News
Christmas Is Coming!
Have you seen our Christmas tree!? This is the first year we have had external Christmas decorations at Marine point and we hope to continue it on an annual basis.
The new Marine Point website is receiving a large number of hits since its launch, with plenty of people having a look to see what offers are available at our restaurants.
We are also running an online Christmas competition with the chance to win:
4 Tickets at The Light Cinema and a £25 voucher for The Sea Horse
OR
A Full House Package at the G Casino Marine Point which includes a 3 course Meal and much more.
Check out the website for more details www.marinepoint.co.uk
Now Open
Our latest addition to the offer at Marin Point is Subway, which has now opened near to Starbucks. Its high specification fit out and mezzanine floor make it a really great place to grab something to eat or drink in a nice environment.
Opening Soon
We have also completed an agreement with Pizza Express, and Iceland which will see them open in the new year.
We are delighted to have attracted such well-known brands to the area, which will add to the offer on both the retail front and the restaurant circuit.
For Job enquiries please check their respective websites for more details in the coming months.
http://jobs.iceland.co.uk/ and http://www.pizzaexpressyourself.com/
Christmas on Wirral just got a whole lot better.
Christmas is more than just about sharing great food & wine with friends & family, but it is a big part of Christmas to get together, slow down a little and catch up with those you haven’t seen for a while.
Vale House is the perfect place to meet family and friends through the festive season.
For those that love a traditional Christmas dinner we’ve sourced delicious turkey served with savoury stuffing and all the trimmings & finished with a cranberry sauce.
To finish, try our mince pies with cream or indulgent Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. We also offer a great range of handmade cakes and treats.
We are not licensed so if you’d prefer to celebrate with a little Christmas spirit, feel free to bring your own, with a small corkage donation.
Every style of celebration can be catered for from dinner with close friends & drinks parties for the office, to private hire of the whole venue.
To book your Christmas party at Vale House within Vale Park contact us [email protected] or ring 0151 638 2666
Christmas is coming to the Light Cinema
The Christmas lights are up at Marine Point, and we’re all starting to get in the mood for the festive season.
Schools are busy booking their Christmas trips… Customers are stocking up on The Light Cinema Gift Tins… and the goose is getting fat…
During November, we were really pleased to work with the International Guitar Festival, and showed “Hendrix 70” and “The Last Waltz” as well as hosting live music from the very talented Jo Richards and her wonderful band “Calico”. It was good to see the Light Café/Bar full of life, laughter and fantastic music on a Sunday afternoon. We’re hoping to make this a regular event and are always eager to hear your ideas.
Disney’s “Frozen” and “Saving Mr Banks” look like the winning festive films this year, as well as the second “Hobbit” movie – “The Desolation of Smaug”, with “Philomena” still doing really well.
We are broadcasting a wide range of event cinema screenings, including ballet, opera and theatre – as well as rock and pop gigs and special events (including 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who – “Day of the Doctor”).
Special December screenings include:
We continue to offer great deals to our valued seniors, with a complimentary tea or coffee every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday before 4pm.
We regularly show subtitled and autism-friendly screenings.
Our Family AM screenings on Saturday & Sunday mornings, as well as during schools hols offer great value for money as well as a wide choice of family films for all ages.
Every Friday at 10.15am we screen films exclusively for parents with babies under one year old. This is an opportunity to enjoy the very latest releases accompanied by your baby in a safe and comfortable environment. It’s also a great way to meet other new parents.
We ensure sound is lowered and low lights are on – with nappy changing facilities available.
We are keen to find out what you want to see at The Light Cinema – so please let us know by emailing Jane Woodason – Education & Events Manager on [email protected]
We hope to see you at the Light Cinema soon, where comfort, state-of-the-art digital technology, excellent customer service plus the warmest of welcomes guarantees the best quality cinema experience!
The Light Cinema, Marine Point, New Brighton, CH45 2HZ
0151 214 1370
Moments
I started writing this yesterday – but I was spaced, floored and flattened by all that has happened in these three months past. It has been a wonderful, exciting and challenging time with so many great days, and a few evenings too, taking place on and around the Black Pearl. Just a couple of days ago Boxie dropped a CD off for me. It contains nearly 70 photos he has taken, whilst biking on the prom, showing moments on the beach, moments in the life of the Black Pearl, moments in the making of Hannah the hacked-off dragon, moments that I remember. Thanks Boxie – there are some great shots!
