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I AM STILL WORKING ON A NEW WEBSITE, IN THE MEANTIME PLEASE READ THIS VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE
Dear fellow Old Swan Boys/Youth Club old boys and girls.
Are you aware that the city council has stopped funding the club. They cynically waited until Chris Whittington,( youth leader for last 20 years ) ,passed away before doing so !
The club is run entirely by volunteers, who will shortly become trustees of the club.
We need urgent help. Before I ask, have a little think about your time at the club, and what it did for you ,and possibly your children. There will be no youth facilities in the Old Swan and surrounding areas if the club closes.
What I am asking is if everyone of you set up a monthly standing order for £10 this would be enough to save and fund the club. This would pay for general running costs. Many fundraising events have been planned. People have offered to maintain heating etc and refurbishment of the premises.
The club account details are as follows, : Old Swan Youth Club. Sort Code : 40-29-08. Account number : 71315536.
Please give it some thought. If you need any further information you can contact me on 07773859673 or toma1236@btinternet.com, or the club directly on ; 0151 228 1574.
Best wishes
Tom Armstrong
Club Captain 1968
Are you aware that the city council has stopped funding the club. They cynically waited until Chris Whittington,( youth leader for last 20 years ) ,passed away before doing so !
The club is run entirely by volunteers, who will shortly become trustees of the club.
We need urgent help. Before I ask, have a little think about your time at the club, and what it did for you ,and possibly your children. There will be no youth facilities in the Old Swan and surrounding areas if the club closes.
What I am asking is if everyone of you set up a monthly standing order for £10 this would be enough to save and fund the club. This would pay for general running costs. Many fundraising events have been planned. People have offered to maintain heating etc and refurbishment of the premises.
The club account details are as follows, : Old Swan Youth Club. Sort Code : 40-29-08. Account number : 71315536.
Please give it some thought. If you need any further information you can contact me on 07773859673 or toma1236@btinternet.com, or the club directly on ; 0151 228 1574.
Best wishes
Tom Armstrong
Club Captain 1968
Whats New ?
I'VE HAD SERIOUS PROBLEMS TRYING TO UPLOAD MORE PICS FOR THE LAST 6 WEEKS
PLEASE BEAR WITH ME AS I KNOW OF OTHERS WHO CAN'T UPLOAD TO THEIR PICZO WEBSITE. I HAVE CONTACTED THEM 3 TIMES NOW - NO REPLIES !
IF THE WORST COMES TO THE WORST I WILL CREATE A COPY OF THIS SITE ELSEWHERE
I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS - MARTIN.
**** 27th October 2010 ****
*** SUPERSWAN DVD NOW AVAILABLE - SEE SUPERSWAN PAGE FOR DETAILS ***
Filmed in 1976, for the Superswan Festival, the film is approx 30 mins and includes footage of the fashions and a lot of people of Old Swan having a good time. Doric Rd Park scenes, Prescot Road and St Oswalds Flats and more
************************************************************************
See Links at bottom of page
I'VE HAD SERIOUS PROBLEMS TRYING TO UPLOAD MORE PICS FOR THE LAST 6 WEEKS
PLEASE BEAR WITH ME AS I KNOW OF OTHERS WHO CAN'T UPLOAD TO THEIR PICZO WEBSITE. I HAVE CONTACTED THEM 3 TIMES NOW - NO REPLIES !
IF THE WORST COMES TO THE WORST I WILL CREATE A COPY OF THIS SITE ELSEWHERE
I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS - MARTIN.
**** 27th October 2010 ****
*** SUPERSWAN DVD NOW AVAILABLE - SEE SUPERSWAN PAGE FOR DETAILS ***
Filmed in 1976, for the Superswan Festival, the film is approx 30 mins and includes footage of the fashions and a lot of people of Old Swan having a good time. Doric Rd Park scenes, Prescot Road and St Oswalds Flats and more
************************************************************************
See Links at bottom of page
As there wasn't a site specifically for Old Swan and surrounding areas, where I was born and brought up, in Liverpool, I decided to dedicate this site to it's history.
Born in 1961 in Fitzgerald Road, Old Swan Liverpool, to Emily and Ted, with two brothers and a younger sister, life growing up in the 60's / 70's Old Swan was all about playing in the street and Doric Road Park. We'd sometimes take a walk past Knotty Ash train station and into Springfield Park, where in 1966, the picture on the left was taken.
