I think we could do with a thread in this section for people to post photographs of buildings they are interested in but need more information about.

For example, when you come across a building you want to identify but don't know what it is or what it has been.

Here's another one I wonder if anyone can help me with...

Does anyone know what the Southport McDonald's used to be?

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i36/taxipix/WhatIsIt1.jpg

[QUOTE=Ross;29831]I think we could do with a thread in this section for people to post photographs of buildings they are interested in but need more information about.

For example, when you come across a building you want to identify but don't know what it is or what it has been.

Here's another one I wonder if anyone can help me with...

Does anyone know what the Southport McDonald's used to be?

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i36/taxipix/WhatIsIt1.jpg[/Q

Beacon House.
Southport Co-operative Society's Department Store.
1934, if I remember correctly.

Next question please. :)

this is a really good idea for a thread.
I am sure Philip will excel in this one!!:)

this is a really good idea for a thread.
I am sure Philip will excel in this one!!:)

Thank you, but Beacon House was too easy. :)
I worked for Southport Co-Op for a few years in the early 1960s, and Beacon House was their H/O.

BTW, I think that the Co-Ops across the country went in for interesting architecture.
In Liverpool, for instance, they built places like Holyoake Hall in Smithdown Road (still there, & one of my fave Liverpool buildings).
Walton Road (demolished).

London Road is a great building, & I've tried to find out exactly who it was built for. My research at the moment is leaning towards Rubin's (drapers), who were at the site in 1937 (which is the date Joseph Sharples gives for the building).

ooohhhh i always wondered what Holyoake Hall was...

Not sure if this is the right thread for these - but since the Co-Op has been mentioned I'll stick 'em here! :)
Priory rd Co-Op. Anfield.

Great pics Lindy...

Not sure if this is the right thread for these - but since the Co-Op has been mentioned I'll stick 'em here! :)
Priory rd Co-Op. Anfield.

The Co op on Lawerence Road in Wavertree's a rip off.:Smiliz_Kingz_PDT_13

Another quick result. There are some knowledgeable people on this forum.

Thanks Philip.

I've been in the McDonalds a few times and often wondered who the building had been built for.

Cheers... :smirk:

Holyoake Hall:
It has that Theatre-ish look about it, I think. Anyway, here's a couple of pics from Summer and a couple of weeks ago (a row of derelict shops has been demolished inbetween the 2 pics, which allows a better view of the left-side of the building). A date of AD 1914 appears in the stonework (of the 'tower' part). A date of 1913 appears on part of the lower building (seen from the right-hand side-street)

Holyoake Hall:
It has that Theatre-ish look about it, I think. Anyway, here's a couple of pics from Summer and a couple of weeks ago (a row of derelict shops has been demolished inbetween the 2 pics, which allows a better view of the left-side of the building). A date of AD 1914 appears in the stonework.

Thanks, Marky.

There was a dance-hall upstairs.

i love that building:)

or anyone that has any info or old pics

do you know what this building is/was?

it is on the corner of smithdown rd opp the boundary pub

:)

It used to be a Bank of England bank - my folks used to work around there at one time.

Nice building. :)

Nice building. :)

It sticks out like a sore thumb :Colorz_Grey_PDT_16:

That buildings ****e.

or anyone that has any info or old pics

do you know what this building is/was?

it is on the corner of smithdown rd opp the boundary pub

:)

It was built in 1904 as the Bank of Liverpool.
Later renamed Martins Bank.
Taken over by Barclays Bank.
It's been a Doctor's Surgery for at least 20 years.

many thanks Philip! I knew you would know!:celb (23):

hello folks

im missinformed significant other :)

saw this building this morning and would like some info on it if anyone has any
i think it may have been a pub but i may be wrong

its at the top of church st

It's a very nice building. I don't know what it was originally.
The Car Phone Warehouse does nothing to enhance the frontage does it !!

hello folks

im missinformed significant other :)

saw this building this morning and would like some info on it if anyone has any
i think it may have been a pub but i may be wrong

its at the top of church st

Welcome to the forum.

This is a tough one! :eek:
It wasn't a bank or a pub, because it would have been marked as such on the OS maps.
Way back as far as the 1940s, it was an opticians (but it wasn't built as such).
Kings the opticians still have part of the building.
Until a couple of years ago they had all the ground floor.

I thought the building might be Edwardian, but Joseph Sharples mentions it in passing (page 180) and says "possibly 1880s".

There is a Liver Bird in one of the panels.
It needs more investigation.

hello folks

im missinformed significant other :)

saw this building this morning and would like some info on it if anyone has any
i think it may have been a pub but i may be wrong

its at the top of church st

ello bunf, welcome :celb (23):

Thank you for the info and welcomes everybody.