Sometimes life seems like a succession of little moments. Moments we may remember all our lives – sometimes the big frightening stuff that happened seems to fade right away, but the little things – the moments of knowing, of understanding, of sharing – they hang forever like jewels on the thread of memory.
As many people know, for me the beach means NOW! And moments are always NOW! Listening to the children playing, sharing time with friends on the Pearl, dancing and singing under the “Blackpearl Illuminations” at Halloween, having a real family bonfire night with the children playing on the beach as the huge firework displays lit the skies over Liverpool, sharing the silence with strangers on Remembrance Sunday – these were special moments for me, and I know they were special for other people too.
Maybe a pity that NOW! has to end, but there’s always another NOW! just starting! And yes! We do expect there will be a Christmas Nativity around the Black Pearl – provided she weathers the winter storms. Maybe it will even be a shipboard Nativity – maybe not – but I am fairly sure that there will be some illuminations this year.
Certainly there are rumblings about a New Year celebration on the beach – pirates in kilts? Probably not me – not with my knees! Not anybody if we get a North-Easterly! Thoughts on this proposal, in a bottle, please.
A little later in January there is a day coming up that we need to celebrate – always provided, of course, that the tides and the Winter storms have been gentle on the not-so-old girl – The Black Pearl will have her first birthday on 12th January 2014. We may need to make it the 11th for comfort and convenience of all who want to brave the elements so soon after New Year.
There might also be another totally new and certainly unusual event – if there is a market for anything quite so bold and revolutionary. It’s all down to Tommy – another regular on the prom cycle route. Tommy had a fair and valid complaint that he didn’t get a mention on a Radio Merseyside interview about the M.A.P. Black Pearl Exhibition at Marine Point in November. Tommy very generously provided me with a top-notch, state-of-the-art shovel when I needed one, and yet he did not get a mention. Apologies are due there alright. He also told me that, with a bit of hard graft to shine her up a little, I could fry my breakfast eggs on this shovel. It does not work well on a ceramic hob but with a barbecue on the beach we might get somewhere. I think this idea could give New Brighton the edge on the full-English of the future. “Would you like that shovel-fried, Sir?” “Yes please! And sunny-side up!” It could be Noah’s Ark all over again! You don’t know the story of Noah’s Ark? Well get yourself round to Cathy Roberts at “Literally” – the bookshop opposite the train station – and be amazed … when you’ve got a moment.
Parish of the Holy Apostles & Martyrs
at English Martyrs’ Church, St George’s Road
Tuesday 24th (Christmas Eve)
5.30 p.m. Children’s Mass
7.30 p.m. Carol Service
8.00 p.m. Christmas Mass
(with Midnight Mass readings)
Wednesday 25th (Christmas Day)
10.30 a.m. Christmas Day Mass
Friends of Rake Lane Cemetery
Mariners’ Home Memorial Stone
The Mariners’ Home has been a haven for retired seafarers since 1882. At first, those mariners who died were buried in the public section if they had no family grave in the cemetery. But in 1914 the Mariners’ Home purchased a large plot for burials. The first sixteen men had all their details (name, rank and age) listed on four large gravestones. This was too costly, so after the last mariner was laid to rest in the marked graves, subsequent burials were in unmarked graves, four in each plot. There are 158 men buried in the unmarked section. A flower bed now surrounds the old marker stone with the letters ‘MN’ picked out in cineraria and the garden is maintained by Nautilus gardeners from the Mariners’ Home.
The new site with ‘MN’ (Merchant Navy) in flowers
The old site with stone hidden
Egremont sand replenishment proposals – November 2013 update.
In 1987 Wirral Council backed my idea to use trucks to move 100,000 tonnes of sand on to New Brighton beach. Since then the beach has attracted over three million visitors. The return of golden sand beaches to Egremont however, is a much trickier proposition. Wirral Council have no money and the shore is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest for wading turnstones under the stewardship of Natural England.
Any ‘sand replenishment’ by dredger can therefore only succeed if it contributes to a wider scheme of habitat improvement for all wading birds, any social benefits would be indirect but potentially very significant.
