High Rise Living

This is a subject that's been very well covered by some of the Yo! Liverpool members, but I thought I'd start a thread just for images / stories of tower blocks.

Three of the tower blocks in Moreton, Wirral (1964/5) are about to be demolished and so I've started to photograph them. I will of course take more photos as the demolition gets underway...

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ONHEIGHTS4.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ONHEIGHTS7.jpg

The three blocks are on Stavordale Road and are called Melrose, Thornridge and Sandbourne.


... and here are a couple of Mill View, Toxteth (1967) from today:-

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...W-NOV20092.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...W-NOV20096.jpg

"As soon as your born they make you live tall." ?

Nice pics Ross, any chance of views from the tops? As such views may be lost.

Mill View was built in 1967. It is dreary and needs make-over now. From the Wirral it is a very prominent building. Why are the blocks in Moreton being demolished? They look good to me. Once these blocks are vacated, the whole areas lose vibrancy. They become soulless.

My sister used to live there and they were alright. For the last few years they have been putting young sngle people in them and they rapidly went down hill. The Police are never away from the place. It's a shame. They knocked Ford Towers down a few years back. I used to live there when I left the Army. They were even better. Ten they started putting problem families in them. The rest is history.

You can bet your life that if they were all glass with a curve at the top and a cocierge at the foot, they'd be all the rage and going for a pretty penny too.

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Originally Posted by Ged

You can bet your life that if they were all glass with a curve at the top and a cocierge at the foot, they'd be all the rage and going for a pretty penny too.

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It's a shame cos there's nowt wrong with high rise living. It's the people they put in them. The two in New Brighton are private and are lovely inside. That's what they can be. Liscard House in Liscard is very successful too as they only put pensioners in there. They have bingo nights and regular trips away.

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Originally Posted by pablo42

It's a shame cos there's nowt wrong with high rise living. It's the people they put in them. The two in New Brighton are private and are lovely inside. That's what they can be. Liscard House in Liscard is very successful too as they only put pensioners in there. They have bingo nights and regular trips away.

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That's absolutely right... I think the story's the same with Sunningdale in Moreton. This is the one block that is to remain, and as far as I know it houses just pensioners.

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Originally Posted by Ross08

That's absolutely right... I think the story's the same with Sunningdale in Moreton. This is the one block that is to remain, and as far as I know it houses just pensioners.

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I think that's the one by the shops. They changed the names of them a while back and I don't recognise the names. It's a shame they pull these places down yet leave the worst ones up. The high rises in Woodchurch were always pretty grim, yet most of them are still up.

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Originally Posted by pablo42

I think that's the one by the shops. They changed the names of them a while back and I don't recognise the names. It's a shame they pull these places down yet leave the worst ones up. The high rises in Woodchurch were always pretty grim, yet most of them are still up.

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Yes... Sunningdale is the block by the shops and the pub (now the Sandbrook, but still known locally as the Clipper). I think the original names of the flats were along the lines of Fender, Hillview and Millhay - I'll find out for definite.

Not excactly high-rise, though it should have been a 14-story development of luxury apartments.
It's now around two years since work stopped on the construction of the Columbus Quay development.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...V2009-PIC2.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...V2009-PIC1.jpg

Work halted back in November 2007 (so the recession can't be blamed) - supposedly due to design problems, but it's never resumed. The site is between the Jaguar garage and the Chung Ku restaurant at Sefton Street.

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Originally Posted by Ross08

Yes... Sunningdale is the block by the shops and the pub (now the Sandbrook, but still known locally as the Clipper). I think the original names of the flats were along the lines of Fender, Hillview and Millhay - I'll find out for definite.

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Yes, that sounds familiar. Never knew the Clipper had changed it's name neither.

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Originally Posted by Ged

You can bet your life that if they were all glass with a curve at the top and a cocierge at the foot, they'd be all the rage and going for a pretty penny too.

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Yep.They should have sold them onto a private company. Blocks in the middle of council estates are not in demand though. Blocks in good locations private companies buy up.

Some photographs from Stockbridge Village (Cantril farm) - taken November 2009.

I believe there were originally nine tower blocks on the estate, three of them having now been demolished.
The remaining blocks are Mosscraig, Firscraig, Whincraig, Merecliff, Tarncliff and Denecliff.
Can anyone tell me what the other blocks were called?

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ge-Merecli.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ge-Mosscra.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ge-Seenfro.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ge-Tarncli.jpg

great pictures Ross. Can't help with the names though. I never knew there were so many there.

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Originally Posted by pablo42

great pictures Ross. Can't help with the names though. I never knew there were so many there.