( L to R Back Row ) Billy Halligan, Gerard Jones, Tony Halligan and Michael Halligan.
( L to R ) Front Row ) Tommy Jones, John Gilliard, Stephen Halligan, Peter Halligan, Martin Jones ( me ! ) and at the very front are Benny Halligan and Irene Halligan.
The streets of Old Swan were quite empty of cars, nowadays you struggle to get a parking space. Growing up, our "area" we would wander, without a packed lunch would be the square mile of Derby Lane, Queens Drive, Edge Lane and St. Oswald Street.
If anyone out there has any old pics of the area in and around Old Swan and would like to contribute to this site, please do so. If anyone would like me to remove anything I have on here, pics etc, then again, please contact me and I will oblige.
( L to R Back Row ) Billy Halligan, Gerard Jones, Tony Halligan and Michael Halligan.
( L to R ) Front Row ) Tommy Jones, John Gilliard, Stephen Halligan, Peter Halligan, Martin Jones ( me ! ) and at the very front are Benny Halligan and Irene Halligan.
The streets of Old Swan were quite empty of cars, nowadays you struggle to get a parking space. Growing up, our "area" we would wander, without a packed lunch would be the square mile of Derby Lane, Queens Drive, Edge Lane and St. Oswald Street.
If anyone out there has any old pics of the area in and around Old Swan and would like to contribute to this site, please do so. If anyone would like me to remove anything I have on here, pics etc, then again, please contact me and I will oblige.
The information on this site is taken from various websites, The LRO, books and memories. I do not intend to post any content without permission or credit of source.
I will put as much information behind the photographs on here and credit where credit is due. Some of the sources will be Colin Gould's book called "A Pictorial History of Old Swan and Liverpool", "West Derby, Old Swan and Wavertree" by James hoult, "150 years of a Parish" from St. Oswald's Church, "West Derby People" by John Cooper and David Power, Various websites including the great Liverpool Forums: YoLiverpool.com and MyLiverpool.com, where many members pass on their information, facts, pics and memories.
I will put as much information behind the photographs on here and credit where credit is due. Some of the sources will be Colin Gould's book called "A Pictorial History of Old Swan and Liverpool", "West Derby, Old Swan and Wavertree" by James hoult, "150 years of a Parish" from St. Oswald's Church, "West Derby People" by John Cooper and David Power, Various websites including the great Liverpool Forums: YoLiverpool.com and MyLiverpool.com, where many members pass on their information, facts, pics and memories.
Old Swan
The neighbourhood of Old Swan derives it’s name from the first pub situated in the area.
It was once common practice for inns to take as their sign the crest of the local aristocratic family, in this case the Waltons, whose coat of arms was three white swans on a blue shield.
So, inevitably the first pub was called the three swans.
Shortly afterwards came two more Swan Inns, so the locals referred to them as the Old Swan, the Middle Swan and the Lower Swan. More recently the Old Swan Vaults and the Old Swan Hotel have been called the Red House and the White House.
The Original coaching inn stood where the Red House is today. The Red House was built in 1892.
The block of shops once known as Hoult’s Corner, stood in the middle of St. Oswald’s street, they were built on arches above Acresfield Quarry owned by Richard and Paul Barker.
Hoult's Corner Shops were built in the 1840’s, on arches above Acresfield Quarry.
The Quarry was dug out by Huyton Builders Richard and Paul Barker, two of the first people to see the potential of Old Swan.
They erected Knotty Ash Church, which was built in 1835, West Derby Parish Church and Old Swan Police Station in 1850 and the Old Swan water tower, which once stood near to the tram shed in Green Lane.
The Quarry was left as a large cellar beneath the shops and Joseph Jones’s brewery of Knotty Ash used them for a number of years.
This was situated behind the Wheatsheaf pub on Prescot road.
Hoult's Corner shops were demolished in 1939 and some of the shops transferred to the new shops below the newly built flats St. Oswald’s House.
These flats have since been demolished and a new Tesco's supermarket stands in their place.
St. Oswald’s Church was opened in 1842, built from a design by Welby Pugin. The land it was built on was a gift from Mr Edward Chaloner of Oak Hill House.
The church was partly rebuilt between 1951 and 1957 from a design by Adrian Gilbert Scott.
