I'll NEVER understand how a child of 10 can kill. I was 7 when this happened and was traumatized and had nightmares and I was in NZ, and thought they were under my bed coming to get me. I don't care about how rough their home life was, 10 years old know right from wrong !
Born in Birkenhead 1950 remember all loved the park still visit when I can it was a great place the market was awesome always full not like now so sad to see Birkenhead now ❤
Some places I recognise well . However, there's some I don't. it would be helpful if you put the name of the streets of place at the bottom of the photo. Great pictures however PS, terrible music
I remember the Liverpool Echo reporting that some bodies were found in a position that suggested they were kneeling together on the stairs praying as the smoke overcame them.
Left Birkenhead 17 years ago, was born in 1972 and remember most of the things as they are in the video, go back to visit family and don't recognise it, this is how I remember it, thank you, its my go to video when I miss home 😢
Same here left in 86 Hardly get back Family is buried in bidston cemetery on tollemash(can't remember how to spell it) Powell streets gone now,not sure if the alehouses on laird st are still there the comet🤔 Happy memories Be lucky lad
I've been very fortunate to work as an archivist on both British National newspapers and newsreels and when archiving these, between twenty and ten years ago, you find yourself almost living through the 20th century in a kind of fast forward. The nonchalance with which the public handled death and disaster in the 1945-1975 period is staggering compared to today. A terrible disaster would be reported on the following day. There would be some reporting of the victims and by the next day it was as if the country had moved on. There might be a small snippet to report on the inquest a week or so later, and even then, the inquest might only last a day or two. They would almost quite literally say. A disaster happened, these people were unfortunate to die, end of. There would almost never be any attempt to establish if anyone could be held accountable and the relatives of the victims could expect little or no compensation. Things began to change during the 70s, possibly through a combination of the boomer generation not being so accustomed to death as their parents, and news reporting bringing more imagery into peoples homes. I found it telling that many tragedies of the 50s-70s were never marked or memorialised until the 1980s at the 25th anniversary in many cases. A few days prior to this disaster, two British drivers were killed and Stirling Moss seriously injured in a grand prix and the Daily Mirror gave fewer column inches to reporting this than they had the death of two horses in the previous year's Grand National! Alas, the Henderson's fire got even less coverage again.
Radio Merseyside could do a lot worse than bringing Billy back. Their current output across all time slots is absolutely abysmal. It's a toss up between Sean Styles and Tony Snell as to who is the absolute pits. Talk about money for old rope, Billy possesses more talent in his little finger than these pair of chancers do in their combined bodies. Styles is about as funny as a broken leg, as for the philosopher Tony Snell, how in gods name has he managed to obtain a wage from this radio station when his programmes are devoid of any remote form of entertainment for decades. Come back Billy, all is forgiven.
A neighbour, a fourteen year old girl with her mother, was in town that day and witnessed the man die from falling (some say he jumped to escape the flames) and was baddly traumatised. I hope she eventually recovered from the horror..
Whats with the stupid music, if you can callit that? One thing I have noticed is there is no litter in the streets, not like today, the place is a dump. It's run by probably the most corrupt councils in the country. Make sure you protect your assets from them.
Fascinating old photos of a world that has disappeared. However I am sure that Claude Debussy would have turned in his grave at this dreadful rendering of his beautiful "Apres midi d'un faun" which happens to be one of my favourite classical melodies. Why could they have not played the original instead of this caterwauling garbage????
My mum worked there the day of the fire I was ill I was 14 months old so she did not go in 1 of her friends offered to do her shift mum never got over it her friend was 1 of the 11 who died
you can go in the pub now as long as you by a big meal what they say people are over weight and they say you need to buy a supstancail meal daft it's daft1
Its only during this lockdown for coronavirus virus that we're seeing roads empty of traffic again. But we will soon be back to the rat race and busy roads again.
Thank you for this, brought back a lot of memories. And the soundtrack is beautiful, I have always loved Tomita..... Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun I believe (Debussy), very nice.
@@hellyeah513 thought you hade done a runner from the weather glade your OK so you have been mad busy mind you Christmas is round the corner people have got trees and Dec's up not me
Brilliant. I was 2 years old when my parents brought me to live in Birkenhead. My brother came with me and my two sisters were born here. We had a house in Cearns road that became an old people's home after my mum sold it. My dad passed away in that house on Christmas morning 1970. He was 50 years old the previous June. I remember learning to drive in 1968 on the roads where the Germans had bombed the whole lot of the houses flat. Funny how so often the pub on the corner was the only building left standing. These bomb sites had not been built on over 20 years after the war had ended. World War 2 couldn't kill Birkenhead, the EU did that.
@@hellyeah513 I moved my family to Felixstowe (1978) for work, Divorced 1983. Took a job Teaching Secondary School in Harlow 2001. Retired 2013 and still in Harlow.
billy billy were have you gone not on radio what have you done we need to hear you yes we do young and old all love you how will we know your ok if we dont hear you today thousands love you yes they do otheherwise i will be blue get back on radio cos we love you tell your boss you need to stay so we can hear you every day ..from angel watchman age 12 love you billy !!!!
Robert Thompson has made a new life and not re offended. According to recent documentary as soon as weekly supervision went to 3weekly (after 5years) Venables spiralled down into drugs, revealed his real identity to a friend & then was found with level 4(the most serious)sexual images of children on his computer. Twice. In my opinion he shouldn't come out of prison this time. He's proved he's an ongoing risk. (The interviews now released show him saying "I killed James" and its believed he was the leader & instigator, not Thompson).
My earliest memories (born 1946) of B.head was going to the market on a Sat. In the fifties it was almost like a fairground, the pubs along Market ST. were overspilled onto the street and music playing and a guy guessing your name and b.day drew huge crowds. Then there was ELI they came for miles to yell 'Here yare Ely' hoping for a bargain, loved it.