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Pablo - I'm from your neck of the woods, I grew up in Liscard and I now live in Moreton.
Yesterday was the first time I'd been to 'Canny Farm', I knew of the flats though because I see them when I come into Liverpool from Chester on the M57 most nights.

A great place for anybody like myself who is interested in social housing and large estates.

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Originally Posted by Ross08

Pablo - I'm from your neck of the woods, I grew up in Liscard and I now live in Moreton.
Yesterday was the first time I'd been to 'Canny Farm', I knew of the flats though because I see them when I come into Liverpool from Chester on the M62 most nights.

A great place for anybody like myself who is interested in social housing and large estates.

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Not a place I know too well meself. Been to a few pubs over there with mates when we were on leave. They weren't owt special, just rough estate pubs.

Fancy admitting you were from Moreton. Had a few sessions down there in the Big House, The Farmers and The Plough. For some reason they were always a bit rough.

Great pics Ross.

Some Canny farm blocks can be found on youtube when people were moving into them.

There's this thread too. It's always worth doing a search first as it can resurrect some long lost buried old threads for some of the newbies.



http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/sho...t=tower+blocks


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Originally Posted by Ged

Great pics Ross.

Some Canny farm blocks can be found on youtube when people were moving into them.

There's this thread too. It's always worth doing a search first as it can resurrect some long lost buried old threads for some of the newbies.



http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/sho...t=tower+blocks


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Ged - I had looked for the thread, but I couldn't find it... I knew we'd had a thread on high-rise tower blocks before.

Thanks for putting that link up :handclap:

No probs Ross, I suddenly remembered it had the word tower in it so searched for that :)

Anybody who'se interested in this thread or Liverpool's tower blocks must see this link:

CLICK HERE

I'd been on this website a long time ago, and have been looking for the link for a couple of weeks now...

Thanks for the link Ross. I worked for a shop in Lord St in the 1960s called FW Allen, installing TVs and washing machines and I think I must have been in every one of those on the list at some stage, plus those weird ones in Netherley, Pavely Bank. Brings back a lot of memories. I remember one of the Sheil Park towers had a shop on the ground floor. Hard to imagine that now. It was a pain if you got all the way to the top with a fridge on the truck and then remembered you'd left your screwdriver in the van, because you waited ages for the lift. The milkmen must have been glad to see the back of them.
I always fancied a top floor flat in the ones on Menlove Avenue but I think you needed a letter from God to get one.

Thanks for the link Ross, however I clicked on Hetherlow Towers then on Rock View but no pics?

However, if you do want pics, try the high rise page of my site ;)

Logan Towers was approved in 1964 and contains 172 flats. When built, it was the world's tallest block of pre-fabricated flats.

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Originally Posted by Ged

Thanks for the link Ross, however I clicked on Hetherlow Towers then on Rock View but no pics?

However, if you do want pics, try the high rise page of my site ;)

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Very interesting Ged... Great website. :handclap:

Thanks Ross.

Some more photos of the high-rise blocks, from December 2009.

Starting off with Marwood Tower, Boundary Street East...

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...etEast-DEC.jpg

The twin towers of View 146, Conway Street...

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...C2009-PIC1.jpg

Over the water... Liscard House, Wallasey...

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...C2009-PIC1.jpg

Nice one Ross. Liscard House is just for older folk. They have a great social set up there and do lots together. Bingo nights, trips, its a nice end to their days.

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Originally Posted by pablo42

Nice one Ross. Liscard House is just for older folk. They have a great social set up there and do lots together. Bingo nights, trips, its a nice end to their days.

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Pablo - Sounds like you're trying to sell the place :) Seriously though, it is a decent block. Well looked after and, as you say, just houses the older people.

It goes to show (along with Sunningdale in Moreton) that with the right people living there and some maintenance, high-rise needn't be a problem.

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Originally Posted by Ross08

Pablo - Sounds like you're trying to sell the place :) Seriously though, it is a decent block. Well looked after and, as you say, just houses the older people.

It goes to show (along with Sunningdale in Moreton) that with the right people living there and some maintenance, high-rise needn't be a problem.

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You're right Ross. I used to live in Ford Towers when I left the Army. When I moved in they were a smashing place to live. Thye put problem families in there though and they wrecked the place.

Them towers in New Brighton are very successful. Lovely inside.

Yes, I am trying to sell Liscard Towers. No publicity, just send the bag of cash.

Heysmoor Heights, December 2009:

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...C2009-PIC2.jpg

The basic design of tower blocks is really unattractive. It's weird the way they "upgraded" Heysmoor Heights and charged silly prices considering where it was located and the size.

Some from a series of aerial pics I took from the top of Marwood Tower. The rest will appear on my site during the week.

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6...rwoodview1.jpg

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http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/7229/marwoodview10.jpg

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http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/8...w9scrapers.jpg

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