Tales of the Mersey

Tales of the Mersey Ghost Walks - Victorian Crimes & Ghost Tales - WW2 Talks & Walking Tours. He has also Published 9 Books on Local History and Historical Fiction.

The Gateway to New Brighton’s Heritage with Tales of the Mersey Tours and The New Art Murals Trail - Where the Old Town Meets the New Walls Tours Explore New Brighton Tours - Taking you to the Historic & Hidden Locations around the Seaside Resort. Operating tours for over 15 years

Our Tours are hosted by BSc Hons Historian & Author Tony Franks-Buckley who Graduated with Honours at Liverpool John Moores University and holds a Degree in Modern History. Tony is also the National-Vice Chairman of the Italy Star Association. The main Allied Veterans Organisation of WW2 Campaigns in Italy. Tony is a true local having grown up in New Brighton. Tony is also a regular visitor to the Normandy Landings in France and has been operating as a WW2 Historian for the UK. Featuring on BBC, Channel 5, YouTube and Forces TV

Liscard Vale Quarry and the New Brighton TowerMost of you will be familiar with the name "Vale" from the near by park wh...
07/10/2026

Liscard Vale Quarry and the New Brighton Tower

Most of you will be familiar with the name "Vale" from the near by park which opened in 1899, the same year at the Tower. But the name "Liscard Vale" stretches back hundreds of years and the old Quarry area was also a former spot connected with Legends and Folklore such as the Liscard Vale Witches, The Poldies (Fairies) and a few Ghost Stories. Not to forget the Smuggling Links when word was passed round "The Ghost Walks tonight"

Liscard Vale stretched to the edge of the Gunpowder Magazine Village, on the other side of "Hell's Brow" was Mother Redcaps, a Smugglers Tavern on the Banks of the River Mersey where Egremont is located today. This area is full of local Myths and Legends and we have many to tell on our Tours….. Our Autumnal Ghost Walks and Penny Dreadful Evenings will bring these stories to life on our Informative Walking Tours....Our 90 Minute Walks are filled with Victorian Crimes & Ghost Tales that will send shivers down your Spine... Get Ready to Visit the Crime Spots, Hidden Locations and Haunted Buildings of the Seaside Resort in New Brighton. Book Now and find out more https://wallasey-days-gone-by.sumupstore.com/product/tales-of-the-mersey-talks-at-fort-perch-rock-battery

The Old Queen’s Arms HotelIn Liscard Village, the Queen’s Arms Hotel has the unusual distinction of having once been use...
07/10/2026

The Old Queen’s Arms Hotel

In Liscard Village, the Queen’s Arms Hotel has the unusual distinction of having once been used as a magistrates’ court. Cases were heard there in the last years of the 19th Century, before the town’s first court house was built in Liscard Road

The building was later to be replaced by the current pub…. Our Autumnal Ghost Walks and Penny Dreadful Evenings will bring these stories to life on our Informative Walking Tours....Our 90 Minute Walks are filled with Victorian Crimes & Ghost Tales that will send shivers down your Spine... Get Ready to Visit the Crime Spots, Hidden Locations and Haunted Buildings of the Seaside Resort in New Brighton. Book Now and find out more https://wallasey-days-gone-by.sumupstore.com/product/tales-of-the-mersey-talks-at-fort-perch-rock-battery

The Magnificent New Brighton Tower It cost £120,000 to build the New Brighton Tower, which was completed in 1900. Over 1...
07/10/2026

The Magnificent New Brighton Tower

It cost £120,000 to build the New Brighton Tower, which was completed in 1900. Over 1,000 tons of steel were used in the construction. From the ground to the top of the Copper Ball on the flag-staff, it measured 567 feet, 6 inches. It was actually 567 feet high itself and 621 feet above sea level, becoming the highest structure in the United Kingdom.

On 22nd June 1896 the first piece of turf was cut at the Tower grounds' site and building of the tower started in 1897. Two workmen were killed and a third seriously injured in the January, when a crane lifting a heavy iron girder met with an accident. The hook holding the load gave way. By the April, the Tower was 180 feet and another workman met his death, while in June, a labourer fell to his death down a lift hole. People said there should safety nets around the structure. It rose higher and higher and in the August it claimed another worker. He fell from over 100 feet. A month later, another workman was killed when he fell 60 feet. We have a series of exclusive Construction photographs to show on the Tours when we stand in the location of the Tower…Our Autumnal Ghost Walks and Penny Dreadful Evenings will bring these stories to life on our Informative Walking Tours....Our 90 Minute Walks are filled with Victorian Crimes & Ghost Tales that will send shivers down your Spine... Get Ready to Visit the Crime Spots, Hidden Locations and Haunted Buildings of the Seaside Resort in New Brighton. Book Now and find out more https://wallasey-days-gone-by.sumupstore.com/product/tales-of-the-mersey-talks-at-fort-perch-rock-battery