Merry Christmas!:)

P.S Who is Joseph Sharples?

Who is Joseph Sharples?

Joseph Sharples has written "Liverpool".
One of the new "Pevsner Architectural Series".

It gives details of all the Listed Buildings in Liverpool.
The one you're interested in isn't Listed.

Here it is in about 1890.
The stucco decorations and new windows were put into this building in Edwardian times.

Wow that's amazing!
Thanks for digging them out

We have got a few more buildings, just been on a little tour!:)

We will post them in the next hour or so.
P.S Where exactly was the Sailor's Home?

We have just been on a little mystery tour, and saw this building in Cornwallis Street.
I have never seen it before, probably because I never really have any need to venture down that way

I have just googled it, and found out it was a Public Baths...so I have kinda answered my own question!:)

But still an impressive building!

bunf,
The sailors home was in Canning place on the west side.:037:

was it here? or am i barking up the wrong tree?

heres some more pics from our session this morning

Hi all
I have passed this house many times in Grafton Street, L8. It's number 313, and I just wonder if anyone knows anything about it?

It is so out of place on that street!

Help identifying this building and its original use:

Weird but wonderful rear end of a building around Clarence Street.

http://static.flickr.com/88/245396289_69c0a1288b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ijob/245396289/)

Hi all
I have passed this house many times in Grafton Street, L8. It's number 313, and I just wonder if anyone knows anything about it?

It is so out of place on that street!

It would have been the office block for whatever business was carried on behind it.

For instance, here's Grafton Street in 1936.

hiya philip

Thanks for that.
I always thought the house had something to do with maybe the church, i.e a priests house, just because of the architecture and the way it looks.

i wonder if the people who live in the house know....:)

Help identifying this building and its original use:

Weird but wonderful rear end of a building around Clarence Street.

http://static.flickr.com/88/245396289_69c0a1288b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ijob/245396289/)

I was round there today, and was trying to figure out the address when somebody came out of the building next door.
This building is 91 Mount Pleasant (the man came out of 89).
Both 89 & 91 are the Aachen Hotel.
91 has that great (cast-iron?) window.

Apart from saying they were originally built as houses (c1800), I don't know much else, but if they were windows at the very top it may have been something like an artist's studio.

Checking street directories would provide more clues.
For instance, in 1936 the building was listed as "Thomas Evans, apartments".
83, 85, 87 & 89 were all "Temperance Hotels".

Hi Philip
Were you taking pics on Rodney street today?:) :)

Hi Philip
Were you taking pics on Rodney street today?:) :)

Not exactly Rodney Street.
I took one of the Phil gates.
I was mostly in Hope Place/Hope Street, then Mount Pleasant.

Spookily enough, somebody walked past me, & the thought flashed through my mind that it might be Carrie?
And to think it probably was?
I've no idea what you look like! :)

spooky indeed!
I was in the car when I saw someone taking pics of some engravings above a door in Rodney street...and when I saw you had been around there today...

My pic is in the gallery on this site...for my sins!:)

spooky indeed!
I was in the car when I saw someone taking pics of some engravings above a door in Rodney street...and when I saw you had been around there today...

My pic is in the gallery on this site...for my sins!:)

In that case, that wasn't me.
23 Hope Street has a lovely stained glass fanlight, but I think I had the camera set wrong, so wasn't too happy with the result.
Here it is, anyway.

did you have a beige jacket on?

i saw someone taking pictures and joked to carrie that it might be you!

:)

Since this appears to be the "identify this building, please" thread I'm curious about the large building to the center right in this photo. What was it? Is it still there? I think this Guinness warehouse here may be the same as the warehouse from one of bunf's photos in a previous post.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/128126920_e992b2847c.jpg (www.flickr.com/photos/nancyo23/128126920/)

did you have a beige jacket on?

i saw someone taking pictures and joked to carrie that it might be you!

:)

I had a grey jacket & black trousers on.

I had a grey jacket & black trousers on.

ah ha!!


we may well have spotted you sir!

you could have jumped in with us!

