The following is a list of Local History books about our local area. Where these are still in print we will link to a purchase location. Where these are out of print and we are legally allowed to (permitted by the publisher/author), we can sometimes provide A4 printouts or excerpts at material cost.
 Gateacre and Belle Vale: Britain in Old Photographs – Beryl Plent and Mike Chitty This captivating book contains more than 200 rare archive images that explore the social and architectural history of Gateacre and Belle Vale. Although now suburbs of Liverpool, Gateacre and Belle Vale were once nestled in the heart of Lancashire countryside in the Little Woolton and Much Woolton townships. This collection of photographs recalls those bygone days. It features street scenes, shops, schools, houses – including the ‘big houses’ of Woolton Hill – and their occupants. Compiled from the extensive archives of the Gateacre Society, this is an essential volume for all lovers of photography and local history, and it will bring back many happy memories for those who know the area. Available on Amazon |  Liverpool’s Slave Gate – Bygone Liverpool Did an 18th century stone gateway in suburban Liverpool originate from a building where enslaved Africans were sold? Bygone Liverpool have discovered the original building this structure came from, and tell its amazing history. According to local legend, this old stone gateway in Gateacre originally belonged to an 18th century building in central Liverpool. Enslaved Africans supposedly passed through it to their place of auction, before being transported to the plantations in the West Indies. |
 The Story of ‘The Lee’ and its People – Sylvia Lewis & Ken Williams The booklet is based on the researches of the late Sylvia Lewis, who was the founder of the Gateacre Society in the 1970s. Ken Williams – a descendant of the Duttons of Lee Hall – has updated and illustrated Mrs Lewis’s work. Printed copies (A4 size) are on sale at Gateacre Society meetings, price £3. They can also be supplied within the U.K. by mail order (P & P £1.50 extra). |  The Story of Woolton (Volumes 1 and 2) – J. E. Marsh First published in 1930 with Volume 1 particularly hard to find now, the books produce an excellent reference to local people, their work, local shops and architecture in the village from 1930. |
Prefab Days: A Community Remembers – Belle Vale Prefab Project A highly detailed collection of photos and memories of the Belle Vale Prefab estate that spread across Childwall, Belle Vale and Gateacre from 1945 to the 1970s. A brilliant read if you can get hold of a copy! Please email the society for more info, whose present Committee, Sandra Sandland also heads the Belle Vale Prefab Project. |  More Prefab Days: Belle Vale Remembers – Belle Vale Prefab Project A response to the remarkable feedback from the first book, the second book continues the human story of the first book in further detail. Another brilliant read if you can get hold of a copy! Please email the society for more info, whose present Committee, Sandra Sandland also heads the Belle Vale Prefab Project. |
 Woolton Through Time – David Paul Using beautiful and carefully selected photographs, Woolton Through Time documents the changing face of this scenic village. By contrasting archive and contemporary images the reader is shown how the area has developed over the last 100 years. By creating his own insightful captions for each set of photographs, the author has provided his own personal view on the town that he grew up in. From the heights of the stately Woolton Hall to the depths of Woolton Wood, the author gives the reader a nostalgic look into his home town. Woolton has seen and been influenced by many changes over the years, including the historic meeting of Paul McCartney and John Lennon in St Peter’s church hall. The village is still in the midst of change. Serving as both a practical guidebook and a sentimental commemoration for the residents of the village, this book highlights Woolton as a village with a rich and intriguing history. Available on Amazon |  Woolton Voices – David Paul This book is part of a series, which combines the reminiscences of local people with old photographs and archived images to show the history of various local areas in Great Britain, through their streets, shops, pubs, and people. Available on Amazon |
 Woolton History Tour – David Paul Woolton History Tour offers a fascinating insight into the history of this area in Liverpool. Author David Paul guides us around its well-known streets and buildings, showing how its famous landmarks used to look and how they have changed over the years, as well as exploring its lesser-known sights and hidden corners. With the help of a handy location map, readers are invited to follow a timeline of events and discover for themselves the changing face of Woolton. Available on Amazon |  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South–West – Richard Pollard This comprehensive guide to the buildings of South-West Lancashire treats each city, town, and village in a detailed gazetteer. The great port city of Liverpool dominates, with its cathedrals, mighty commercial buildings and warehouses, and Georgian inner city. Full accounts are also given of the suburbs and industrial towns beyond. But most of the area remains rural, and in this distinctive landscape are found such memorable buildings as Sefton church, Speke Hall, and the Georgian country houses of Knowsley, ancestral seat of the Earls of Derby, and Ince Blundell, with its extraordinary Neoclassical sculpture gallery. Numerous maps and plans, color photographs, indexes, and an illustrated glossary complete this volume. Available on Amazon |
