A local family invited the ECHO inside their beautiful home to take a look around
A local family invited the ECHO inside their beautiful home to take a look around
People often say that Wirral is an area of contrasts, and nowhere is that more apparent than on Clifton Road in Birkenhead. The tranquil street sits just off busy Borough Road, yet seems far removed from the snarling traffic of the tunnel flyovers and the bustle of the nearby Pyramids shopping centre.
Clifton Road is part of Clifton Park, a conservation area known as the “villa estate”. It is lined with magnificent mansion houses that would sell for tens of millions of pounds if they were located in London. Built in the 1840s by renowned architect Walter Scott, the houses were designed to make residents feel as though they were living in the countryside, rather than in Birkenhead’s rapidly expanding town centre.
The area is steeped in history, and several notable names from Merseyside’s past lived here, including the architect Lewis Hornblower, who designed the grand entrance for Birkenhead Park, and F E Smith (later Lord Birkenhead) who later became Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for India.
Clifton Road became one of the streets of choice for wealthy merchants and traders in Birkenhead. From its high vantage point, the street offered exceptional views of Liverpool across the River Mersey. Today, the views remain just as good, but rather than housing wealthy merchants, the mansions are home to ordinary families who share a love of their unique surroundings.
On a freezing cold January morning, the ECHO headed to Clifton Road to meet one such family and find out what it’s like living on this unusual street. Aakhila, 44, her husband Hassan, 49, and their children Hasim, 12, and Hala, 11, live in a beautiful six-bed mansion house that was originally built for two merchant brothers.
Aakhila and Hassan, who both work in the public sector, moved here in 2004 and say they love the house and the area. “It’s a lovely street to live on”, says Hassan. “There are some great characters who live here, and some really nice families. And the location is great – it’s amazingly well-located for the train station to get over to Liverpool.”
Aakhila and Hassan’s home is everything you would hope for in a grand Victorian mansion. Inside, the ceilings are high and the rooms are generous in size. The exterior is made of sandstone, adorned with ornate carvings you wouldn’t see on a modern house. The building is Grade II listed, which offers protection from demolition and unsuitable extensions or alterations. The family say they haven’t altered the house in any way, and have kept all its original features.
According to Hassan, the property was originally double the size of what it is now, but half of it was lost in a fire. When the merchant brothers who originally owned the house died, it was bought by the Clarke family, who kept hold of it until the 1960s. A few years back, a member of the family living in New Zealand paid them a visit and discovered one of his relatives had carved “G. Clarke, 1903”, in one of the beams in the attic.
The house was eventually turned into flats, and later became part of a local school. For years, it was annexed to Woodlands Primary School, before being converted back into a residential home.
Living in a historic house does have its downsides. Because of its status, it is difficult to make any changes to the property. “If we want to make any architectural changes,” says Aakhila, “we have to ask permission, because it’s a listed building. Sometimes we’ve wanted to do something to the house but we decided against it because we’d have to go through the process of applying to the council to make changes.
“Cutting down trees is an issue too. Even with trees you’ve planted yourself. If trees have grown over the years and you cut them down, you can get fined for that.”
Upkeep of the house isn’t too much bother for them, though. “The house is quite solid,” says Aakhila, “but like any house you get roof leaks here and there. Brickwork is a bit of an issue because it’s sandstone and it wears away.” Hassan estimates they have spent “around £40,000 in 20 years on bits and bobs for the house,” which he thinks “isn’t bad for a property this old”.
In the second half of the 20th century, some of the villas on the street – including one belonging to Scott himself – were demolished and replaced with modern blocks of flats. According to an appraisal of the area written for Wirral Council in 2004, modern demolitions and building work “considerably eroded the historic character of particular parts of the area”.
Thanks to the protected status of Clifton Park, which was designated as a conservation area in the mid-2000s, we can rest assured that this beautiful street and its historic homes will be preserved for future generations. As Hassan puts it, “they don’t make them like they used to”.