Edwardian Liscard in the Early 20th Century As the Rise of New Brighton Seaside Resort grew in a rapid fashion, the Town...
07/10/2026

Edwardian Liscard in the Early 20th Century

As the Rise of New Brighton Seaside Resort grew in a rapid fashion, the Town Centre remained pretty Rural and was blessed with green fields, cottages and livestock. Urbanisation arrived in the 1920s and Killed the Town as it was once known. Old Liscard was pretty before the Concrete Jungle arrived.

The old township of Liscard covered a large area and included a common, meadows and pastureland. At one time the village was approached from Wallasey Village along Wallasey Road. Today the area is heavily urbanised and much of the beautiful landscape is gone. But, if you look properly, you will find some stunning mansions and buildings that still remain in Liscard and have amazing stories for us to tell on our Evenings…. Our Autumnal Ghost Walks and Penny Dreadful Evenings will bring these stories to life on our Informative Walking Tours....Our 90 Minute Walks are filled with Victorian Crimes & Ghost Tales that will send shivers down your Spine... Get Ready to Visit the Crime Spots, Hidden Locations and Haunted Buildings of the Seaside Resort in New Brighton. Book Now and find out more https://wallasey-days-gone-by.sumupstore.com/product/tales-of-the-mersey-talks-at-fort-perch-rock-battery

The Grennan overlooking New BrightonThe Grennan was designed in an Italianate style, stucco rendered and painted and sig...
07/10/2026

The Grennan overlooking New Brighton

The Grennan was designed in an Italianate style, stucco rendered and painted and significant by the belvidere, an observation tower which dominated the masard roof line. Built in the ridge of St George's Mount it commanded impressive views.

In 1860 it was in the occupation of Mr G.S Robertson, Manager and Secretary of Hamilton's Windsor Iron Works in Liverpool. According to the street directories, Mr Robertson stayed there for ten years before giving way to Mr A.T Wright, Solicitor, son of Peter Wright, at one time Clerk of the Peace in Liverpool and a partner in what became the legal firm of Wright, Beckett and Pennington. Mr Wright spent some time as Chairman of the Wallasey Local Board and a Cheshire County Council Alderman, and occupied 'The Grennan' for nearly twenty years before moving to 'The Springs' in Harrison Drive.His successor at 'The Grennan' was a Mr H.J Houghton, described as a gentleman, who in 1915 gave way to Mr Leonard Meadows, an Oil Merchant, who mingled in public life to the extent that he was Treasurer of the Victoria Central Hospital and the Wallasey Cricket Club, in addition to being a sidesman at St Hilary's Church. He was succeeded at 'The Grennan' in about 1920 by Mr G. Austin Tyrer, W**e and Spirit Merchant, who on the sporting side was capped for Cheshire at hockey in 1904, and captained Wallasey Cricket Club for seven years prior to World War I. In 1925 the house was converted into flats, but in the late 1980's was demolished for redevelopment….Our Autumnal Ghost Walks and Penny Dreadful Evenings will bring these stories to life on our Informative Walking Tours....Our 90 Minute Walks are filled with Victorian Crimes & Ghost Tales that will send shivers down your Spine... Get Ready to Visit the Crime Spots, Hidden Locations and Haunted Buildings of the Seaside Resort in New Brighton. Book Now and find out more https://wallasey-days-gone-by.sumupstore.com/product/tales-of-the-mersey-talks-at-fort-perch-rock-battery

The Ghost of Thurstaston Hall Many years ago, a famous and successful portrait painter, Mr W Easton of the Royal Academy...
06/10/2026

