We’re fortunate to have a very loyal audience who love where we live.
Around 12,000 people visit our website every month to get the latest news for West Kirby, Hoylake and Meols.
It’s been a year of highs and lows – from the triumph of the successful staging of The Open golf championship at the Royal Liverpool, through to the tragic death of West Kirby Grammar pupil Jessica Baker in a bus crash that also killed the driver, Stephen Shrimpton.
These are the five stories that captured your interest the most in 2023, in ascending order.
5: Slinky’s is back in West Kirby (3,090 reads)
The return of a familiar name to Banks Road in July kicks off our chart, at number five.
Slinky’s disappeared when the bar was taken over by the Home Brew Tap in 2018, but owner Simon Hughes brought it back in the summer. Read it here.
4: Plans to demolish The Grange and replace it with flats (3,731 reads)
A story from June about plans to demolish The Grange on Grange Road and replace it with 14 apartments is at number four.
The existing building, on Grange Road, was constructed in the late 1800s, but the developer argues that a precedent has already been set by the redevelopment of neighbouring sites at Westheath Court and Homestead Mews. Read it here.
3: New plan to revive historic Kingsmead school (3,814 reads)
There’s a lot of love for historic Kingsmead School in Hoylake, which closed during the pandemic in 2020.
News in July that the Kingsmead Trust is to partner with Oasis, a national charity whose work includes running schools, under the new name ‘Oasis Kingsmead’, was our third most popular story of the year. Read it here.
2: Tanskey’s building & ice cream kiosk to be sold-off (4,191 reads)
A story from July about Wirral Council selling off property it owns in West Kirby to help balance its books and stave off potential government intervention is the runner-up.
The building occupied by Tanskey’s in Coronation Gardens and an ice cream kiosk and former toilet block on Dee Lane will be sold with sitting tenants, meaning they are able to continue trading. Read it here.
1: First look inside the Ring O’Bells (10,700 reads)
By far and away our most popular story of the year, the reopening of the Ring O’Bells is our most read of 2023, with almost 11,000 people viewing it.
The new-look Ringers has been sensitively revamped by new owners Stange & Co – and many of you couldn’t wait to find out more! Read it here.
