Sunday Snippets, 19 March 2023

Welcome to “Sunday Snippets” a weekly feature from birkenhead.news. It is a round-up of important local news stories from the last seven days. Click or tap on each story to read the full article.

Twinning of Birkenhead Park and New York’s Central Park moves a step closer

Birkenhead Park

At this week’s Wirral Council Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee meeting that took place at Wallasey Town Hall, Birkenhead News submitted the petition to twin Birkenhead Park and New York’s Central Park to Wirral Council.

Cllr Liz Grey, Chair of the committee responded by saying, “Wirral Council does fully support this request. The aspiration to twin Birkenhead Park with Central Park, I think we all endorse that very much.

“Staff from Birkenhead Park already have a good working relationship with staff in Central Park, sharing research and good practice. Wirral Council will progress with discussions with Central Park to seek to twin with them, if they’re willing to do so.”

Read more …

Wetherspoon cancels Master Mariner redevelopment in New Brighton

Wetherspoon has scrapped its ongoing redevelopment of the Master Mariner pub in New Brighton.

The pub chain had planned to open the expanded bar at the end of August last year.

However, the project was delayed while Wetherspoon considered its options for proceeding, due to concerns about the condition of the neighbouring Lacy’s Bar building.

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First homes for sale at Wirral Waters’ Redbridge Quay

The first 28 energy-efficient modular homes at Redbridge Quay, Wirral Waters, are now on the market with two, three, and four-bedroom homes available to buy. 

A four-bedroom, three-bathroom ‘Row House’ show home, which boasts the very latest in sustainable housing design and innovation, will be open six days a week from this Saturday, 18 March. 

Redbridge Quay currently includes a mix of the award-winning ‘Town House’ and ‘Row House’ modular homes, designed by Liverpool architects Shedkm, and will eventually include hundreds more waterside homes. 

Read more …

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Sensory Suite at Wirral hospital officially unveiled by campaigner Christine McGuinness

A new sensory suite to help adults with autism who are undergoing elective surgery has been officially opened at Arrowe Park Hospital by campaigner Christine McGuinness.

The unit is the first of its kind in the North West of England that has been set up specifically for adult patients with autism and additional needs, who are having planned surgery.

Christine McGuinness, TV personality and autism campaigner, visited the hospital to officially unveil the suite. Christine has been extensively raising awareness after her three children were diagnosed with autism and following her own diagnosis of autism as an adult.

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Community project brings history of Parkgate to life

Cheshire West and Chester Council has worked with the Parkgate Society and SpaceHive, the community funding platform, on a project to bring the history of Parkgate to life for visitors.

This week will see information boards erected around the village providing residents and visitors with information about its past and present.

The seven boards, which were funded by pledges from residents and businesses via Cheshire West Crowd Fund, follow a linear route covering the whole of the Parade.

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Biggest ever Wirral History Fair to take place in Port Sunlight

This month’s Wirral History Fair is the biggest local heritage event to date with record numbers of participants gathering in Port Sunlight for one day of history, heritage, family trees, and memorabilia.

The Fair takes place on Saturday 25 March 2023 at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight in celebration of local history and heritage. Entry is free, doors open to the public at 10am and close at 4pm.

Paul Smith of the Wirral History and Heritage Association (WHHA) said, “We have had record bookings for exhibitors at this year’s Fair which demonstrates the wealth of interest in the history of our peninsula and the popularity of the topic to local people.

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Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason autographs prosthetic leg cover for Upton man

Music icon Nick Mason, founder and drummer for the legendary band Pink Floyd, is helping a Wirral man to stand out.

Former Merseyrail security officer Mike Elkins, 56, from Upton, lost his leg in his early twenties after a road traffic accident.

For Christmas last year, his wife Lesley presented him with a voucher for a custom-made prosthetic leg cover in homage to his favourite band.

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Argos confirms permanent closure of Birkenhead store

The Argos store in Birkenhead is to close for good, brand owners Sainsbury’s have said.