In an important development, Natural England has commissioned a £20,000 study to improve turnstone habitat at Egremont. The turnstones’ favourite two habitats are rocks on the lower shore and higher dry sand beaches on the upper shore. New Brighton’s artificially replenished beach and rocks are locally the most popular site for wading turnstones. One of the options suggested in the Natural England study is to artificially increase the amount of rocks on the lower shore, however it is acknowledged there may be public opposition to this.
Last month I wrote to Natural England suggesting that a more successful approach would take into account the needs of the local community. Any concerns at the aesthetics of placing rock on the distant lower shore could be more than countered by creating beautiful amenity sand beaches on the nearer upper shore.
My detailed proposal is an attempt to ‘start small but aim big’ by moving 50 tonnes of bare rubble (currently blocking Manor Lane / Mother Redcaps slipway) far down the shore to create a small ‘habitat reef’ of rock pools for wading birds. Sandstone blocks already moved down shore this summer showed 50% surface colonisation by barnacles (the main food of turnstones) in just eight weeks.
Two dredger loads of sand would then be placed at Manor Lane slipway to replace the relocated rocks. Mersey Docks and Harbour Company dredgers have a shallow draft and could run near shore, alternately they can shoot sand 100m through the air on to the beach – a process known as ‘rainbowing’.
This would further improve access to the sands, mainly in summer and provide additional high tide feeding and roosting grounds for migrant wading birds, mainly in winter. If this is not successful then there would be no subsequent larger schemes. An alternative potential site would be at Egremont Ferry – the existing groynes keeping the sand in place at both sites.
Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (owned by Peel Ports) currently dump one million tonnes of dredged sand in to the Irish Sea each year. They are actively looking for alternative places to offload sand after advice from Natural England and the Environment Agency. The deepening of the sea channels (off Formby) for the Liverpool 2 river berth will double the amount of annual maintenance sand dredging to two million tonnes while initial excavations will yield 8 million tonnes of sand, silt and sandstone bedrock.
Of course any larger scheme must not cost Wirral Borough Council anything and rely on 100% recycled materials that would otherwise be dumped at sea. Peel Ports have just received a £35 million grant for additional dredging and disposal of both sand and sandstone bedrock associated with Liverpool 2.
Last year Douglas Coleman of Peel Ports stated that sand replenishment at Egremont is ‘an intriguing proposal that deserves our full consideration’ He later stated that after careful consideration there would be a number of environmental and technical obstacles to be overcome.
I believe all these obstacles can be overcome and will be presenting this case at a site meeting with Natural England in the next few weeks. I have also proposed several other ways to improve rocky turnstone habitats in conjunction with proportionately greater levels of sand replenishment. These proposals were well received at a conference organised by the Marine Biological Association in Bristol in July. The full proposals can be found on the internet at ‘techknack egremont’.
At Colwyn Bay a sand replenishment scheme has transformed the look of the town…… at a cost of £5million. At Egremont there is no limit to the amount of free sand and rock that can eventually be used. Remaining mussel beds fronting the seawall are protected however, and cannot be covered with sand. The mussel beds are naturally sanding over in the long term and the potential is there to eventually transform this area as a place to live by reinstating at least some of the beautiful dry sand beaches that existed 100 years ago.
In March 2013 an EU Directive laid down that marine conservation must not be looked at in isolation but include the needs of adjacent communities and local initiatives to make more efficient use of marine resources.
It will ultimately be up to Natural England to decide the optimum balance (if any) between wildlife and people, and I hope to relay their response in the next edition of the Walrus.
John Lamb
Email [email protected]
Charlottes Brightside is a youth club based in NewBrighton. Charlottes Brightside was set up in April 2011 after Charlotte was tragically killed in a car accident.
We opened our doors to the public in February 2013, Since then the youth centre has been a great succesa taking over 70 children and young people every week.
We are open Monday and Tuesday nights for our “hang out” nights for children aged 8-16. Between the times of 6-8pm we offer lots of fun programmes that run throughout the year.Please see website for details.
We are holding two Santa’s grottos dates .These will be the 8th and the 14th December. Admission for this will be £3 where there will be a craft fair and a Christmassy cafe just to ensure that everybody gets in the Christmas mood! We are holding a Christmas disco on 19th December. This is open to everybody and admission for this will be £1.50.
