Kirkby & District

Kirkby Heritage

Kirkby was a farming village with a population of just 3,000 in 1940. Between the yeas 1939 and 1941 20,000 workers were employed by the Royal Ordnance factory. In 1947 Liverpool Corporation bought 4,000 acres from the Earl of Sefton for £375,000, this land was to become the present Kirkby town. Present day Kirkby has a population of 41,163. ST Chads Church was built on the assumed site of a chapel built in 870 a.d. Kirkby, Chercherbi, was recorded in the Domesday Book 1086.

Our latest Kirkby Heritage activity took place on Tuesday 30th May. We were furtunate enough to be awarded funding from One Knowsley. The event was to demonstrate Kirkby's Viking heritage. The funding enabled us to purchase a gazebo, 30 lunch bags for visiting children and fund activities by Knowsley Rangers. We also purchased materials for craft activities with the children and materials to make a viking inspired bracelet to go in each lunch bag.
The event was a huge success with hundreds of visitors to the venue.

With Thanks to Harold

The Heritage Group has taken part in another major project, this time organised by George Howarth MP. The project entitled With Thanks to Harold, commemerates the centenary of Harold Wilson's birth. Members of Kirkby U3A were asked to give their views of Harold Wilson's achievements. Artist Ashley Ball was commissioned to create a piece of artwork to signify the project. George Howarth MP said: “This piece of public art, which marks the centenary of Harold Wilson’s birth, was commissioned in order to allow people to express their thanks to Harold Wilson for the things he did as a politician to improve the lives of working class people. It is both visually stunning and, at the same time, informative."
The artwork is currently being exhibited in Kirkby Library.

Kirkby Now and Then

Kirkby U3A Heritage Group recently took part in a shared learning project with Knowsley Library Service, the project was entitled Kirkby Now and Then. The project sought to capture Kirkby's change from a rural community to its development into a "new town", with recordings of memories from members of the community, photographs from the archives and paintings of Kirkby landmarks.

The group's involvment entailed recording interviews with local residents, thus documenting their memories of changes that have taken place in Kirkby from 1940 to 1969.

Although the exhibition is now closed the recordings are still available to be listened to at the Archive Resource for Knowsley (ARK) which is located in Kirkby Library, for present and future generations.

Click on a picture below to see it full-size with more details.

More Group Pages
Book Club Card and Craft Group Family History Jewellery Making Skills
Kirkby Heritage Social Group (lunch /theatre) Trips and Outings
More Group Pages
Book Club Card and Craft Group
Family History Jewellery Making Skills
Kirkby Heritage Social Group (lunch /theatre)
Trips and Outings