:celb (23):

Since this appears to be the "identify this building, please" thread I'm curious about the large building to the center right in this photo. What was it? Is it still there? I think this Guinness warehouse here may be the same as the warehouse from one of bunf's photos in a previous post.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/128126920_e992b2847c.jpg (www.flickr.com/photos/nancyo23/128126920/)


hi nancy

i dont think its the same building that i was looking at before

i think you may have been on st james st or jamaica st.

i dont know if its still there im afraid :(

http://www.toxteth.net/maps/liverpool/lpool1a.htm

hi nancy

i dont think its the same building that i was looking at before

i think you may have been on st james st or jamaica st.

i dont know if its still there im afraid :(

http://www.toxteth.net/maps/liverpool/lpool1a.htm

I think it's Jamaica Street going away from town, but I'm confused by the sign to "Docks 1-10".
I'm not really up on docks, but I thought all the south docks had been closed by the 1980s.
Anyway, if it is Jamaica Street, I think that building is what remained of the African Oil Mills.
As Bunf says, it's not the Guinness building that was in his photo (Essex House - the one opposite the Swedish Church).

Whether it's still there, I couldn't say.
It's about time I went round that area again. :)

I think it's Jamaica Street going away from town, but I'm confused by the sign to "Docks 1-10".
I'm not really up on docks, but I thought all the south docks had been closed by the 1980s.
Anyway, if it is Jamaica Street, I think that building is what remained of the African Oil Mills.
As Bunf says, it's not the Guinness building that was in his photo (Essex House - the one opposite the Swedish Church).

Whether it's still there, I couldn't say.
It's about time I went round that area again. :)

That big building has gone. There are 'top' dollar houses there now.

Re: Norfolk St. pic
It looks like the junction with Chaloner St. heading South out of the city towards the bend before Parliament St. Straight on would be Sefton St. I'm guessing this because just behind the large brown building is the massive grain silo at Coburg dock (you can just see the edge of this grey building). This was one of the largest buildings ever, and was demolished in the very late 1980s.
If I'm right then the brown building would be on Queens Dock.

It was taken from the Chaloner St end of Norfolk St looking towards Sefton St. That building was knocked down in the late 80s. Looks like it was around the Kings or Queens Dock. Here's a pic I took from a similar area a few years back.

http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/norfolkst.jpg

Thanks everyone, I think my mystery is solved. Dave, your picture is taken from almost the same vantage point as mine! I was thinking that the building on Norfolk St. had probably been demolished by now, but instead it looks like it's been been cleaned up and restored. :)

Hi Nancy, I zoomed in on another pic I took, just a few feet south from yours and the building has been replaced by housing.

http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/norfolkst2.jpg

http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/norfolkst3.jpg

The Liverpool Record Office website has a pic taken from the other side of the Granary and states the following about the buildings next to the Granary...The older building was built by the Dock Engineer Lyster, and the chimney is Lyster's Hydraulic Pumping Station.

http://archive.liverpool.gov.uk/dserve.exe?&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Image.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqImage=ECH111100.jpg
Ref No. 770 ECH/1/1/1100
Edward Chambré Hardman
Copyright The National Trust

Re: Norfolk St. pic
It looks like the junction with Chaloner St. heading South out of the city towards the bend before Parliament St. Straight on would be Sefton St. I'm guessing this because just behind the large brown building is the massive grain silo at Coburg dock (you can just see the edge of this grey building). This was one of the largest buildings ever, and was demolished in the very late 1980s.
If I'm right then the brown building would be on Queens Dock.

The Dock Rd. The old Victorian building the original Coburg Dock grain silo. A very large 1930s concrete silo was built next to it in Brunswick Dock (seen just behind it). They were connected by a high level walkway or conveyor. The south end docks closed in 1972, however the Coburg and Brunwick Docks stayed open until 1975/76, as the silos were still used. Brunswick and Coburg Docks could take quite large ships and they could have remained open for far longer and even been used today - poor management. The smaller Garston Docks, way further up river are still open up an expensive dredged channel.

The smells from the silo were superb, as spices and various grains were unloaded. They permeated the whole of the south end area. Pictuires don't give smells.

Welcome to the forum.

This is a tough one! :eek:
It wasn't a bank or a pub, because it would have been marked as such on the OS maps.
Way back as far as the 1940s, it was an opticians (but it wasn't built as such).
Kings the opticians still have part of the building.
Until a couple of years ago they had all the ground floor.

I thought the building might be Edwardian, but Joseph Sharples mentions it in passing (page 180) and says "possibly 1880s".

There is a Liver Bird in one of the panels.
It needs more investigation.

Image
(http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=603&d=1166911080)



Here's almost the same view to the modern one you posted, but from 1947 (from 'More Memories of Liverpool', edited by Freddy O'Connor). Everything to the left of the building was demolished when they built Clayton Square shopping centre in the 1980s but it's interesting how they copied the building immediately next door, replacing the clock with a Virgin logo!

