MEMORIES AND PHOTOS - 2010s

NEW FERRY'S BIG FREEZE     January 2010

Text and photos submitted by Mark Anthony Craig, 6th January 2010

"2010 is just days old, and the country is gripped in an arctic chill the kind of which was last seen in the winter of 1981/2.  As in common with most other parts of the UK, although the snow may only have been 3 or 4 inches deep, the local Council has struggled to find enough grit and can only clear essential roads.  As daytime freezing temperatures plunge to  minus 10 degrees celsius and more at night, this compacted snow has become a lethally dangerous layer of ice covering roads and pavements alike.  These photos were taken as I walked to work at 8am on the morning of 6th January, the day after the rush-hour hell of Tuesday 5th January which will go down in history as the day the big freeze descended, the snow came and workers struggled to drive home, journeys taking 4 hours instead of 10 minutes, on roads that became skating rinks, cars mounted kerbs and crashed into lamp-posts."

DEMOLITION OF THE GREAT EASTERN PUB     25 June 2010

Photos submitted by Martin Morrow

A crime against the community was committed on 25 June 2010 when housing developer Worksharp EcoHomes of Southport demolished the historic Great Eastern pub.  Although Wirral Borough Council Planning Committee had met on 1st June and deferred making its decision whether to approve the proposals for 10 new semi-detached houses until 6th July, the developer had turned some members of the community against this landmark building by deliberately opening it up for vandals to hasten its demise.  In order to give the planning committee a nudge, the developer had the former pub demolished during the June heatwave just 1 week before the committee were to have a site visit to see the pub for themselves.

148 years of history was snuffed out by the short-sightedness and monetary greed of a developer seeking to make a quick profit out of destroying one of our community's historic landmark assets.  It seems that the mistakes of the demolitions carried out during the 1960s and 1970s have not been learned.  Landmark buildings are what gives a community its identity, not by turning it into endless rows of bland cheap domestic architecture.  Without landmarks, communities such as New Ferry will become as anonymous as a suburb of Telford.  Those who allowed this crime to be committed should hang their heads in shame. 

OAK OF HOPE PLANTED IN NEW FERRY PARK     19 April 2011  

Text and photos supplied by Mark Anthony Craig

A new oak tree was planted in New Ferry Park on Tuesday 19th April 2011 in a ceremony to honour soldiers from the local Merseyside area.  A new bench, one of a number of new benches in the park, was also dedicated to their sacrifice.

The bench, which bears a plaque dedicated to those killed and wounded like Wirral soldier Pte Danny Oxley who lost three limbs in an IED explosion, was presented by the New Ferry Friends of the Park and the New Ferry Regeneration Action Group.

BENCH DEDICATED TO AMY BRADY OUTSIDE VILLAGE HALL  11 February 2012  

A new bench was installed outside the Village Hall in remembrance of former New Ferry resident Amy Brady who, in 2002, had the idea of setting up the Wirral Farmer's Market inside the Village Hall.  Amy campaigned for months to win support for her plan, and after appeasing the protective market traders at Birkenhead, was eventually given the go-ahead. In February 2012, the Farmer's Market celebrated its tenth birthday, so a bench was installed outside the Village Hall with a plaque with dedicated to the memory of Amy who sadly died a few years ago.  Her son is seen in the photo, sitting on the bench, with his arm around the lady in the purple coat.
 
 

ONLINE BUTCHERY MASTERCLASS BY EDGE & SON: Rack of lamb, pork belly & back bacon     9 February 2012  

Presented by Callum Edge

A SHORT WALK IN NEW FERRY, WIRRAL     27 December 2012  

Uploaded by Ben NCM

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