British Open 2006: A Tale of Two Hoylakes
Dolescum Chomsky | 04.08.2006 13:05 | Analysis | Liverpool
Now that the golfers, the media, and the roadsigns have gone, Wirral is pretty much exactly as it was before the British Open. Except for two things. Number one: the rich are richer. Number two: the poor are poorer. While many of Wirral's businesses are counting their cash following the British Open, residents on the 'wrong side' of Hoylake are counting the cost.
Upwards of eighty million pounds was brought into the region by the tournament, but all of it has gone to the region's capitalists. The working class has suffered from disruption to public transport, and residents are complaining about their treatment at the hands of the council on the 'wrong side of the tracks' in Hoylake.
Residents on the Carr Lane estate say they've been completely ignored by council planners who spent millions sprucing up the town's main thoroughfare.
While Market Street still blooms with flower displays installed especially for the four-day tournament, just yards away on the estate residents have been left their own golfing memento piles of rotting rubbish bags.
Pensioner William Jones, 70, said: "The Open hasn't benefited us at all. They were quick enough to take the children's playground yet they won't come and pick up their rubbish.
"I've lived here for 35 years and this area gets forgotten about. The council decided to use the children's playing field as a car park for the golf but they've left the rubbish and the sheets covering the grass."
For the inhabitants of the small estate of barely one hundred houses, the bin bags littering their children's playing field are symbolic of the treatment they receive on what is known locally as the wrong side of the tracks.
Families have nicknamed their patch of Hoylake "the forgotten land" after being cut off by a growing industrial estate for more than forty years.
Once a thriving community, the little-known residential area nestles alongside busy Carr Lane Industrial Estate, itself behind Hoylake Station.
The only way in - and out - of the estate and the industrial units is a single road over the railway tracks leaving residents, some of whom have lived there for more than 70 years, feeling out on a limb.
As traders count their takings and others enjoy the tourism and media spotlight on their town, in Carr Lane the Open has merely exacerbated the feelings of abandonment.
Jean Jones, 65, said: "The only good thing that happened was that the leak in the water pipe at the bottom of the road was fixed by the end of the day. But that was because it affected Hoylake, not because it affected us.
"We're cut off. They forget about this end of the road.
Even the road sweepers cleaning before the Open stopped brushing as they reached the houses."
Thirty-five-year-old Yvonne Halsall, who lives in a small cul-de-sac with her husband and two children, was angry that residents were not consulted on the playing field being used as a car park.
She said: "We didn't know anything about the car park until a neighbour found out about it and started a petition which didn't stop them. Nobody asked how the parking would affect us."
Neighbour Rebecca Hughes, 26, agreed: "The Open has been no good for us. The cars and the PortaKabins have gone but they've left behind their bin bags."
The playing field situation for the Open has been the latest in a long line of issues for the residents of Carr Lane Estate who feel neglected and forgotten.
Mum-of-three Rebecca added: "We've had a lot of trouble, mainly due to the industrial estate. There are huge lorries picking up and dropping off, parking on the pavements and driving up and down our residential streets.
"I frequently have to push my double pram on the road because I can't get past the lorries parked over the pavement.
"They park by the playground and it's just not safe for the children to be walking on the road to get past them.
"I've lived here for five years and the council has made the park for the children. But there was a sign asking people to put their litter in the bin when there were no bins!"
Seventy-six-year-old Betty Wharton moved to the estate in 1946 and moved into her current address, formerly her grand-mother's home, in 1952.
She said: "I have never seen Hoylake look as it did when the golf was on. I love the place and would never move away. But this used to be a lovely estate. Not anymore."
Betty Cooper and her husband, Arthur, have lived on the estate since they were children and say they have seen a lot change since the 1930s.
"I have lived here since I was 11, and I'm 83 now," said Arthur. "It's now very different. We don't like the industrial estate but we put up with it."