Here's almost the same view to the modern one you posted, but from 1947 (from 'More Memories of Liverpool', edited by Freddy O'Connor). Everything to the left of the building was demolished when they built Clayton Square shopping centre in the 1980s but it's interesting how they copied the building immediately next door, replacing the clock with a Virgin logo!

This is still on my "To Do" list. :037: :)
As Joseph Sharples says, it is probably 1880s, but new windows and the stucco work were put in after 1905.
I'm sure about that because the Crown Hotel in Lime Street had similar 2-storey bay windows installed when it was modernised in 1905, and the Crown had to get special permission because it was the first case of its kind.

The Liver Bird must give a clue.

I have been past this many times on Devonshire Road in Toxteth.
Unforunately I didnt get a chance to take a pic of the full building, it is a house with the back overlooking Princes Park.

It is a horse on a plaque above the arch to the entrance.
Just wondering if anyone knows its significance?


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Carrie132/horseplaqueondevonshireroad.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Carrie132/untitled2.jpg

I have been past this many times on Devonshire Road in Toxteth.
Unforunately I didnt get a chance to take a pic of the full building, it is a house with the back overlooking Princes Park.

It is a horse on a plaque above the arch to the entrance.
Just wondering if anyone knows its significance?


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Carrie132/horseplaqueondevonshireroad.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/Carrie132/untitled2.jpg


I don't know off-hand, Carrie.
Folks, if you could include the actual address, I'll be able to say what the building was in 1936, & then perhaps find out more later.
Carrie, it's only 5 minutes away, so I'll wander round this afternoon.

:) thats fantastic Philip!
many thanks

The house was built between 1857 and 1863, but we can't be sure that the crest was put up when the house was new.
It's possible to find out who the first owner was by checking street directories.
In 1936 it was occupied by the Rev. Nicholl Grieve, M.A. (Presbyterian Church of England).
It seems very big even by vicarage standards.

Thats fantastic Philip!
Thank you so much for even researching that much for me!

The archway looks pretty old but the actual plaque/crest itself looks alot newer I think.

A vicarage? interesting...

The house was built between 1857 and 1863, but we can't be sure that the crest was put up when the house was new.
It's possible to find out who the first owner was by checking street directories.
In 1936 it was occupied by the Rev. Nicholl Grieve, M.A. (Presbyterian Church of England).
It seems very big even by vicarage standards.

Looking at that pic Philip, it looks as if the archway is seperate from the house, and in a different style

Looking at that pic Philip, it looks as if the archway is seperate from the house, and in a different style

It's definitely part of the same house.
I took another photo framing the front door in the arch
(but I'm not happy with it, so I'm not going to post it).

thanks philip
i badly wanna go research in the archives for this one, cos I am very intrigued!
But am in work all week....darn!

The Tower, viewed from Pall Mall with the old Bradford Hotel on the left and the new office building on Tithebarn street to the right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-T0nrqdj04

My second video, contains pictures I have taken of warehouses, set to some Bach. The end sequence is supposed to be the view you get when you leave Lime Street on the train, in case anyone wonders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-T0nrqdj04

My second video, contains pictures I have taken of warehouses, set to some Bach. The end sequence is supposed to be the view you get when you leave Lime Street on the train, in case anyone wonders

A fine video. Maybe the music could be abit more uplifting though.

A fine video. Maybe the music could be abit more uplifting though.

Thanks A.D. As regards the music though, if I was told I was going deaf overnight, and had to choose the last pieces of music I would hear, I'd probably include that one - I find it sublime, and the ending could surely not be more uplifting? The old warehouses are....well.. decrepid mostly, largely unloved and under threat, so I thought that tune was reasonably upbeat in the circusmstances. But, I will try to put some rather more upbeat music on my next "video" (they are not really videos, I realise more slide-shows). Any particular music you think would go well with such scenes?

Thanks A.D. As regards the music though, if I was told I was going deaf overnight, and had to choose the last pieces of music I would hear, I'd probably include that one - I find it sublime, and the ending could surely not be more uplifting? The old warehouses are....well.. decrepid mostly, largely unloved and under threat, so I thought that tune was reasonably upbeat in the circusmstances. But, I will try to put some rather more upbeat music on my next "video" (they are not really videos, I realise more slide-shows). Any particular music you think would go well with such scenes?

Maybe something jolly like the Washington Post by Sousa or Enigma Variations by Elgar?

Thats fantastic Philip!
Thank you so much for even researching that much for me!

The archway looks pretty old but the actual plaque/crest itself looks alot newer I think.

A vicarage? interesting...

The archway looks to be in a Gothic Revival style, comparable to the architecture in St. Michaels-in-the-Hamlet.

Chris