Speke
| Speke | ||
|---|---|---|
Metropolitan county | ||
| Region | ||
| Country | England | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
| Post town | LIVERPOOL | |
| Postcode district | L24 | |
| Dialling code | 0151 | |
| Police | Merseyside | |
| Fire | Merseyside | |
| Ambulance | North West | |
| UK Parliament | ||
Speke ( borders its south.
History
The name derives from the Old English Spec, meaning 'brushwood' or from Middle English Spek(e), meaning 'woodpecker'. It was known as Spec in the Domesday Book, which gave Speke Hall as one of the properties held by Uctred. (Today Speke Hall, now a Tudor wood-framed house, is open to the public.)
In the mid 14th century, the manors of Speke, Whiston, Skelmersdale, and Parr were held by William Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre.[1]
Until the 1930s development by Sir Lancelot Keay, Speke was a small village with a population of 400; by the end of the 1950s more than 25,000 people were living in the area. The local All Saints Church was built by the last resident owner of Speke Hall, Miss Adelaide Watt.[2]
From 1795 until 1921, the Speke estate had belonged to the Watt family; when the family died out, the estate was placed in trust.
Constructed between 1930 and 1933, by the start of
When the
Community
Speke is known for
The New Mersey Shopping Park was re-developed in 1999 from an older retail site. It houses many large retail and textile outlets as well as mainstream restaurants.[6] The New Mersey Retail Estate is situated between Speke and Garston, directly opposite to the Old Liverpool Airport main terminal building, which is now a hotel complex.
The area also features the Mersey Wave, officially opened on 15 December 2003, a 200 ft-long (61 m) and 100 ft (30 m) high illuminated sculpture comprising two sets of six aluminium fins.[7] The sculpture, designed by Peter Fink, was removed for repairs within weeks of opening, a problem causing its fins to move dangerously in high winds having been discovered.[8] It was rebuilt in June 2005 and the structure, 30 ft (9.1 m) taller than the Angel of the North at Gateshead, is visible from as far as Winter Hill, Horwich, Greater Manchester.
In 2011, planning was submitted and subsequently granted for Estuary Banks, a £6 million business park scheme developed by
Recent developments in Speke have seen a multimillion-pound
Football Club: Speke South Liverpool, a local amateur football side, was founded at the Austin Rawlinson Sports Centre, Speke. However, late 2005 saw the club relocate a short distance away to Mossley Hill. The leading amateur football club in the area now is St Christophers FC, who are located at Central Way Playing Fields.
Transport
The main road network in Speke is the A561 Speke Boulevard which links the area to Garston, Aigburth, Dingle/Toxteth in the West and Widnes and Runcorn in the East. Close by is the A5300 Knowsley Expressway which provides links to the A562 to Widnes and Runcorn, the M62 motorway and eventually becomes the M57 at Tarbock Interchange.
The Speke estate was generally built around two notable roads Western Avenue and Eastern Avenue which linked to a former shopping parade in Central Way in more recent years this was replaced by an extensive shopping and retail development off Eastern Avenue and Speke Boulevard.
Speke is also approximately 8 to 9 miles away from the western terminus of the M62, Rocket Roundabout in Broadgreen.
Speke has a fairly extensive bus network which use the Aigburth Road/Park Road and Allerton Road/Penny Lane corridors in South Liverpool and are mostly provided by Arriva North West. Services 80/80A, 82/82A, 86A and 500 link Speke to Liverpool City Centre and these services provide links to Dingle, Toxteth, Aigburth, Mossley Hill, Allerton, Grassendale and Garston with the 82A continuing further afield to Widnes and Runcorn. The most notable of these services are the long established 80/80A and 82/82A which have linked Speke to the city centre for many, many years. Other notable bus services in the Speke area the 81/81A (Speke/Liverpool John Lennon Airprot to Bootle) which links the South, East and North of Liverpool via the A5058 Queens Drive. and 89 (Liverpool John Lennon Airprot to St Helens) which have both operated for many decades. There is also the 3A service which links Speke/Halewood to Huyton the 201 which on an infrequent service links Speke to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital along with various industrial and school bus services which pass through the area too.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is also located at the base of the Speke estate near the River Mersey and has undergone growth and expansion in recent years. The airport's strategy is to cater largely for 'low cost' operators and easyJet and Ryanair run the majority of routes at the airport. Services are also provided by Loganair, Lufthansa and PLAY and the airport serves various destinations in mainland Europe with some to North Africa and the Mediterranean/Middle East.
Notable residents
- George Harrison[13] - Musician
- Paul McCartney[14] - Musician
- Les Dennis - Comedian and television presenter
- Robert Maudsley - Murderer
- Peter Withe - Football player and manager
- Mo Marley - Football player and manager
- Leonard Rossiter - Actor
- Alan Rudkin - Boxer
See also
References
- ^ Edward Baines, William Robert Whatton, Brooke Herford, James Croston, The history of the county palatine and duchy of Lancaster, vol. 5 (J. Heywood, 1893), p. 2
- ^ Welcome to the Parish of Speke!, All Saints Church Speke, retrieved 6 October 2007
- ^ The Watts, National Trust, archived from the original on 29 June 2011, retrieved 29 October 2008
- ^ Unit History of Liverpool, A Vision of Britain Through Time, archived from the original on 31 August 2012, retrieved 22 August 2007
- ^ "Pharmaceuticals". Bionow. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ The New Mersey Retail Park, British Land, archived from the original on 24 August 2010, retrieved 3 July 2006
- ^ Making A Big Splash!, BBC Liverpool, 18 December 2003, retrieved 12 September 2007
- ^ Repaired Wave sculpture returns, BBC News, 7 June 2005, retrieved 12 September 2007
- ^ "Estuary Banks Liverpool". Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "Business First takes 80,000 sq ft in Speke". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "The Speke Centre". Completely Retail. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "Planning Explorer". Liverpool.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "George Harrison's childhood home in Speke sells at auction". BBC News. 20 October 2014.
- ^ "The Beatles: Paul McCartney's childhood home sells for £150,000". BBC News. 26 February 2015.
External links
