Hoylake as a place to live
Hoylake is a seaside town with a population of around 8,000 and located at the northwestern corner of the Wirral Peninsula near to the town of West Kirby and where the River Dee estuary meets the Irish Sea.
Hoylake History
The road known as The Kings Gap is where in July 1690, England’s King William III (William of Orange) set sail from Hoylake with a 10,000-strong army to Ireland, where his army was to defeat the French supported army of James II. That victory is still celebrated today by Protestants in Northern Ireland on July 12th.
The present day town grew up in the 19th century and the name Hoylake was derived from Hoyle Lake, a channel of water between Hilbre Island and Dove Point (Meols). Protected by a wide sandbank known as Hoyle Bank and with a water depth of about 20 feet, it provided a safe anchorage for ships too large to sail up the Dee to Chester.
No longer standing, The Royal Hotel was built by Sir John Stanley in 1792, with the intention of developing the area as a holiday resort. The numerous steam packet vessels sailing between Liverpool and North Wales that called at the hotel provided valuable patronage. By the mid 19th century a racecourse was laid out in the grounds of the hotel. The hotel building was demolished in the 1950s.
Hoylake’s lido, located on the promenade, was opened in June 1913 and rebuilt in the late 1920s. The baths finally closed in 1981.
Hoylake Places of interest
The Hoylake and West Kirby War Memorial is a notable local landmark, as it was designed in 1922 by the British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger who was responsible for a number of war memorials around the world, including the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London.
Hoylake Lifeboat Station is one of the oldest on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, and was founded by the Liverpool Docks Trustees in 1803 and taken over by the RNLI in 1894.
Royal Liverpool Golf Club, built in 1869, on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club, Hoylake is the oldest of all the English seaside courses with the exception of Westward Ho in Devon, which was established just a few years earlier. In 1871 the Club was granted its Royal designation thanks to the patronage of His Royal Highness The Duke of Connaught.
Picture above courtesy of karen-lawrence.artistwebsites.com.
Hoylake Schools
The area enjoys a number of good local primary schools, Kingsmead Co-Educational Day School and Hoylake Holy Trinity CE Primary School, with access to some of the Wirral’s most prestigious higher education schools and colleges, namely;
i) Calday Grange Grammar School for boys (6th Form Co-Educational)
ii) West Kirby Grammar School
iii) Birkenhead School
iv) Birkenhead High School for Girls
v) Wirral Grammar School for Boys
vi) Wirral Grammar School for Girls
vii) St Anslem’s College; a Catholic grammar school for boys
Hoylake Amenities & Attractions
Apart from Royal Liverpool, the world-famous Open Championship golf course, Hoylake also has a very good 18 holes municipal golf course.
There is an active nightlife throughout the town, as well as several excellent restaurants and pubs. It is a fantastic destination for those wanting to combine a golfing break with the traditional English charm of a seaside resort.
Close to some wonderful beaches and countryside for walkers and cyclists alike.
Sunsets across the Dee estuary are a sight to behold!
Hoylake Places to eat & drink
Market Street has an array of good and diverse restaurants & cafes. No doubt the more knowledgeable folk will know to venture down the side streets to a couple of very good pubs as frequented by locals, mainly fishermen and RNLI veterans, or to head a mile or two into West Kirby for equally good gastronomic and liquid experiences!
Hoylake Transport
The town and surrounding area is very well served in being reasonably close to the M53 motorway the A540 main Chester arterial road, as well as having a railway station providing regular services to Liverpool and Chester. There is a frequent bus network, both for local transportation to/from Liverpool and Chester.
Other places to live on the Wirral
Whilst this page focuses on Hoylake, why not take a look at some of the other places to live on the Wirral.
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