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Hilbre Island
©
Val Burnett
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The Fiends
of Hilbre AGM
Wednesday 21st May, 7.30 pm
West Kirby Concourse
Guest Speaker: Christine Longworth
Topic: The Archaeology of Hilbre Island
Members of the public are welcome
AGM
At our AGM, we shall ask members to consider whether we get
rid of one clause from our Constitution. This is the one which says that
members of the Friends of Hilbre committee cannot belong to other
committees which deal with Hilbre.
We have had this clause since the beginning, and it was intended to see
that we looked after all Hilbre users, not just those linked to us. In
practice, it has not been necessary.
Other groups including Wirral Council know that we are there for the
general welfare of the islands, and now we can do more good by accepting
places on the Dee Estuary Conservation Group, and the two Hilbre
Management committees (to which we have sent observers up till now).
Copies of our present Constitution will be on show at the AGM, and the new
Constitution, if accepted, will be signed by our newly elected committee.
This article will be supplied in the Newsletter to all our current
members, so please take it as the necessary advance notice of a proposed
change to our legal governing document.
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issue'.
Painting of Hilbre in 1826
A watercolour of Hilbre,
dated 1 August 1826, was offered on E Bay, and I was fortunate enough to
get it, with the help of friends. The year 1826 is especially interesting,
as it was in 1827 that the first semaphore telegraph was set up. The
painting gives a rare sight of Hilbre before the present brick and stone
houses were put up in the 1849s and 50s, on the same site.
Recognisably on the east side of the main island, the house is a long
two-storey place, painted white, with 3 chimney stacks. It would at that
time have been a public house. Until recently, it had been in the hands of
Joseph Hickson, but there were 2 more publicans before it vanished from
the records, presumably taken over by the Dock Trust for its employees,
and partly sub-let to Trinity House for the Buoy Master. The name of the
pub is uncertain. The licences granted at Quarter Sessions each year often
did not give names, but at this time many ale houses had no names anyway.
They were merely referred to as “The Board”, on account of the licencee’s
name board over the door, a legal requirement since Elizabethan times
which is still in force. In West Kirby, some local families say that its
name was “The Seagull Inn”, and another theory says “The Boat”.
A fascinating detail is the northern landmark or perch, which looms over
the house. Its foundations are still visible on Hilbre in the bare rock,
and nick-named the “Monks’ Graves”. From navigation charts, we can deduce
that the two landmarks, north and south, were built in about 1800, and
replaced some 35 years later by the shore marks, one of which lies in
ruins on Little Eye. The other stood near to Red Rocks.
The painting is in water colour over pencil, signed with the initials JD.
So far, I have not traced who JD was, only that landscape painting was a
popular hobby at this time, and some amateur artists were very skilled.
by Sue Craggs
Here is
the picture of Hilbre, painted in 1826, artist unknown, and showing the
house which was then the inn. The tall structure is probably the north
landmark, where the footings in the rock are known as the "Monks' graves!"
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New Look Newsletter
The
paper copy of the Newsletter is now in a format that is compatible with
guidelines recommended by the government for publications. These include
using a sans script font size 12 with no underlining or use of uppercase
letters. We hope you find it easier to read.
Newsletter
Do you have any
memories or stories about Hilbre Island? We would love to hear from you.
Please send your contributions to The Editor, The Friends of Hilbre
Newsletter at our e-mail address:
thefriendsofhilbre@hotmail.com
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Local
History Day Courses on Hilbre 2008
Sue Craggs will be running a local
history course about Hilbre and district this summer which will be
repeated on 2 separate days, there will be a small charge. The materials
used on the course will come largely from the collection of books,
photocopied articles, photographs and computer discs purchased with a very
generous gift from Hoylake Historical Society. If this arrangement is
successful, future courses may be provided on a variety of subjects. There
will be a small charge and booking is essential, for further information
please contact: thefriendsofhilbre@hotmail.com or ring Sue: 0151 678 336
8643.
Wirral Ranger Service Events and Activities
Dates and information regarding events
and activities arranged by Wirral Ranger Service are now available on-line
at wirral.gov.uk.
On the Home Page click on Leisure and Culture, and then on Parks and
Countryside Newsletter.
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Note From Treasurer
At our AGM in May last year, we elected Sue Craggs as the Treasurer of the
Friends of Hilbre, with many thanks to Neil Kelly for his sterling work in
the last few years. In spite of his increasing work load, he has remained
on the committee as Assistant Treasurer.
We also changed our accounting year from the tax year (April to March)
into the calendar year (January to December, from 2008). That means we had
a 9-month “year” in 2007, which ended in December 2007. Accounts for this
shorter year will be given as usual at our 2008 AGM, in May in the West
Kirby Concourse. The Charity Commission, whose rules apply to all
charities’ finances, has given its blessing to our new time scale.
We had very useful advice on keeping our accounts from the Community
Accountant, based at the CVS offices in Birkenhead. Friends of Hilbre will
continue to access the local and national funding available to voluntary
groups.
The islands are benefiting from the current financial input by Wirral
Borough Council, obtained by them from the Mersey Waterfront Project, and
other funders. The developments to buildings on Hilbre are under way, but
with due care for the island’s wild life and character. The Council has
adapted two areas as day centres, for use by booked study parties. The
Telegraph Station Lookout has been fitted with museum show cases, for
displays of history, wild life and geology.
Compositing Toilets
Compositing toilets adjacent to the slate shed
The composting toilets are now functioning and the contractors have
completed the path and railings past the toilets and to the far end of the
Old Stable day room. It has been decided to let the outside of the toilets
weather to a greyish sheen.
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Seal Watching Training
Members seal watching.
Thanks you Vilja for painting the board! |
A characteristic of the Atlantic Grey Seal is the
shape of the head which is similar to a 'Roman' nose.
©
John Rodgers |
Atlantic Grey Seals hauled-out on the West Hoyle Bank
in the Dee Estuary.
© Steve Cumberlidge
Seal watch training took place on Sunday 9th
March following on from the task day. Eight new volunteers attended and I
was very grateful to the few already trained seal watchers who stayed to
give support. Training took place indoors as, by this time, the weather
was cold and windy. We looked at the information about the seals from the
booklet and everyone familiarised themselves with the
telescope.
We had a brief visit to the cliff top with the telescope and we estimated
that there were about 80 seals hauled out on the sandbank. Thank you to
all who attended and I hope everyone enjoys their seal watching days on
Hilbre.
Sea Pinks and Birds Foot Trefoil adorning Hilbre are a joy to behold
© Colin Jones
SAFETY NOTICE
Always check the tides before going
out to Hilbre. Tides change each day. Use the safe route, it is dangerous
to use any other route. For full details of when to cross safely and the
safest route to Hilbre see our
Planning your visit to Hilbre Island page.
PLEASE RESPECT THE WILDLIFE ON HILBRE ISLANDS LOCAL NATURE RESERVE
PLEASE NOTE: All articles and photographs in this web site are
© COPYRIGHT of Friends of Hilbre unless
specifically otherwise stated.
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