Cannon Maddocks was the first parish priest and is remembered by a local street named after him.
During the building of St. Oswald’s Primary School in the 1970’s they found the remains of over 3,500 bodies, some buried 16 deep in places. The bodies were exhumed , cremated and reinterred at Anfield Cemetery.
It was once common practice for inns to take as their sign the crest of the local aristocratic family, in this case the Waltons, whose coat of arms was three white swans on a blue shield.
So, inevitably the first pub was called the three swans.
Shortly afterwards came two more Swan Inns, so the locals referred to them as the Old Swan, the Middle Swan and the Lower Swan. More recently the Old Swan Vaults and the Old Swan Hotel have been called the Red House and the White House.
The Original coaching inn stood where the Red House is today. The Red House was built in 1892.
The block of shops once known as Hoult’s Corner, stood in the middle of St. Oswald’s street, they were built on arches above Acresfield Quarry owned by Richard and Paul Barker.
Hoult's Corner Shops were built in the 1840’s, on arches above Acresfield Quarry.
The Quarry was dug out by Huyton Builders Richard and Paul Barker, two of the first people to see the potential of Old Swan.
They erected Knotty Ash Church, which was built in 1835, West Derby Parish Church and Old Swan Police Station in 1850 and the Old Swan water tower, which once stood near to the tram shed in Green Lane.
The Quarry was left as a large cellar beneath the shops and Joseph Jones’s brewery of Knotty Ash used them for a number of years.
This was situated behind the Wheatsheaf pub on Prescot road.
Hoult's Corner shops were demolished in 1939 and some of the shops transferred to the new shops below the newly built flats St. Oswald’s House.
These flats have since been demolished and a new Tesco's supermarket stands in their place.
St. Oswald’s Church was opened in 1842, built from a design by Welby Pugin. The land it was built on was a gift from Mr Edward Chaloner of Oak Hill House.
The church was partly rebuilt between 1951 and 1957 from a design by Adrian Gilbert Scott.
Cannon Maddocks was the first parish priest and is remembered by a local street named after him.
During the building of St. Oswald’s Primary School in the 1970’s they found the remains of over 3,500 bodies, some buried 16 deep in places. The bodies were exhumed , cremated and reinterred at Anfield Cemetery.
Old Swan maps circa 1830's.
St. Oswalds church does not appear until 1842.
The first map, Plot 2473 is roughly where St. Oswalds church will be built. The Quarry is where Hoult's Corner was built.
The second one is interesting because it shows the Old Swan Glass Works (plot 2477 and 2476). These Glass Works were bought by Pilkingtons and Chances in 1855. The huge round bit would have been the 'cone' where the furnace was located ( see pic below left from website )
Info and maps from Yo Liverpool Forum
Old Swan Glass Works, started in 1825. The old english style of glass had the 'knob' in the middle wheareas the french were making clear, plain sheet glass. 40 french workers were "imported" and their methods employed to great success, a new cone was built and mens wages grew to £3 10s a week AND they had their own brass band !
The sheet glass for the Custom House, priced at 9 1/2d per foot and the plate glass in the Royal Insurance Buildings, at 7s 6d per foot, all came from the Old Swan Glass Works. A fraud case later closed the factory for good.
St. Oswalds church does not appear until 1842.
The first map, Plot 2473 is roughly where St. Oswalds church will be built. The Quarry is where Hoult's Corner was built.
The second one is interesting because it shows the Old Swan Glass Works (plot 2477 and 2476). These Glass Works were bought by Pilkingtons and Chances in 1855. The huge round bit would have been the 'cone' where the furnace was located ( see pic below left from website )
Info and maps from Yo Liverpool Forum
Old Swan Glass Works, started in 1825. The old english style of glass had the 'knob' in the middle wheareas the french were making clear, plain sheet glass. 40 french workers were "imported" and their methods employed to great success, a new cone was built and mens wages grew to £3 10s a week AND they had their own brass band !
The sheet glass for the Custom House, priced at 9 1/2d per foot and the plate glass in the Royal Insurance Buildings, at 7s 6d per foot, all came from the Old Swan Glass Works. A fraud case later closed the factory for good.
A Map of Old Swan from 1906.
From Southgate Road ( right ) there are no residential homes, from Baden Road ( right ) there are none either.
