Issue 125 – November 2016
DONT’ MISS – THIS MONTH
Rebecca Ferguson: From Scouse girl to superwoman – pages 6 and 7
WIN, WIN, WIN Ken Dodd – Win tickets to see Ken Dodd – page 3
Ice Festival – Win Ice Skating Tickets – page 11
THE CARNIVAL IS OVER
By Stephen Guy, West Derby Society
HAPPY children carry garlands of flowers along Leyfield Road watched by admiring residents from new houses on the Blackmoor Estate. It is Saturday 24 June 1933 and St Mary’s Carnival procession is wending its way around the district before heading into the grounds of Croxteth Hall. This picture gives remarkable insights into a period of great change in West Derby. Large housing estates were being built as the country eased itself out of the Depression when millions were unemployed. There is a fascinating mix of old and new. Small girls are followed by young women dressed in colourful flowing dresses reflecting a rural past. Costumes and decorations are laden with symbolic references to fertility and re-birth linked to nature and agriculture.
Three decorated horse-drawn carriages are driven by top-hatted coachmen – a reminder of the recent past. Modern cars follow behind. Spectators include schoolboys grimacing at the camera, women in fashionable pudding-basin hats, a policeman and gentleman in bowler hat and wing collar. Newly-built Leyfield Close stands in the distance while on the left is open land where Blackmoor Park Infants’ School was built 20 years later. The picture is one of several from the event recently kindly donated to the West Derby Society. There is also an original programme giving precise details of the day. The Carnival featured a pageant of nations and the crowning of the floral queen. Girls representing 19 nations were followed by Floral Queen Lydia Kavanagh in her carriage with attendants and pages. Floral Queen Elect Muriel Free also travelled in a carriage on the 50-minute
procession. Just 15 years after the First World War, those who gave their lives were remembered with both queens laying a wreath at the war memorial. The procession then went to Croxteth Hall at the invitation of the Earl of Sefton. At 3.30pm the Floral Queen was decrowned and received a crown of forget-menots in return. Miss Free was crowned by Mrs W S Hornby. Following a parade of queens and pageant there was a display of national dances by pupils of Maude Brimelow. There were stalls, side shows, refreshments and sports including fun races. Music was provided by the British Insulated Cables Silver Band. The carnival ended with dancing until 10 pm. n Join the West Derby Society at its next meeting 7.30 pm on Wednesday 16 November at Lowlands, 13 Haymans Green, Liverpool L12 7JG.
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