Woolly says – I needed a lighthouse …long story but more of that in December, Alfie the Dog wanted some time at the beach and Jo was just happy to head off for a mini adventure. The three of us had sat in silence contemplating where we might achieve our needs when my human had a brainwave, it happens occasionally. I sat listening intently as she voiced her idea and having nodded a few times and checked that a lighthouse would be involved I thought it could work.

My idea was simple I would take my pawed companions back to an area that I lived, worked and studied in way back in the eighties on a trip down memory lane, some time on the beach and the much needed lighthouse guaranteed.

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Woolly says – Having gone through her plan she then remained quiet on the details of the actual location. Our journey took us out of Wales and back into England and our first stop was rather a surprize as I sat in the car looking at a bungalow in a rather nice tree lined avenue, I scratched my head in puzzlement as my carer proceeded to take a picture of the low rise house and of a tree on the opposite side of the road, I can’t say I was impressed and once back in the car I questioned her as to her sanity.

I had thought to start our mini trip where my time had started, my Nain and Taids house in Heswall. Many many holidays had been spent there over the years and it was a place I associated very strongly with my family. The tree, well that was the very tree that I had climbed, fallen out off and knocked one of my front teeth out on one of my many escapades as a youngster.

Woolly says – She used to climb trees! My respect for Jo went up rather a lot at this information, I sat looking at her teeth as we drove onwards towards the small town of West Kirby. West Kirby is a town on the north-west corner of the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, at the mouth of the River Dee. The name is of Viking origin, originally Kirkjubyr, meaning ‘village with a church’.

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We manged to find some parking and set off in the torrential rain which had sadly followed us from Wales. To be honest there wasn’t much to see, a small seaside town with a few shops and having photographed a pub that Jo one drank in and a couple of general pictures I was feeling a trifle glum at our findings.

I had known that there was little that would interest my small friend here but had thought that having one of the local homemade ice creams might be reason enough to stop.

Woolly says – As more water poured from the sky, I looked at the ice cream shop and decided that even mammoths don’t do ice cream in these weather conditions. I indicated the café next door which had a sign stating that dogs were welcome for which Jo took my hint and in we went. After much needed refreshments and a chance to dry off somewhat we headed towards the marine lake.

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West Kirby Marine Lake means that boats can sail even at low tide. Even in the gale force winds and teaming rain there were some crazy people wind surfing, I looked at the information board which told me that the original wall of the marina was built to create a lake in 1899 but suffered a catastrophic leak in 1985 and new lake was constructed. I still wasn’t impressed.

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With the rain intensifying we trotted back to the car which just a brief pause for a look at the road that Nanty Carys has once lived in and the possible house that she had shared there, I say possible because Jo wasn’t actually sure if it was the right house, I shook my head in despair and got into the car out of the deluge that continued.

Having soaked up the delights of West Kirby we headed onwards to the town in which Jo had lived for a couple of years. Hoylake, at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, where the River Dee meets the Irish Sea. On the short journey there, my carer was keen to share some fun facts with me. The town is famous for some of its former inhabitants including; Daniel Craig, James Bond actor.  Shirley Hughes, writer and illustrator, was brought up there, Jo is a big fan of her children’s books. Glenda Jackson, actress and politician, was born and raised there as was Joanna Scanlan, actress and television writer. John Lennon’s first wife Cynthia was born and raised there and returned there after their divorce in 1968, their son Julian spent much of his early life in Hoylake. I smiled politely at her and just hoped that the adventure might get better.

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We arrived at the seafront and I was most surprized to see that the beach I had once walked along was now more grass than sand, Alfie the Dog didn’t seem bothered however and set off on a mission to clear the area of crows as we walked along.

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Woolly says – The town supports a permanent lifeboat station, manned by the RNLI. Initially founded in 1803 by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, it is one of the oldest in the country. In 2008, the RNLI began to raise £2 million for a new lifeboat station and new generation all-weather lifeboat, to facilitate a faster response time to emergencies and rescues in the Irish Sea and the rivers Dee and Mersey. The building was opened in November 2009, we passed the old station which was still very smartly turned out and wandered onto the very impressive new building that stood proudly on the grassy banks, a memorial statue for those lost from the crew was most poignant set in its spot overlooking the very cold looking paddle pool.

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The promenade had a selection of large residences which looked striking against the grey skies which had finally stopped throwing water down on us. A splendid water fountain caught my eye, which was erected in 1901 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, it was listed as a grade II historic building on 20th January 1988. Although the drinking fountain was still operational in the 1970s vandalism regularly destroyed the taps, and eventually the council stopped repairing it. It has changed colour throughout the years: a shade of green in the 1960s then painted blue in the 1970s, and when it was removed for restoration in 2008, it was black and gold. It has since been returned to the original paint colour, which looked wonderful.

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We turned off the beach front and wandered along the town main road, Jo pointed out the flat she had once lived in now above somewhere called the Style Gallery. We turned off the main road and into a much smaller side street where she paused and took yet another picture, I took a guess that she had also lived there.

The mammoth was right, the same white front door was still there but the bakery which had sent wonderful smells over the walls at the rear of the house had now been converted into two homes.

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Woolly says – Arriving back at the main road we stood looking at the Ship Inn, painted in battleship grey, the Inn dates back to 1730 and was first licensed in 1754 it was also where Jo had first worked behind the bar whilst studying. With my paws starting to ache although the panting one still seemed to have a lot of energy I wondered if it was the time to mention my lighthouse quest but it seemed as though my carer had read my mind we paused in front of a building and she pointed upwards. I peered over the high wall with a little lift from Jo and had to admit it was a lighthouse, it was actually one of the two that had once stood in the town.

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To facilitate safe access into the Hoylake anchorage, two lighthouses were constructed in 1763, the lower light was a wooden structure that could be moved according to differing tides and shifting sands to remain aligned to the upper light, which was a permanent brick building. By the start of the 19th century each lighthouse was equipped with a single 3 ft-diameter reflector, built to Hutchinson’s design. The upper lighthouse, the one I was now looking at consisted of an octagonal brick tower which last shone on 14 May 1886 and is now part of a private residence. The building was given Grade II listed status in 1988.The lower lighthouse, closer to the shore in Alderley Road, was deactivated in 1908 and demolished in 1922.

It did meet my criteria but I had hoped for better, we will have to see what the next day brought on that front. I was tired and wet and started to wonder if we would ever get to our nights accommodation when much to my surprize Jo merely turned and pointed at the building now in front of us explaining that we were booked in there for the night. The Kings Gap Court Hotel as it had once been known was another place that Jo had worked in the early 1980’s doing something called ‘chambermaiding’ as well as reception and waitressing when the business had been owned by Mr and Mrs Bowker and Mr and Mrs McKearn.

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The name had come from 1690 when William III set sail from Hoylake, then known as Hyle or High-lake, with a 10,000 strong army to Ireland, to take part in the Battle of the Boyne. The location of departure became known as King’s Gap, although it was now part of a much bigger brand.

It was a pleasant place to work although the two couples who ran it at the time didn’t agree very often on what needed to be done. One memory that lives on is the day in which I was doing a stock take in all of the bars, I had wandered into the main function room to count the alcohol levels there only to find myself invading a masonic meeting! After being confronted by some very unhappy faces I beat a hasty retreat whilst adding my newly acquired knowledge of rolled up trouser legs and a door with no walls to my memory. The place had changed beyond all recognition but it would provide a warm and comfy bed for the night and one that I didn’t have to change and clean in the morning.