When village nightlife
ONE of the biggest changes to Birkdale since the 1980s is the huge growth in nightlife in the village.
These days, people who want somewhere to eat out or relax with a drink are spoiled for choice, with places such as Allotment, The Barrel House, Birkers, Verve, Wine Rack, Tea Rooms, and Cafe Bar N’Ista.
Back in the 1980s though - and still going strong today - was The Park Hotel.
Neville Grundy said: “I remember The Park Hotel still consisting of small, separate rooms before it was all knocked through.”
Mark House said: “Yes, I used to go through the back to the vaults for a pint or two of mixed.
“That was when Pauline had The Park. She used to be my mum’s hairdresser.”
Mike McLoughlin said: “I recall the sweet shop in Birkdale that had an extended back room full of Easter eggs come Easter time, I think the man who ran it was from Northern Ireland.
“I also remember Leigh’s the butchers with a separate cash counter, Playwell sports, Polanskys with their back room wig fitting and ‘anything for the weekend’ service. Ken and Val’s newsagent and another newsagent/toy shop with a not so happy man,
“The Park Hotel with its myr- iad of rooms and buttons on the wall to summon the waistcoat-attired waiter and having to cycle to Aughton Road to find fish and chips, the guy who had an enormous CB aerial on top of the building where The Tea Rooms is, and Goulders Volvo dealership. “
Dot Vickers said: “My dad, Jimmy Green, worked at The Park Hotel, bowled at The Park and I think he lived there.
“Also, who remembers the lovely library, town hall and police station in the village? I got taken to the police station when I was five! Got lost following my grandad.
“The library was our favourite place. We devoured books. Playwell was a great sports shop. Barbara and Brian Kime stocked lovely sports stuff.”
Mark House said: “I remember the library/town hall building. Don’t know what possessed Southport Council to demolish it and build that bland atrocity in its place.”
Diane Cameron said: “We lived at the original Birkdale police station in Kent Road, which still had the original cells, oh and The Park Hotel had waiter service!”
Wendy Forshaw said: “Well I was waitress service. They rang a bell and I’d go and get the orders. Always whiskey macs.
“I worked at The Park Hotel in Birkdale when I was 17 (I am 60 now). Four nights a week and Sunday lunch. Four pounds fifty. Bloody hell.
“Mrs Brassington was the publican and Freda was behind the bar with her French bun. Skinny as a rake and brown as a berry. The customers were great.
“And I also remember the butcher, he had sawdust on the floor. Sign of a good butcher in those days. My dad told me because he was a butcher. Funny because now I’m a vegan.”
Sally Preston said: “I also remember at the butchers. You paid for it at the cashier kiosk - the butcher never handled the money!”
Many people had fond memories of the sports shop.
James Parsons said: “I remember getting trainers from Playwell Sports when I