After my visit to see the Steam Locomotives at Grosmont (see previous blog posts) I went back to Whitby to take a short boat trip on the old Lifeboat which has been saved from decay and used as a pleasure boat and to promote the work of the RNLI.
As you leave the harbour you pass by the lifeboat station and the current lifeboat which was purchased at a cost of £1.2 million. The RNLI is a vital service run by volunteers and funded entirely via donations. Apparently this boat was paid for by a very generous donor who walked into the lifeboat station and asked how much a new boat would cost, she was told the cost and she promptly wrote a cheque for the full amount. What an amazing gift to the people of Whitby who will rely on this service to save lives at sea along this beautiful stretch of coast.
Hoylake is a small seaside town on the Wirral Peninsula with a population of around 6,000 people (13,000 in the council ward which includes Meols). The town has a long history including being the place where in 1690 King William 3rd set sail for Ireland with an army of 10,000 men. More recently the town has hosted the British Open Golf Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
The pictures I have posted in today's offering show scenes of Hoylake's past. The Town Hall Clock remains the only indicator of the local council office which is now a job centre. The chocolate shop has long since ceased trading and the lifeboat has now moved to a spanking new boathouse further along the promenade. The fire house which in this picture was a mortgage brokers and antique centre is now a gym.
Hoylake like most other towns is constantly changing and evolving so when I stumbled across these pictures which I had taken over 10 years ago I thought it was good to share them with you.
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