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Old properties on St. Oswalds Street, Old Swan were demolished in the 1930s and in conjunction with a road widening scheme, new Corporation flats were built, some incorporating retail shops below. These served the local community well for almost 6 decades until their eventual demise and demolition. Whilst local high street shops on nearby East Prescot Road thankfully thrive, the shops lost down the road were replaced by a giant, bland Tesco supermarket which now dominates what was once a beautiful curved art deco feature for the area.
Hoults corner, a triangular myriad of shops once stood just in front of these then new flats which swung majestically from St Oswald's Street into Prescot Road. Next, we see the childrens playground inside one of the squares.
Four colour pics by Mike Murphy.
A learner bus driver on St. Oswald's Street. Pic courtesy of Rob from the MTT collection: G.S. O'Brien.
St Oswald Street tennies during demolition in 1995
Black Horse Lane flats Old Swan. Taken on 24/3/07, this little corner block somehow miraculously survive despite the wholesale demolition of the rest of the Swan's flats from this era. These are just East of the Black Horse pub.
The square of Hurst Gardens as recorded by the Liverpool Records office.
Four pics of Hurst Gardens courtesy of Brian Martin. These were on the busy Edge Lane tram route.
These photographs were taken over a period of a decade from May 1948 until 1958. The last photo showing Hurst Gardens on the left and the prefabs across Edge Lane was taken on 1.7.1950. The photograph showing Jones pet foods was taken on 24.4.1957 and marked as 'City engineers surveyors department Improvements'.
These two shots taken by Peter Gustafson, now residing on the rock of Gibraltar were taken not long before their demolition. Peter lived in the flat with the whitewashed veranda, with the door ajar on the 2nd landing between the two new bin chutes. The 2nd of photo was taken in 1989 showing the curve with the shops below.
St. Oswald House, St. Oswald Street seems to look better in plain old black and white in this hive of activity scene with the chemist and off licence in operation. The colour pics from June 2001 show a busy thoroughfare but the shops are boarded up and the roof of the curve into Prescot Road is bare as demolition begins.
No summer of love afforded these tenements as three months later in September 2001, only the skeletal remains of part of a square that once housed dozens of families can be seen. A huge Tesco store stands in their place. From Art Deco to large tin shed.
The last 6 photos are with thanks to Phil on facebook whose Aunt took these photos. Thanks also to Mart from the Swan for sending me them.
