Let me tell you about the lovely village of Port Sunlight on the Wirral.
History
Port Sunlight is a garden village which was founded in 1888 by William Hesketh Lever to house his soap factory workers. This came about as in 1887 William Lever began to look for a new site for his soap making factory as they had outgrown their premises in Warrington on the banks of the River Mersey. The site needed to be near to a river for importing material and had to have enough land to allow for further expansion. There also needed to be near a railway line to be able to transport finished goods.
Port Sunlight was built based on Lever's ideas on prosperity-sharing with the building maintenance and upkeep of the village was subsidised with a portion of the profits from the Lever factory. Lever helped to plan this beautiful garden village and he employed nearly thirty architects to create its unique style.
Lever thought that the well-being of this community was very important (also they where is workers so paid to look after them) and introduced education and entertainment for the workers, he also encouraged games, recreation and organizations that promoted science, music, art and literature. Many clubs where formed in the village such as 'The Boys Brigade' and the 'Port Sunlight Player' which where an amateur dramatics group. Can't imagine any of this happening today, housing, clubs and entertainment supplied by the boss, never happen unless you are very lucky.
Port Sunlight was managed by the Lever Brothers (the factory) until the mid 1960's until a new company called UML took over the administration of the village. After UML took over the homes in the village underwent a period of modernisation which ran through the 1960's and 1970's which included the conversion of a bedroom in the houses to an upstairs bathroom. By the 1980's it became evident that things where changing as the people who where then living in Port
Sunlight wanted to get away from tied tenancies and started to purchase their homes. UML decided to sell properties on the open market when a tenancy expired as well as offering it to the existing tenant.
In 1999 there was another major change to the way that Port Sunlight was managed with UML handing over to the Port Sunlight Village Trust which is a independent charitable organization establish to look after the future of this village and what is now a conservation area. The only part of the village that is a conservation area is within the original village boundaries as as with all villages over time they have expanded considerably. The Trust works closely with local residents, community groups and the local authority to ensure that objectives are met.
Today about two thirds of the houses in Port Sunlight are privately owned as in 2002 the Trust decided not to sell any more and to retain existing properties under their ownership. Nearly all of the buildings in the village are now grade II listed and naturally have to comply with planning restrictions for any modifications to the appearance including gardens, chimney pots and even the colour you can paint your ownfront door. Not sure I could live with all the restrictions that a listed buiding comes with but they do look fabulous from the outside.
In order to maintain the immaculate gardens in the village and to encourage owners of the properties to keep in line with the village the Trust now run an annual Garden competition which awards nearly 40 prizes every year. The aim is for the village to maintain the same look as when it was first brought into existance. I can say that the gardens are all in beautiful condition and very attractive all year round but my favourite time is in the spring. Not only are the gardens of peoples houses spectacular but also the roadside boarders, areas of green and general public pathways are beautifully kept and I have yet to see them looking tatty or dishevelled in any type of weather.
=Attractions
=
Gladstone Theatre
The Gladstone Theatre was founded by Lever with William Gladstone and was officially opened in 1891 and was originally known as Gladstone Hall. At this time it was used as a dining hall and recreation room for male workers from the Lever Brothers Soap Factory, a sort of working mens club if you like.
From 1920 the Port Sunlight Players started to perform plays and musicals in the Hall and in the 1950's the raked floor of the auditorium was installed but it was still known as Gladstone Hall.
In 1984 a trust was formed called the Gladstone Theatre Trust in agreement with the Port Sunlight Players and the Fortune Theatre Group and UML who owned the building at that time renamed it the Gladstone Theatre.
The building itself is very impressive both inside and out and many years ago when I used to play for a local youth orchestra that we actually played a concert in the Gladstone Theatre and I must say that it was one of the best locations I ever played in, though there was a downside as at the time we where short of a percussion player and I was roped in for one piece to play the symbols which is not pleasant for a wind instrument player who normally blends in with everyone else.
Today the theatre is still open both as a commercial business but also as a Community Theatre which local schools can use as well as youth theatre groups, dancing schools, drama festivals and amateur performers in music and drama. The auditorium seats 470 people and there is also a bar if you fancy a drink before the performance and during the interval.
