FAMILY
HOLIDAYS
0092 Days Out
For our days out, at the weekends in the days of my childhood, most often we used to go to New Brighton. That was where the fairs were; and I loved fairground rides and booths. Now it is very rundown, but in those days the ferries used to bring thousands of the citizens of Liverpool across the Mersey to the magic of the fair and beach. Actually the popular part never had a good beach, since it was fouled by sewage, though some miles away from the mouth of the river - where my parents later lived - the beaches always were sandy and clean. But, even then, those of New Brighton itself were at the mercy of the Mersey which emptied its load of disgusting waste on to the foreshore -- so paddling or swimming was out of the question.
But it did have its other attractions. It had its equivalent of the end of the pier show; the Pavilion. This was where, later on, my mother and friends used regularly to go to shows.
It also had, in those days, two separate fairs. The one which remained later on was an indoor fair, on the promenade itself, with only a bit of an outdoor extension onto the seafront. The other was up on the hill above the town. Before the First World War this part of New Brighton had the equivalent of the Blackpool Tower, but this was pulled down in the Great War so that they could use the iron frame for weapons. All that remained was the Tower Ballroom, where the Beatles started their UK career, though I have never been inside it myself. In my day, though, it also offered the better fair, because it had a superior selection of fairground rides, and I used to rush around trying everything. I particularly used to like the shooting galleries, though in those days I was not a good shot.
Alternatively we used to go to Chester and walk along the Dee. Chester always has been a lovely city. The shops are gathered in two rows, the streets are actually called that; with one row of shops above another – which is how they have been since Tudor times. It was fascinating to walk along them. It also had a complete set of (roman) walls, so you can walk around the whole central city on the walls themselves. This also has its fascinations, because you would find yourself emerging in places you never thought existed - crossing main roads 40 feet in the air.
Later, in the 1960s, modern shops were inserted; but for once sensitively. Hence the centre of the row was carved out and bigger shops and malls built into these. The architect supervising the work there was my friend in later life, Ian. The thing I liked most about this new development was that of surprise. You could walk through a shop from the row, where it looked like a small 19th century shop, and you were suddenly in a department store; then out again the other side into a modern mall. In particular I loved going in by the multi-storey car park which went round and round and round, with doglegs here there and everywhere, and - having parked your car - you got into the lift expecting to end up in some other the level of the car park, as you do in most other similar car parks. In fact when the door opened you found yourself in a blaze of light in the centre of one of the malls -- which was a beautiful 'coup de theatre’.
By
the River Dee in Chester
At Chester, though, we usually went down by the river and walked along the river bank, from the racecourse through the centre of the town, with its bandstand, to the parks which were beyond that; pausing only to walk over the suspension bridge -- only for pedestrians -- which went to the other side of the Dee. Just occasionally we took one of the little motorboats and went up the river for a mile or so, looking at the houses -- very expensive houses -- on the northern bank.
The Mersey provided an almost impenetrable barrier. We only once went to Southport, which was the seaside resort on the other side of the river; and that was a major expedition. We did, though, go to shop in Liverpool quite frequently. The department stores were the main attractions there. The one we mainly frequented - because it was built on top of Central Station where the Mersey Railway terminated - was Lewiss. But there were also high-class ones, George Henry Lees in particular, not too far away. My mother used to like window-shopping in Bold Street, Liverpool’s answer to Bond Street, though she could never afford to buy anything there.
When I was in the Prep School, and we used to have Wednesday afternoon off, I used to go across to Liverpool with Nana Mercer to Clayton Square, where there was a news theatre - something which no longer exists. This showed shorts all day long. In particular they ran the Superman serial along with various cartoons. So I saw all the Superman episodes there. Just as much fun, we used to go to a self-service restaurant -- a rarity in those days -- where I could pick out whatever I wanted to eat.
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