Queens Drive doesn't exist and neither are the estates beyond.
The Rope Works on St. Oswalds Street is still there.
Look to the bottom of the map and you can see where Springfield Street "was", before being knocked for "Edge Lane" to run right through it.
From Southgate Road ( right ) there are no residential homes, from Baden Road ( right ) there are none either.
Queens Drive doesn't exist and neither are the estates beyond.
The Rope Works on St. Oswalds Street is still there.
Look to the bottom of the map and you can see where Springfield Street "was", before being knocked for "Edge Lane" to run right through it.
Old Swan Manor House - Circa 1850.
Built in 1715, it once stood on the west side of St Oswalds St.
pic courtesy of the LRO.
Built in 1715, it once stood on the west side of St Oswalds St.
pic courtesy of the LRO.
The district of Old Swan was just a small village 'near Prescot'.
Father Maddocks was much affected at the spiritual destitution of the Catholic's living in Old Swan, far from Church and in many cases, far from God.
In 1835, between Old Swan and Sheil Rd not more than 20 houses are shown on a map of the district. From Sheil Rd on to the top end of London Rd was all fields except for the country road along which a stage-coach conveyed passengers. Horses were changed at Low Hill ( a small Hamlet ) and again at the Old Swan Inn.
In Old Swan , on the corner of Derby Lane, where the Barclays Bank now stands, was the West Derby Bridewell or Lock Up - right
Father Maddocks was much affected at the spiritual destitution of the Catholic's living in Old Swan, far from Church and in many cases, far from God.
In 1835, between Old Swan and Sheil Rd not more than 20 houses are shown on a map of the district. From Sheil Rd on to the top end of London Rd was all fields except for the country road along which a stage-coach conveyed passengers. Horses were changed at Low Hill ( a small Hamlet ) and again at the Old Swan Inn.
In Old Swan , on the corner of Derby Lane, where the Barclays Bank now stands, was the West Derby Bridewell or Lock Up - right
One side of Derby Lane was bounded by a hawthorn hedge and save for a cottage or two and a farm house or two, from there, right out to Knowsley and Huyton there were fields.
Petticoat Lane is now Broadgreen Road and Prescot Lane, now Prescot Road. Black Horse Lane existed, here was the famous Blacksmiths Shop - above right.
Towards Knotty Ash, on the opposite side, there were a few cottages dotted along the side of the lane. Opposite Black Horse Lane was a footpath which wended it's way across the land now occupied by the roads off Broadgreed Rd. Crows Walk it was called, it was a way to Oakhill Park, where many of the old houses still remain. At the foot of the hill by this path, you would reach Oak Vale Nurseries, which stretched right across to Mill Lane and from whence the trees were sent to all parts of the world.
Petticoat Lane is now Broadgreen Road and Prescot Lane, now Prescot Road. Black Horse Lane existed, here was the famous Blacksmiths Shop - above right.
Towards Knotty Ash, on the opposite side, there were a few cottages dotted along the side of the lane. Opposite Black Horse Lane was a footpath which wended it's way across the land now occupied by the roads off Broadgreed Rd. Crows Walk it was called, it was a way to Oakhill Park, where many of the old houses still remain. At the foot of the hill by this path, you would reach Oak Vale Nurseries, which stretched right across to Mill Lane and from whence the trees were sent to all parts of the world.
Derwent Road existed, one side of Derby Lane, a few shops between there and Greenfield Rd and on to Stanley where was the then new Cattle Market. St. Annes Protestant Church was built in 1831 and on the east side of it were two or three little streets. The opposite side was occupied by farms. Opposite Green Lane there was a school called Salisbury House and from there, up to St. Oswald's St ( then Edge Lane ) there were a row of cottages with long gardens. Behind these and taking there names from the near by quarries were Rock Mount ( North and South ), Rock View and Rock St.
Rock St. emerged into St. Oswald's St, parallel with it was Victoria Place and next to that was the Rope Works.
On the Church side of St. Oswald's St there were a row of cottages, with long gardens which came up to the railings of the present Infant School. Past the Rope Works there were the fields belonging to Elm House. Elm House stood between Elmshouse Rd and Edge Lane Drive. This description gives us an idea what the area was like around 1840.