Up coming events are:-
Pauline's Christmas Cracker - A Christmas variety show - 21st December The Houghton Weavers - 'Weavers Winter Wonderland' from 28th December - unfortunately this is sold out
Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th January - Mother Goose
Feb - Dingle Community Theatre - Like I've Never Been Gone The Gladstone Theatre Trust - The Power of Presley
For further details you can visit their web site - www.gladstone.uk.com
As you can see there is a great variety on offer here and if you are in the area it is well worth a visit even if just to look at the building both on the outside and in as it is stunning.
-Lady Lever Art Gallery-
Lever continued to care for his workers and in order to enhance the workers cultural and education the gallery was opened in 1922 by Princess Beatrice, she was the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria. The building itself is an outstanding example of late Victorian / early Edwardian taste.
The Art gallery is unique in that is it the only major public urban gallery to still house the collection the original founder collected, so we can get an insight to what Lever wanted his workers to view and learn from. The building itself has a look of the White House about it with pillars at the entrance and a domed roof but of course it is not on the same scale.
For those of you who are into the arts some of the artist exhibited here have included:-
Thomas Gainsborough John Constable Thomas Chipendale George Stubbs Joseph Mallord William Turner
And many many more.
When my daughter was doing and art project in school we found that our visit to the gallery was very informative and surprisingly enjoyable as would not normally be a choice of venue to take the children for an afternoon outing.
-The Sunlight Vision Museum-
This is a museum which offers an insight into the social history of Port Sunlight. The museum shows us what it was like to be a 'Sunlighter' in 1914 before the 1st world war and has life size figures William Lever and his architect James Lomax-Simpson. Whilst visiting you will also meet some of the residents from that period, a young starter, school teacher and the all important gardener as without the stunning gardens Port Sunlight would just be another ordinary village. The museum as also hands on and there are some interactive exhibits for you to have a go at (the kids love these). Also there is a gallery zone (as it is called) which displays actual memorabilia form the village and not copies are there are in some museums, make the whole history seem more real and you can really imagine what it was like to live there back then. Of course there is also a gift shop as you find with anything like this, the gift shop is normally well stocked.
-What else is there?-
There is a village trail (I have never done this) but you can buy the route map in the gift shop to actually see the building and locations mentioned in the museum as they still survive in all their glory today, or you could just wander round the village on your own without a map. Please remeber that this is an actual village with traffic and pedestrians the same as your local area, it is not enclosed like a zoo with an entrace fee, they are real people going about their daily lives and yes they all do live there and it is not for show.
You can also go on a pre-arranged tour as a family, large group by hiring a guide (never done this either) which will take you round the village either on a coach or by walking.
Some other attractions
The village war memorial - in need of conservation work and fundraising is always on going
How to get there
Driving The Village is only 10 minutes, by car, from Liverpool City Centre - or around a 25 minute drive from Chester. It's also only a 35 minute detour from the main M1/M6 London to Scotland Motorway. If approaching from Liverpool you will drive through the original Mersey tunnel (Queensway tunnel) but be warned there is a toll fee.
By Train
Port Sunlight is extremely well served by the Merseyrail Electrics Service. The Wirral Line joins staions between Chester, Ellsmere Port and Liverpool James St., Moorfields, Central and Lime Street stations , Lime Street is the mainline intercity station which easily connects with the local Merseyrail, Wirral line trains. Trains run approximately every 15 minutes, in either direction, from around 6am until midnight on the Wirral Line.
Personally I would love to live here but not really much chance of that as very rarely do the houses come up for sale with the walls of the orignal village. Will just have to make do with visiting and dreaming that somebody will come and knock down a few houses where I live and turn it into a beautifully landscaped field, oh and get rid of the busy road.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
A very good review indeed....a few well chosen pictures there would have gained an E from me on this. Oh and you'd be going some to get there in 35 minutes from the M1, the M6 yes! Richard.
aspebbles 29.12.2006 01:25
v enjoyable to read.
jackyann53 21.12.2006 23:49
Brilliant review! I didn't know anything about this place at all, you've certainly done your homework on this one. Very interesting read. Jacky x
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Dec 19th, 2006
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