There will be job losses, but over 50% of the staff are being redeployed to other roles across Argos and Sainsbury’s.

The company is transforming the Argos brand by reducing the number of standalone Argos stores while opening more collection points and Argos stores within Sainsbury’s.

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Ex-bodyguard of Nelson Mandela inspires pupils at Bebington school

Chris Lubbe, the ex-bodyguard of the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, paid a visit to St John Plessington Catholic College in Bebington, which left the students captivated.

The school invited Chris to speak to all year groups following their work in personal development sessions regarding the theme ‘Show Racism the Red Card’. 

During the discussion, Chris shared his life experiences, including growing up in South Africa during the apartheid era, his work as Nelson Mandela’s bodyguard, and everything that followed. Having witnessed the brutality and discrimination firsthand, he used storytelling to take the students on a journey and emphasize the significance of speaking up. 

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Wirral’s £25m Maritime Knowledge Hub gets the green light from Wirral Council planners

Plans to build a world-class maritime centre of excellence focused on innovation, engineering, R&D, entrepreneurship and training at the heart of Peel L&P’s Wirral Waters, have been approved by Wirral Council. 

The announcement was made at MIPIM, the international property event in Cannes, France, by Richard Mawdsley, Peel L&P’s director of development for Wirral Waters. 

The Maritime Knowledge Hub will be a high-level industrial and maritime facility, supporting the region’s £5bn maritime ecosystem where research and innovation will focus on making the most of the incredible opportunities that decarbonisation of the global $3trillion maritime sector brings. 

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Still time to have your say on the future of Birkenhead Market

There is still time for people to express their opinions on the preliminary design concepts for the proposed new Birkenhead Market.

The proposals entail the demolition of the House of Fraser building and the establishment of a distinct market in its place. The new market would feature independent vendors offering retail, food and drink, and new publicly accessible areas connected to St Werburgh’s Square and Oliver Street East.

The new market has been designed to evoke the traditional atmosphere of the 1845 market, by producing a lively centre of activity in the heart of the town.

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Warriors Athletic Club makes mark with impressive results

New Wirral athletics club, Warriors, featured in Birkenhead News just last week, has lost no time in making its mark across multiple sports.

Last weekend saw members of the squad compete at no less than four different events, with some excellent results.

First up on Saturday, some of the older athletes represented Merseyside at the English Inter-County Cross Country Championships. On a very tough course at Prestwold Hall, Warrior athletes helped Merseyside to some great finishes, highlights were Isla Pastor in 13th helping the U13 girls to a very strong 8th place overall, and Meg Hoshiko in 22nd helped Merseyside to its only medals of the day, a bronze in the U15 Girls.

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Anselmians secure title as Wilmslow concede last game

With the title in the bag due to points difference, Saints looked forward to the final game of the season against Wilmslow.

With the club Ladies’ Day and a full house expected for lunch, Taff Jones and his band of merry men worked on the pitch clearing the luckily light dusting of snow and getting the pitch playable.

However, Wilmslow conceded the game on Friday, claiming they were short of players, while still playing a second team game at home.

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Tranmere suffer crushing defeat to Newport

A ghastly Tranmere Rovers acquiesced to Newport County, with strikes by Aaron Wildig, Charlie McNeill, and Calum Kavanagh punishing the Whites, meaning Regan Hendry’s piercing volley was all in vain.

Tranmere piled pressure on Newport’s abode straight from the kick-off, forcing errors out but never really leaving Joe Day with much to do.

A consolation was secured as Regan Hendry thumped home, but their harrowing display throughout the ninety minutes meant the goal proved to be too little, too late.

Read more …

Wirral Police weekly news round-up

This is the birkenhead.news weekly round-up of police activity in and around Wirral during the previous seven days.

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What’s On? Guide

Visit our “What’s On?” guide for Wirral and the surrounding areas in the coming weeks.

See the What’s On? Guide …

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