Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History Who remembers... Wirral General History Chat...

In the 50s there used to be a park bobby in Birkenhead Park
called SGT Woodcock ,he always had a go at you if he caught you
fishing or climbing trees
All the kids used hide behind the trees and shout (TIMBER D--K)
You had to make sure he could not reconise you
He caught me once and reported me to my headmaster in Hemmy
Mr McINTYRE i got a good wacking so i tried to make life harder
even more in the park

Remember Woodcock, carried a 3 ft truncheon and you're right, the kids used to give him a hard time. Wish he was there now though, all the shoit that goes on in the park now wouldn't have gone on under his watch. The so called wardens go around in groups and don't seem to do much. Sunday there was one fishing in Top Park with his mates, must be a perk of the job. Car parked by the footpath with his little "Water Bailiff" sign in the window, load of crap. If there's no fishing on a Sunday it should be the same all round.
Plastic pop bottles and cartons floating around on the pond, it's a shame.

i used to go in the park in the 50s and it was great.i go in now and find it excellent,theres alot of people use it now its been cleaned up.the cafe is superb.its easy to criticise.

Last time i went into the park with my sisters they told me
how much money had been spent on the park in the last few years
For the life of me i could not see what it had been spent on
It did not look much different from when i left in 1962 if
anything worse
I spent a lot of hours in the park as a kid it was a great place,
it was a safe place to grow up in as a kid (HAPPY DAYS)

iff you would have seen it about15 years ago you would know what theyve done.it was a dump.

You are so right there George... my mum and Dad (your brother ) never had any problems allowing me going to the park without them !! .........

I bet theres not many parks in the country as big as the two
parks .I remember reading somewere that it was the first public park in the UK . I do know that Central Park in New York is
a replica of it
I have had the pleasure of walking through Central Park its a
bit more scary than ours, next time i am down home i am going
to have a walk through for old times sake

I have just spent ages going through all the pages on this suject
and they are great they bring back so many great memories
i cant find any mention of the top twenty cafe in Brough rd
opposite the Kingsland dance hall in the 50s
All the lads and girls (JUDIES) from the technical college up the
road used to go toafter school let out
Any one remember it

I used to go there for lunch from from day release at the Tech College in about 1959. Top record on juke box was Little Eva, Do the Locomotion!

It wasn't actually the first public park in the U.K.; Hyde Park in London was opened to the public by Charles 1st. in 1637. There were others created by private individuals & later opened to the public, but it was the first park in the world to be funded with public money. Although Central Park in New York isn't a replica, a visit to our park by Frederick Law Olmsted inspired him to create Central Park & he copied several of the features of Birkenhead Park.

I REMEMBER THE OPENING OF THE PYRAMIDS MY UNCLES WHERE BOTH ON THE FRONT PAGE OF TH GLOBE AT THE TIME AS THEY WHERE THE FIRST SECURITY GUARDS AND THE ASDA WITH THE ROOFTOP CAR PARK ALTHOUGH I WAS VERY YOUNG THEN ABOUT 7 OR 8 I THINK LOL

BIRKENHEAD PARK WAS THE FIRST PUBLIC PARK IN THE WHOLE WORLD

First publically funded park. ie paid for by Birkenhead Council or whatever it was back then

Not criticising the park matey, criticising the abuse of it, there is a not so subtle difference. One of the reasons I moved back to where I am is to get around the park and enjoy it but it makes it hard when there are misfits who litter it and make it look like the Bidston Tip, you'll probably remember that too. Was from Cleveland Street myself originally by the way.

@davemills; please turn your caps lock off.