The Ghost of Thurstaston Hall

Many years ago, a famous and successful portrait painter, Mr W Easton of the Royal Academy, was staying at Thurstaston Hall while painting a portrait of the family then at the hall. He had been given the arch room in the west wing, a vaulted room that formed part of the old chapel. Easton had been sleeping in this room, in a magnificent four-poster, for some time without experiencing anything untoward. One morning in the small hours he heard the door to the room open and he looked up to see an old woman wringing her hands, apparently in great distress. She stood at the foot of his bed and said nothing, even when he said, “You seem to be in great trouble! Is there anything I can do for you?” She went to the other side of the room, pulled a bell-rope, and disappeared. The same happened the following night, and so many times that, although he could only believe it to be a supernatural experience, he lost any feeling of fear, to the extent of drawing a rough sketch of the apparition. A while later a man who knew this story and had seen the sketch was staying at a house somewhere else in England. He recognised one of the family portraits as identical to the apparition in the sketch. When he asked the family about it, they told him that they had once occupied Thurstaston Hall, and the lady in the painting was the former lady of manor who was said to haunt the place, having killed her own child with a knife which she dropped on being disturbed. When one of her servants finally found the knife, she was put on trial and executed, but her ghost continues to search for the murder weapon. When the man mentioned this to Easton, he swore that he had never heard of the family, or their legend, and had certainly never seen the portrait. A photograph of the sketch recently sold on EBay for over four hundred dollars….. Our Autumnal Ghost Walks and Penny Dreadful Evenings will bring these stories to life on our Informative Walking Tours....Our 90 Minute Walks are filled with Victorian Crimes & Ghost Tales that will send shivers down your Spine... Get Ready to Visit the Crime Spots, Hidden Locations and Haunted Buildings of the Seaside Resort in New Brighton. Book Now and find out more https://wallasey-days-gone-by.sumupstore.com/product/tales-of-the-mersey-talks-at-fort-perch-rock-battery

Liscard Vale Woods - Home of The Hanging TreeLong before the development years of the New Brighton Tower Grounds and Val...
06/10/2026

Liscard Vale Woods - Home of The Hanging Tree

Long before the development years of the New Brighton Tower Grounds and Vale Park, Liscard Vale Woods stretched along the River Mersey Coastline of Wallasey towards the Gunpowder Village.

There is the legend of the Liscard Vale Witches in the old Quarry area as well as several stories of Hauntings within the Woods.

In days gone by, The Smugglers utilised this plot of land to walk under Moonlight along the shoreline to Mother Redcaps Tavern with their Contraband.

By the end of the 19th Century, the Legends of Smugglers and the Liscard Vale Witches were quietened to entice people to visit the area. We have many supernatural tales to tell on our Halloween Ghost Walks…. Our Autumnal Ghost Walks and Penny Dreadful Evenings will bring these stories to life on our Informative Walking Tours....Our 90 Minute Walks are filled with Victorian Crimes & Ghost Tales that will send shivers down your Spine... Get Ready to Visit the Crime Spots, Hidden Locations and Haunted Buildings of the Seaside Resort in New Brighton. Book Now and find out more https://wallasey-days-gone-by.sumupstore.com/product/tales-of-the-mersey-talks-at-fort-perch-rock-battery

There are lots of Ghost legends about Bidston Hill, one of the most mysterious supernatural landmarks in the country, ri...
06/10/2026

There are lots of Ghost legends about Bidston Hill, one of the most mysterious supernatural landmarks in the country, rises to over 234 feet and has a long, dark reputation as being a meeting place for various covens and occultists. There is Ghosts, The Witches Curse, The Legend of the Werewolf & Several Historic Hauntings located in the Old Village and Hill. There's the ghost of the Victorian boy who is seen on the hill quite often and has been captured on film. There's the apparition of The Angry Miller, who walked out of the wrong door of the mill in a fit of temper and had his head sliced off by one of the blades. . Richard Tilly, a Satanist and lecherous murderer, is said to be buried close to the windmill and legend has it that his ghastly-looking zombie-like form has been seen to slowly emerge from its grave on some moonlit nights. Even in death, the lustful Tilly has allegedly attacked young ladies who have been foolish enough to cross the hill after dark. We have many Tales to Tell on our Halloween Ghost Tours…. Our Autumnal Ghost Walks and Penny Dreadful Evenings will bring these stories to life on our Informative Walking Tours....Our 90 Minute Walks are filled with Victorian Crimes & Ghost Tales that will send shivers down your Spine... Get Ready to Visit the Crime Spots, Hidden Locations and Haunted Buildings of the Seaside Resort in New Brighton. Book Now and find out more https://wallasey-days-gone-by.sumupstore.com/product/tales-of-the-mersey-talks-at-fort-perch-rock-battery

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Marine Promenade
Wallasey
CH452JS

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Tuesday 4pm - 7pm
Wednesday 4pm - 7pm
Thursday 10am - 1pm
Saturday 10am - 1pm
Sunday 10am - 1pm

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