‘Otterspool House’ the grand home of “John Moss” stood In what is now Otterspool park, South Liverpool. The house was demolished in 1931, leaving stone steps and the raised stone terrace that we see today as the only clues that such a house existed. The house was originally built alongside the “Otters Pool”, a tidal creek where the sunken field opposite is today. The Otters Pool was fed from the ancient River Jordan that flows from Sefton Park Lake and out into the River Mersey.

The Old Octagonal Café in Otterspool Park, where the house of John Moss once stood

On the stone terrace where the grand house once stood, is the Octagonal Café that was built and opened in 1932, the same year that Otterspool Park opened. I remember having ice cream’s from the Octagonal café when I was a young child. Whilst those of a more senior age, may also remember the children’s television series “Why Don’t You”, which was filmed within the café building during the 1980’s.

Sadly, this small but attractive building has lain empty for many years and is now in quite a dilapidated state, being at the mercy of vandals. Whilst the café building may not be a historically important building, it would be nice to see the old café saved and given a new lease of life, before it collapses or is burned to the ground. You can still see that it was once an attractive & well constructed building in its day.

Newspaper article reporting on the opening of Otterspool Park and the Octagonal Café from the ‘Liverpool Post and Mercury’, Saturday 2nd July 1932. Curtesy of The British Newspaper Archive.

Whilst walking the dog, I passed by the café as I often do, only to find that the building had been broken into. Two of its doors and the security panelling had been ripped off to gain access. This has sadly revealed the ruined state of it’s interior. There are still visible signs of the building’s past when it was a Café.

I didn’t stay inside too long though to take more pictures for fear of what dust maybe inside…

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During construction of the new Garston Way bypass (A561) back in the early 1980’s. An old culvert of the old Garston River was discovered on ‘Church Road’. The discovery was made where the new Garston Way bypass bridge was being built. The culvert is thought to have been one of Liverpool’s ancient rivers, the old Garston Brook. The original stone arch can be clearly seen here in these images.

Newspaper article reporting the discovery of the old Garston River Culvert, from the Liverpool Echo, Thursday 4th November 1982. Curtesy of The British Newspaper Archive.

These photographs were originally taken with my Ricoh XR7, on 35mm negative film. In order to be able to photograph the culvert before it would be lost once again, it was necessary to photograph over the top of the barrier surrounding the worksite.

Sections from two old maps of Garston, showing the course of the old Garston Brook. The first of the maps, on the Left : Lancashire Sheet CXIII Surveyed: 1846 to 1864 & Published: 1850 and a slightly later map on the Right: Lancashire Sheet CXIII.SE Surveyed: 1888 to 1891 & Published: 1894 both maps show the original River, with features along it’s length. Followed by the changes that occurred to the brook and it’s visibility as the years passed. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Old culvert, believed to be originally built for the ancient Garston Brook, exposed in the 1980’s, during the construction of the New Garston Bypass.

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