THE DIAMOND JUBILEE SIGNPOST,
BELLE VALE ROAD, GATEACRE

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Left:
The signpost in 2005.







Right:

William Hall Walker, 1912.

The ornamental signpost on the west side of Belle Vale Road was erected by William Hall Walker of Gateacre Grange. On the side facing the road are shown the distances: southwards to Garston 3, Hale 5 and Liverpool 6¼ miles, and northwards to Huyton 2½, Prescot 4¼ and Warrington 12 miles. On the side facing the footway are the inscriptions: "In commemoration of the sixtieth year of the reign (the Diamond Jubilee) of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria" and "This promenade was presented to the Township of Little Woolton by William Hall Walker 1897".


William Hall Walker was the third son of Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, the Scottish-born brewer (of Walkers Warrington Ales fame) who had built Gateacre Grange in the 1860s. To commemorate his year as Mayor of Liverpool, A.B. Walker had presented the Walker Art Gallery to the town in 1877 (and been knighted as a result). In 1887 Sir Andrew had celebrated Queen Victoria's golden jubilee by giving the people of Gateacre a village green on the corner of Grange Lane and Gateacre Brow, featuring a bronze bust of the Queen. Ten years later his son, who had by this time inherited Gateacre Grange, decided to commemorate the Queen's diamond jubilee by presenting the villagers with a 'promenade': a strip of land alongside Belle Vale Road, planted with a row of chestnut trees, which enabled them to walk safely and comfortably to the parish church of St Stephen.


Continued . . .

Left:
The signpost and the prefabs, circa 1960.


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Page created 17 Mar 2012 by MRC