Betty added: "We've always been averse to it, but it's like we don't exist. We like living here because it's quieter and we have lovely big gardens but the industrial estate is a nuisance.
"At first they said they were building single units but more and more just seemed to pop up and then out of nowhere we have an industrial estate.
"We had meetings about it at the time and a couple of small things were done but we are still shut off, a forgotten place. We have to fend for ourselves.
"The trucks come into our road to turn around and have knocked over the bollards so many times they've not been replaced.
"There are huge signs directing traffic to the Carr Lane Industrial Estate but nothing to say we're here. We know people have got to earn a living but they must think of residents too.
"Having somewhere for the trucks to turn round and disguising the industrial units with some grass and a few trees would make it look so much nicer."
In the meantime, the capitalist class are rubbing their hands with glee.
Ken Davies, chief executive of Wirral Chamber of Commerce, said: "We estimated Wirral would see around £80m of investment from tourists and guests.
"While we're still in the early stages of counting profits it looks like we've exceeded that by quite a way.
"But there will be hundreds of millions more to come as, we hope, people will come back to Wirral for a holiday with family and friends."
Mr Davies added: "Apart from all the guests more than 100m people saw the championship on the television, so this has really put Wirral back on the tourist map."
A Wirral Council spokesman said: "There has been an unprecedented amount of positive media interest in Hoylake and Wirral as a result of the championship, and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive."
Council leader Cllr Steve Foulkes said: "In terms of the crowd and the size of the event it went beyond our original expectations. It's been a huge success for the council and the borough and I'd like to thank the residents who have been so hospitable and have been spoken of so positively by visitors from all over the world.
"The legacy, hopefully, will be that the event will return and benefit the local economy and tourism."
Kevin Adderley, Wirral Council's head of strategic development, said: "I spoke to members of the international press and visitors from abroad during the Open week and so many saw something which endeared them to the area.
"Many of them said they would return for personal visits or said they would spread the word to colleagues and families in their own countries.
"We expect a great number of visitors over the years to Hoylake, Wirral, Merseyside and the North West, not only for golfing holidays but for the beautiful natural environment and the warm and friendly welcome extended by local people during the championship."
Mr Adderley said that local restaurants, bars and hotels had all reported doing excellent business during Open week. He said: "There have been plenty of quotes from restauranteurs and bar owners saying they did more business in a week that the previous three months."
Residents on the Carr Lane estate say they've been completely ignored by council planners who spent millions sprucing up the town's main thoroughfare.
While Market Street still blooms with flower displays installed especially for the four-day tournament, just yards away on the estate residents have been left their own golfing memento piles of rotting rubbish bags.
Pensioner William Jones, 70, said: "The Open hasn't benefited us at all. They were quick enough to take the children's playground yet they won't come and pick up their rubbish.
"I've lived here for 35 years and this area gets forgotten about. The council decided to use the children's playing field as a car park for the golf but they've left the rubbish and the sheets covering the grass."
For the inhabitants of the small estate of barely one hundred houses, the bin bags littering their children's playing field are symbolic of the treatment they receive on what is known locally as the wrong side of the tracks.
Families have nicknamed their patch of Hoylake "the forgotten land" after being cut off by a growing industrial estate for more than forty years.
Once a thriving community, the little-known residential area nestles alongside busy Carr Lane Industrial Estate, itself behind Hoylake Station.
The only way in - and out - of the estate and the industrial units is a single road over the railway tracks leaving residents, some of whom have lived there for more than 70 years, feeling out on a limb.
As traders count their takings and others enjoy the tourism and media spotlight on their town, in Carr Lane the Open has merely exacerbated the feelings of abandonment.
Jean Jones, 65, said: "The only good thing that happened was that the leak in the water pipe at the bottom of the road was fixed by the end of the day. But that was because it affected Hoylake, not because it affected us.
"We're cut off. They forget about this end of the road.
Even the road sweepers cleaning before the Open stopped brushing as they reached the houses."
