Issue 110 – September 2015
HIGH AND DRY...
INSIDE THIS MONTH
By Stephen Guy, West Derby Society PEOPLE moved to distant lands where they could settle and prosper, overcoming great difficulties as they entered the unknown. About 1,500 years ago members of a tribe called the Angles left North Germany and sailed across the sea to an island they would name England. The Angles originally occupied lands east of the River Elbe before moving north to Schleswig. Their neighbours were tribes called the Jutes and Saxons. The latter joined the Angles on voyages and, once settled, established Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which flourished until the Norman Conquest in 1066. After the mass migrations, Danes from the north occupied the largely deserted Schleswig lands. Hundreds of years later many Danes also sailed to England among the legendary Viking hordes who brought terror robbing and pillaging communities. Norsemen came to northern England in the 9th century and their settlements included West Derby, Croxteth and Roby. This was 300 years after Angles moved in only to find a desolate marsh, part of a vast wetland including Chat Moss. The Angles settled on high ground and called their outpost Hitune, thought to mean a landing place. This name was recorded in the Doomsday Book, a national survey ordered by William I to list who owned what in his new kingdom. By 1300 it was known as Huyton. The marshes were drained as the population increased. Huyton remained a small agricultural village for centuries until improved transport brought about change. New road building techniques were perfected and a toll road passing through Huyton linked Liverpool and Prescot in 1726. The Liverpool to Manchester railway hatched further benefits when it opened in 1830. The village station was called Huyton Gate because it originally had a level crossing. The line brought prosperous commuters who built large homes away from their businesses. Huyton remained largely rural until the years after the First World War. Huyton Lane is pictured on a tinted Edwardian postcard, probably showing Ward’s Farm standing near the junction with Whiston Lane.
Book your Christmas ads NOW! WHAT OUR ADVERTISERS ARE SAYING ABOUT US Liverpool Corporation bought substantial amounts of land from the Earl of Derby in 1932 and sprawling housing estates were built over the next 30 years. Large scale demolition of Huyton Village in the early 1960s transformed the area but there
are still historic corners to be explored. Join the West Derby Society at its next meeting 7.30 pm on Wednesday 16 September at Lowlands, 13 Haymans Green, Liverpool L12 7JG.
'Brilliant reaction from my advert with The Liverpool Link.....so much so I have had to turn people away because it provided so much work for me!'
Steve (West Derby). July 2015 CALL TODAY TO ADVERTISE SEE PAGE 2