Toxteth, Ancient & Modern

This is the Toxteth mansion where I spent Christmas. I didn't exactly have the run of the whole place but the second floor three bedroom apartment was sufficiently palatial for our needs.  We could have easily eaten our turkey lunch in the hallway but we settled for the large living room where the rabbits live.

It is a strangely appropriate dwelling place for rabbits.

Five hundred years ago Toxteth was a Royal Hunting Park, and afterwards it was farmed by a Puritan community. The place still has a rural air although perhaps not so pure. In the 17th century the millionaires moved in and then the gaps between the grand terraces were crammed with back to back terraces where the workers lived. 

When I first lived in Toxteth in 1976, I rented a top floor flat on the Princes Road boulevard where I could look down through the arched window on the comings and goings of the lively world below.  I was struck with the contrast between the neglected architectural treasures of this northern city and the pristine conservations areas of London and Bath. Then came the riots and eventually, regeneration.

Thirty-five years on and it's all looking lot smarter.   Despite gentrification, the rows of terraces still suggest a sense of community. The magnificent houses have been converted into smaller secure apartments overlooking the grand parks that are a meeting place for all sections of society: dog walkers, pram pushers, runners and cyclists, children playing and artists drawing, drummers drumming and watchers waiting for the world to pass by their park bench.

But the scandal is that there are hundreds of strong and sturdy terraced houses standing empty awaiting demolition and rebirth as a faceless estate of newbuilds for hapless first time buyers who can't now get a mortgage for a solid house such as these.  Some hardy homeowners linger on, refusing to relocate, and supporters of their cause tend the fronts of the empty houses with hanging baskets, floral chimney pots and plant tubs with trees to fend off the threat of dereliction.  Once these houses could have been economically refurbished.  Now any solution will cost millions. They may be standing empty a while longer, or could be sold off at a bargain price.

So much history, ancient and modern.  Is this the place for me?