Thirty-five-year-old Yvonne Halsall, who lives in a small cul-de-sac with her husband and two children, was angry that residents were not consulted on the playing field being used as a car park.
She said: "We didn't know anything about the car park until a neighbour found out about it and started a petition which didn't stop them. Nobody asked how the parking would affect us."
Neighbour Rebecca Hughes, 26, agreed: "The Open has been no good for us. The cars and the PortaKabins have gone but they've left behind their bin bags."
The playing field situation for the Open has been the latest in a long line of issues for the residents of Carr Lane Estate who feel neglected and forgotten.
Mum-of-three Rebecca added: "We've had a lot of trouble, mainly due to the industrial estate. There are huge lorries picking up and dropping off, parking on the pavements and driving up and down our residential streets.
"I frequently have to push my double pram on the road because I can't get past the lorries parked over the pavement.
"They park by the playground and it's just not safe for the children to be walking on the road to get past them.
"I've lived here for five years and the council has made the park for the children. But there was a sign asking people to put their litter in the bin when there were no bins!"
Seventy-six-year-old Betty Wharton moved to the estate in 1946 and moved into her current address, formerly her grand-mother's home, in 1952.
She said: "I have never seen Hoylake look as it did when the golf was on. I love the place and would never move away. But this used to be a lovely estate. Not anymore."
Betty Cooper and her husband, Arthur, have lived on the estate since they were children and say they have seen a lot change since the 1930s.
"I have lived here since I was 11, and I'm 83 now," said Arthur. "It's now very different. We don't like the industrial estate but we put up with it."
Betty added: "We've always been averse to it, but it's like we don't exist. We like living here because it's quieter and we have lovely big gardens but the industrial estate is a nuisance.
"At first they said they were building single units but more and more just seemed to pop up and then out of nowhere we have an industrial estate.
"We had meetings about it at the time and a couple of small things were done but we are still shut off, a forgotten place. We have to fend for ourselves.
"The trucks come into our road to turn around and have knocked over the bollards so many times they've not been replaced.
"There are huge signs directing traffic to the Carr Lane Industrial Estate but nothing to say we're here. We know people have got to earn a living but they must think of residents too.
"Having somewhere for the trucks to turn round and disguising the industrial units with some grass and a few trees would make it look so much nicer."
In the meantime, the capitalist class are rubbing their hands with glee.
Ken Davies, chief executive of Wirral Chamber of Commerce, said: "We estimated Wirral would see around £80m of investment from tourists and guests.
"While we're still in the early stages of counting profits it looks like we've exceeded that by quite a way.
"But there will be hundreds of millions more to come as, we hope, people will come back to Wirral for a holiday with family and friends."
Mr Davies added: "Apart from all the guests more than 100m people saw the championship on the television, so this has really put Wirral back on the tourist map."
A Wirral Council spokesman said: "There has been an unprecedented amount of positive media interest in Hoylake and Wirral as a result of the championship, and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive."
Council leader Cllr Steve Foulkes said: "In terms of the crowd and the size of the event it went beyond our original expectations. It's been a huge success for the council and the borough and I'd like to thank the residents who have been so hospitable and have been spoken of so positively by visitors from all over the world.
"The legacy, hopefully, will be that the event will return and benefit the local economy and tourism."
Kevin Adderley, Wirral Council's head of strategic development, said: "I spoke to members of the international press and visitors from abroad during the Open week and so many saw something which endeared them to the area.
"Many of them said they would return for personal visits or said they would spread the word to colleagues and families in their own countries.
"We expect a great number of visitors over the years to Hoylake, Wirral, Merseyside and the North West, not only for golfing holidays but for the beautiful natural environment and the warm and friendly welcome extended by local people during the championship."
Mr Adderley said that local restaurants, bars and hotels had all reported doing excellent business during Open week. He said: "There have been plenty of quotes from restauranteurs and bar owners saying they did more business in a week that the previous three months."
Dolescum Chomsky