Please come along and join us at Morrisons, New Brighton on Thursday 5th December for our bag pack and Christmas carols from 4-8pm
We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year xx
www.charlottesbrightside.org
Facebook.com/brightsideclc
[email protected]
Twitter: brightsideclc
Mobile: 07818005010
By the time you read this our Wirral shoeboxes will probably already be on their way to Liberia or the Ukraine. As I write this we are just starting to get the Warehouse set up and have no idea how many shoeboxes we will receive this year, however I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has been involved in the campaign up to this point.
Thank you if you have been knitting; sewing; covering shoeboxes; making cards, games, jewellery, book marks; shopping; packing; or fund-raising. Thank you if you have rushed around the shops with a child telling you “That lady said we must have …..” (Apologies if it was me!). Thank you to the teachers who have arranged for us to come into your schools and speak to the children. Thank you to the children for listening and for their enthusiasm. Thank you to the teachers who have organised collection of shoeboxes in their schools. Thank you to the people in churches and businesses who have mobilised congregations and colleagues to fill boxes. Thank you if you have been involved in any way this year – your giving will make a difference to a child this year. Your giving will bring the joy of Christmas and the gift of love to children who might not otherwise receive a present. I hope that as you prepare for your own Christmas celebrations, you will think of and pray for the children who receive the boxes this year and that you will feel their joy.
If you have not been able to get involved this year and would like to – it’s not too late. You can donate online to help with transportation or you can even make up a Shoebox online. Just go to http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/shoeboxworld/
If you would like to know more about OCC, you can contact me on 07955383692 (leave a message and I’ll get back to you). You can also look at the OCC web-site, the main Facebook page, and our own Wirral OCC FB page. We are always happy to answer questions and we have speakers who are more than happy to speak to groups, small or large, about OCC. We never stop thinking about Christmas!
Patricia Hardman
St JAMES CHURCH with EMMANUEL, Parish of New Brighton
2013 CHRISTMAS SERVICES AT ST JAMES CHURCH - Albion St, New Brighton
1st December 8.00 am – Holy Communion (B.C.P.)
11.00 am – Morning Prayer
4th December 7.30 pm – “Light up a Life” Memorial Service admission by ticket only through St John’s Hospice
8th December 11.00 am – Holy Communion
15th December 8.00 am – Holy Communion (BCP) 11.00 am – Morning Prayer
22nd December 11.00am – Holy Communion
6.30 pm – Service of Nine Lessons & Carols
24th December 11.30 pm – Midnight Holy Communion
(Christmas Eve)
25th December 8.00 am – Holy Communion (BCP)
(Christmas Day) 10.00 am – Holy Communion
29th December 8.00 am – Holy Communion (BCP)
11.00 am – Holy Communion
2013 CHRISTMAS SERVICES AT EMMANUEL CHURCH – Seabank Rd, New Brighton
1st December 9.30 am – Holy Communion
8th December 9.30 am – Morning Prayer
4.00 pm – Christmas Tree Service
15th December 9.30 am -HolyCommunion
22nd December 9.30 am – Morning Prayer
4.00 pm – Nativity & Carol Service
24th December 4.00 pm – Christingle Service
(Christmas Eve) 11.30 pm – Midnight Holy Communion
25th December 10.00 am – Holy Communion
(Christmas Day)
26th December No Service at 9.30 am
29th December No Service at Emmanuel – joint service at St James
Thursday (weekly) 9.30am Holy Communion
Christmas at the Dome
All welcome
Open daily 8am-8pm
Tours of the Dome every Wed 10am and Sunday 3pm
Sunday 1st December 7pm
Monday 16th December 2013 Christmas Lunch at Hollins Hey Hotel
Christmas Services
Christmas Eve Tues 24th Dec 9am Low Mass
Christmas Day Wed 25th Dec 11.30am Sung Mass
Boxing Day Thurs 26th Dec 10am Low Mass
New Year’s Eve Tues 31st Dec 8pm Low Mass
New Year’s Day Wed 1st Jan 11.30am Mass
Purification Sun 2nd Feb 11.30am Sung Mass & Candlemas procession
Charity shop, Seaview Road, Liscard, in January to raise money for the Restoration Appeal
Sun 16th March St Patrick’s Day Fund raising Lunch at Wallasey Golf Club
Contact Canon Montjean on 0797 212 8097
www.domeofhome.org