Opposite Gorton Rd in Broadgreen Road there were two or three cottages. In one of these, Fr Maddocks Lived. He said Mass for more than two years, every Sunday, in an outhouse and it is recorded that so great was the attendance that the windows were left open so that the cowds, kneeling outside on the cobblestones could hear mass.
The land for the St. Oswald's Church was a gift from Mr. edward Chaloner of Oak Hil House.
At the end of 1839 the foundation stone of St. Oswald's church was laid, the contract being given to a firm called Myers and Architect being Mr A W Pugin. St. Oswald's Church took over two years to build, in the meantime, Fr Maddocks secured the little house, next to the Church. The cost to build St. Oswald's Church, as Fr Maddocks has it, was somewhat over £5,000.
Fr Maddocks then built a Presbytery for himself, a very unpretentious place.
It is now part of the Convent Of Mercy. The original Priest's house can be clearly defined within the Convent.
There were four rooms, two upstairs and two downstairs. A door led into the school ( now the Parish Hall and the lean-to at the side of the house was where the Canon stabled his Donkey.
Here he lived in great poverty. In fact he seems to have no care for himself at all but he was brimming with good nature and very fond of the children of the parish, who crowded round him whenever they saw him. His charity ws so great that his housekeeper often had to hide even his clothes for fear he would give them all away.
The building of the church was the reason for calling this part of Edge Lane - St. Oswald's St.
Rock St. emerged into St. Oswald's St, parallel with it was Victoria Place and next to that was the Rope Works.
On the Church side of St. Oswald's St there were a row of cottages, with long gardens which came up to the railings of the present Infant School. Past the Rope Works there were the fields belonging to Elm House. Elm House stood between Elmshouse Rd and Edge Lane Drive. This description gives us an idea what the area was like around 1840.
Opposite Gorton Rd in Broadgreen Road there were two or three cottages. In one of these, Fr Maddocks Lived. He said Mass for more than two years, every Sunday, in an outhouse and it is recorded that so great was the attendance that the windows were left open so that the cowds, kneeling outside on the cobblestones could hear mass.
The land for the St. Oswald's Church was a gift from Mr. edward Chaloner of Oak Hil House.
At the end of 1839 the foundation stone of St. Oswald's church was laid, the contract being given to a firm called Myers and Architect being Mr A W Pugin. St. Oswald's Church took over two years to build, in the meantime, Fr Maddocks secured the little house, next to the Church. The cost to build St. Oswald's Church, as Fr Maddocks has it, was somewhat over £5,000.
Fr Maddocks then built a Presbytery for himself, a very unpretentious place.
It is now part of the Convent Of Mercy. The original Priest's house can be clearly defined within the Convent.
There were four rooms, two upstairs and two downstairs. A door led into the school ( now the Parish Hall and the lean-to at the side of the house was where the Canon stabled his Donkey.
Here he lived in great poverty. In fact he seems to have no care for himself at all but he was brimming with good nature and very fond of the children of the parish, who crowded round him whenever they saw him. His charity ws so great that his housekeeper often had to hide even his clothes for fear he would give them all away.
The building of the church was the reason for calling this part of Edge Lane - St. Oswald's St.
Pages
- St. Oswald's Street
- Mass Graves of Old Swan
- Prescot Road
- Derby Lane
- Broadgreen Road
- Queens Drive
- The Peter Halligan Collection
- Fitzgerald Road
- Fitzgerald Rd - 1970's Street Parties
- Fitzgerald Rd - 1970s Christmas Party
- No 40 Fitzgerald Rd - Halligan
- No 46 Fitzgerald Rd - Hepburn
- No 50 Fitzgerald Rd - Bentley
- No 55 Fitzgerald Road - Richardson
- No 59 Fitzgerald Rd - Shannon
- Super Swan
- Green Lane
- Edge Lane
- Rathbone Road
- Mill Lane
- Old Swan residents List 1946
- Pubs
- Cinemas
- Transport - Train Stations
- Libraries
- Mansions, Halls, Estates and Cottages
- Liverpool Memories - Brian Daley
- In the News
- 1906 Map
- World War 1 Memorial
- World War 2 Memorial
- VIDEOS
- Maps
- Unknown
- Coming Soon
- Around The Streets
- Looking for .....
- Industry
- Old Swan Snow - 21st Feb 2010
- Stanley Race Track
- NEW ADDITIONS
- TEST
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