 The Illustrated History of Liverpool’s Suburbs – David Lewis The Illustrated History of Liverpool’s Suburbs is the first single-volume history of the development of the residential areas of the city. The author chronicles the growth of the suburbs and illuminates the lives of people who lived in them. His fascinating book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the story of Liverpool. The narrative is illustrated with more than 200 photographs, drawings and maps from Liverpool Record Office – most of which have never been published before. David Lewis shows how the countryside, farms and villages developed into the urban streets, residential areas, shopping districts and industrial estates that are so familiar today. In the course of the last 150 years, the outskirts of the city have been transformed, and they have expanded in a way that would astonish Liverpool residents of just a few generations ago. David Lewis’s fascinating survey will be essential reading and reference for Liverpool residents, past and present, who take an interest in their neighbourhood and in the complex, surprising history of the city itself. Available on Amazon | Woolton Tower: 170 Years of Almost Forgotten History – Alan David Wilson Quietly nestled in a cul-de-sac on Woolton Park, Woolton Tower has watched the world go by since the 1850s. Woolton Tower is one of the few Victorian Mansions found in the Woolton area tat have survived to this day. Once surrounded by countryside, the mansion was the rural retreat for a number of high class citizens of Liverpool. A4 print available by contacting the Society for £10 |
 The Crying Tree – Over 145 years of Nearly Forgotten History – Alan David Wilson In the mid 19th Century, Liverpool’s cotton trade was booming and the railway network was expanding, but the Childwall and Gateacre area was very much rural countryside. There were just a few clusters of houses dotted along a dirt path, and it was along this path (nowadays called Grange Lane) that one particularly wealthy family from Manchester, the Cunninghams, decided to settle down. Alan David Wilson has written a book entitled ‘The Gorsey Cop – 145 years of almost forgotten history’, about their house, which he describes as a ‘jewel’ on the outskirts of Gateacre Village. Most recently known as The Crying Tree Bar and Grill, it remains beautifully intact inside, with many original features showing off the wealth of its original owners. However, the house has been anything but a peaceful place to live. Its stories include the death of the matriarch from gout, at an age enviable by today’s standards, to the loss of children as young as 9. A4 print available by contacting the Society for £10 |  The Black Bull – over 265 Years of Nearly Forgotten History – Alan David Wilson In the mid 18th Century, Gateacre was very rural: countryside, with a few clusters of houses and a crossroads where ‘The Bull Inn’ was located. Now called the Black Bull, the pub is still there and, whilst redeveloped over the centuries, still retains features from the past. David Wilson, who gave us a fascinating talk two years ago about the history of the Gorsey Cop, has been researching the story of the Black Bull, from its inception as a small, rural inn, with stables attached, through to the present day. The book covers the landlords who lived in the building throughout its history, and its various owners including the Walker family. Acts of arson, theft, celebrations and renovations all feature in the story. A4 print available by contacting the Society for £7 |
 The Old Inns, Taverns and Beer Houses of Woolton – Stuart Rimmer At the beginning of the 19th century the small country village of Woolton, near Liverpool, boasted a population of less than 500 people and two taverns. Fifty years later the population had exploded, as had the number of licensed houses, which in the 1870s numbered almost forty. By the early 20th century they had mostly disappeared. This book identifies where the lost beer houses once stood and what happened to them. Their stories open a window into a bygone time, providing an insight into the colourful history of the village, its inhabitants, the police, the courts, and the licensing laws. Available on Capalette Publishing website |  Lost Manors: A History of the Townships and Alehouses of Gateacre and Childwall – Stuart Rimmer Before Childwall and Gateacre were swallowed up by the urban sprawl of the city of Liverpool in the 20th century, they were rural settlements situated on the city’s outskirts. With the coming of the modern era, much of the ancient landscape disappeared, built over with new roads, housing estates, and shopping centres.In an effort to uncover this forgotten social and physical tableau, the author has studied records spanning more than 400 years, including the surviving records of the lost manors of Childwall and Little Woolton. These archaic documents reveal the workings of the old manor court and allow a glimpse at the lives and activities of some of the inhabitants of the now obsolete townships. |