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Bob Taylor, born 1937 in Liverpool, grew up at Guildford Street, Wallasey, and now lives in Canada.
I grew up in Egremont, Wallasey, just a few miles from New Brighton along the promenade beside the Mersey, so it was an area that played a fairly important part in my life.
Early on during the war years and just after, as kids we spent the whole of our summer holidays on the beach. We played among the tank traps on the access ramps, and watched the warships and liners as they sailed the river.
At least once a week we would undertake the trek along the prom to New Brighton. Even during the war the Tower fairground was still operating, and we always had hopes that there would be someone who would give us wistful looking kids a free go on one of the rides, or on the miniature train that ran along the bottom of the fairground.
Further along the prom was the New Palace, the indoor fair, which at that time had been taken over as a stores depot by the American Army. We could usually get some gum, or some candies from the US servicemen stationed there.
After the war, the area blossomed once again, the tank traps were removed, the New Palace once more became a fairground, and alongside it was the circus, which was open all summer.
Pierrot shows were once again running on the pier, the Tivoli theatre and Floral Pavilion were booming, and Victoria Road was bustling with holidaymakers and daytrippers from Liverpool and Birkenhead.
Full ferries were arriving every half hour at New Brighton ferry, and the beaches would be packed. The stalls selling shrimps, cockles and hot water for tea, did a steady business, along with the donkeys patiently plodding up and down the seashore with their little, and sometimes not so little, burdens.
New Brighton was a child's delight, especially if you had a little money and could go on the rides; if not, you could always try and get a ride without paying.
We grew up and started working, then New Brighton appealed to different tastes. My friend Dave and I were keen dancers, and every Saturday night we could be found strutting our stuff at the Tower Ballroom (alas no more) along with hundreds of other young people, to the music of Bill Gregson and his Orchestra.
It was a great place, but the strictest rule was No Jiving, and if you tried, it was not long before one of the bouncers was there telling you off.
Once in a while we got a treat with a visiting band. The night that Joe Loss and his Orchestra played was a real thrill. The Tower was packed, and the crowd was happy.
The only person that wasn't thrilled appeared to be Bill Gregson, who I saw on the balcony during a session when Joe Loss was playing, and his face looked as black as a thundercloud, as he listened to the tremendous music.
As I was growing up, I like many of my age group spent some time in a khaki uniform, at the request of the queen, and after this, I joined the Wallasey Police. This meant that I saw a different side of New Brighton.
As I worked the beat there I came into contact with many problems, and to be honest, New Brighton was becoming a shadow of what it had once been. Victoria Road had become a street of Pubs Chippies and Bingo stalls.
The smells were stale beer and grease, and the sounds were of traffic and Bingo callers. The biggest things were the visits of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
The last time I was in New Brighton on a trip back from Canada, the New Brighton that I knew so well had completely disappeared. The Pier has gone, Victoria Road has become residential, and much to my dismay, the Tower grounds has totally disappeared.
Where the New Brighton football ground and the Tower once proudly stood, there are houses, and the fairground area has been grassed over.
All that is left is the Floral Pavilion, the New Palace, Fort Perch Rock and the lighthouse. Hopefully some measures will be undertaken to at least keep these relics of the past a part of the future.
Bob Taylor, Canada, 2002
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