WIRRAL SAND YACHT CLUB REGATTA, HOYLAKE, ENGLAND JUNE 16-17, 2001

Modern Hoylake was once the two ancient villages of Little Meols and Roose, which until 1833 were in the parish of West Kirby. The coast of Little Meols stretched from Riverside Road in West Kirby to the bottom of Alderley Road where Hoose began. The present name of Hoylake is derived from the "High Lake" or "Heye-pol", which once extended several miles along the coast from Hilbre to Dove Point at Meols.

At low tide it had a depth of up to 20 feet of water and was protected by a wide sandbank, known as Hoyle Bank, providing a safe anchorage for ships that were too large to sail up the Dee to Chester.

In the 17th Century Hoylake was one of the main embarkation points for troops sailing to Ireland. Thousands of soldiers, civilians, infantry and cavalry sailed from Hoylake, including in 1690, King William III and his 10,000 strong army. The soldiers "would often sally forth bent on wine, and were proficient in robbing a hen roost or rounding up a few ducks".

During the 1700s the River Dee became more difficult to navigate. Docks were built at Liverpool, and inbound ships waited at Hoylake for the tide and a suitable wind to sail up the Mersey. At the time, smuggling was prevalent in the Dee and Irish Sea. Several local men worked as "customs officers", aboard special yachts stopping and searching vessels. A more dangerous occupation was as a guide to incoming vessels through the sandbanks of Liverpool Bay In 1770 three pilot boats were wrecked and 28 people drowned.

To assist shipping into the Hoylake anchorage, two lighthouses were built around 1760. A lower lighthouse in Alderley Road, and an upper lighthouse, which is the octagonal brick tower now part of a residence in Valentia Road. Both lighthouses were rebuilt in the 1860s. They both used coal fires for illumination and the upper lighthouse was the first lighthouse in the world to be fitted with special mirrors. Its light last shone in 1886. The lifeboat installed by the Liverpool Dock Board in 1803, was one of the first in the country.

By the 1830s the silting of the lake could not be curbed and the cutting of a new channel to Liverpool, marked the end of Hoylake's shipping heyday. Fishing now became the main trade for the local community and the clear waters of the Dee were teeming with fish. In the 1850s five fishing boats could catch 17 tons of fish in one night, but domestic conditions could be harsh. Cottages in Seaview and Lake Place were home to fishing families. Many had up to 10 children, living without modern conveniences such as sewers, drains, gas or electricity. In contrast to the poor fisher folk, affluent people visited Hoylake. They were attracted to its splendid beaches and enjoyed the new "craze" of sea-bathing.

In 1796 an advertisement for the Royal Hotel, in Stanley Road read. "A terrace has lately been added to the hotel, from which there is a fine view of the lake, the sea, the Lancashire hills and Welsh mountains, and of every ship which goes to and comes from Parkgate and Liverpool".

From 1840, Hoylake had the added attraction of a racecourse which was laid out on a rabbit warren facing the Royal Hotel. The turf was reputed to be the finest in the world. Although it ceased to be used in 1876, the western turning is still visible, and two of the old railing posts still stand.

Golf firmly established the name of Hoylake nationally and internationally. The present Royal Liverpool Golf Club was originally a nine-hole course founded by local enthusiasts in 1869. Hoylake's sands of time shifted yet again with the coming of the railway in 1866. It transformed the sand-buried, shrimp-smelling village into a major seaside resort and commuter town.

The population increased from 924 in 1861 to 6,352 by 1901. Prosperous Liverpool and Birkenhead businessmen built houses for their families to use during the summer while holidaymakers flocked to enjoy the beaches and bracing air. Pleasure and leisure were the bywords of the day and new facilities were installed, including the swimming baths, cinema, tennis courts, putting green, promenade gardens and a bandstand in the seafront gardens. It had roller skating on Saturday afternoons and dancing Saturday nights.

In the 1960s the new craze of continental "package tours" ended the holiday boom-town era in Hoylake's history Now a dormitory town with some of the best residential addresses in Wirral, its fresh air and sandy beaches continue to attract daytrippers. Stroll along Market Street with its Victorian shop verandahs or meander down to the shore. Savour the same sea-air that braced the mariners and holidaymakers of Hoylake in times gone by.

[ b a c k t o th e t o p o f t h e p a g e ]

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