of one in my grandads back garden which looked quite similar.

Thanks Wally for confirming my thoughts on the air raid shelters, my grandad had one in the garden of his house in Dovecot it was sunk into the ground and when we played in the garden it had frogs under it, it was quite old as this would have been in the 70's.

[rivermersey]

Great pictures from Robert Bellarmines Tower!!
The sheds in the gardens of the Prefabs in Menai Rd were surplus Anderson Air Raid Shelters.

[phil1972]

Hi how do i get to see the photos of St Robert Bellermines church
the ones you took from the tower i can't find them anywhere
and id love to see them thanks

[filsgreen]

Welcome to the forum, Phil. I'm not sure they're available any more. They were great black and white photos, very clear images.

[Mack]

Unfortunately the original photos were hosted on a third party FREE website photo hosting service from many years ago which has now expired. We do not actually host any photo's here on our Bootle forum.

Hope this explains why they are no longer available to view on our Bootle site.

Cheers,

Mack (Bootle site admin).

[phil1972]

Welcome to the forum, Phil. I'm not sure they're available any more. They were great black and white photos, very clear images.

It's a shame so many photos have vanished off this site.

[Dan]

1958 Panoramic view from the tower of St Robert Bellarmine's church.

The pictures start looking at the Orrell Mount playing field, then the photographer started turning in a clockwise direction..

In all there's 11 photos ,