Victoria Road was once just another quiet, boarded up street in New Brighton that had been left neglected without help or funding.
But thanks to Rockpoint Leisure, the street has been transformed with the arrival of independent businesses, quirky street art, an 'anti-supermarket' and more. The company poured money into the road to help turn the town’s Victorian Quarter into a hive of activity.
Rockpoint Leisure owns a variety of businesses on Victoria Road, each one bringing something new and unique to the area. CEO of the company, Dan Davies, took the ECHO on a tour of the road, introducing us to the businesses that stand proud along the street.
READ MORE: Heritage Trail launching at Liverpool ONE exploring the city’s history across 16 locations
Dan told the ECHO: “If you were to write off New Brighton and lose this place, it’s potentially devastating for other areas. It just shows you discard decades of people’s hopes, dreams and aspirations. New Brighton used to be the third largest seaside town in the UK, but now it’s not.
"This is because you have to travel to get here. Years ago we had two piers, the largest ballroom in Europe, and The Beatles played here more times than any other place, bar the Cavern. We had the largest open air swimming baths in the world and five million day trippers coming over every year from Liverpool - it was a place of wonder.
“It was rough here in the 80s, and there was a brief renaissance in the 90s, but then part of the road was bulldozed and turned into housing. I’ve got no doubt whatsoever that the plan for this end of the road was to let it go into turmoil. When you put housing with no jobs and no opportunities, you’re building up a host of social problems moving forward.
“I did a lot of research before I embarked on this project, and that involved going to every reasonably sized seaside town in the UK with a history. This included Brighton, Bournemouth, Whitley Bay and Blackpool. I also went to the States and looked at what they did in Brooklyn.
Through his research, Dan discovered the key building blocks that are important for regeneration. He continued: “Job opportunities are one thing, but also protecting the set up we have left. New Brighton has an opticians, a pharmacy, a post office and a greengrocer. We have to protect those businesses at all costs. Seeing this seaside town go down the pan, I thought if it’s not done now, it’ll be forever written off.”
Liverpool ECHO photographer Colin Lane captured New Brighton's street art, businesses and the people who run them in these beautiful images:
If you're planning on visiting Victoria Road, these are some of the businesses you will find, each one having helped turn the area into a must-see location when visiting the north of the Wirral peninsula.
Rockpoint Records
This venue isn’t just a café and bar, as it's also a tattoo parlour, barbers, vinyl shop and art studio where local artists can work on their craft. Rockpoint Records is the central building on the road, with many locals and business owners gathering here to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere.
Forbes Green Grocer
No road is complete without its own greengrocer. Ian Forber and his wife Karen have run Forbes Green Grocer on Victoria Road for 42 years. Speaking to the ECHO, Ian said: “We have seen the road when it was real down in the 80s. It was derelict - half the road was empty and just left. The future at the moment is pretty good - we’ve got a lot of people coming to see the artwork and have a coffee or a bite to eat.
“We just need a few more shops, but the weekend is really busy, especially if the market is on and there’s the antique fairs, craft stalls and the music is booming. People can have a drink and soak up the atmosphere here. I’m all for Dan and what he’s doing - he’s got some great ideas. He’s been the only one and it was his own money at the start.”
The James Atherton
Victoria Road’s pub is a modern British tavern named after the man who founded New Brighton. The James Atherton has attracted attention over the last couple of years for temporarily changing its name on numerous occasions. It rebranded to The Two Helmets and also temporarily became The Three B***ends in a nod to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and co!
Habibi
Habibi is the perfect destination for sipping cocktails and enjoying some vegan Asian food. The restaurant and bar has a large outdoor terrace and recently opened its kitchen to Forked Up, a local plant-based takeaway business run by Carleigh Bond from her home.
Since March, Carleigh has taken over the Habibi kitchen, serving a variety of nibbles, small plates and her well-known Oriental Bowl which we sampled on our visit to Victoria Road. Speaking to the ECHO, Carleigh commented: “When Dan told me he was going to give me the Habibi kitchen, I said, ‘this is beyond my wildest dreams’.
“I’ve lived in New Brighton for around 15 years and it was all boarded up when I moved here. Everything was closed down, so it was really sad before Dan started pumping money into it. It has really come on which is very exciting. I love all the street art - it makes the road so colourful.”
Street Art
New Brighton's Victorian Quarter, and Victoria Road in particular, is home to some amazing street art, including work by Dotmasters and Ben Eine. You can take a walking tour around the open air gallery to see all of the artwork thanks to this handy map. You can view the full artist line-up here and find out more about them and their New Brighton artwork.
Hope Anti-Supermarket
The Hope Anti-Supermarket has been a Somerfields and Co-Op in a past life, but now it’s a huge multi-space venue for local musicians to show off their skills and entertain the local community. There’s also a market that takes place at the venue most Sundays.
A member of local band Razzmatazz told the ECHO: “We’ve played here a few times and we help out quite a bit. We ripped all the aisles out, moved the big industrial fridge freezers, built a stage out of old pallets and built the shacks outside for food stalls.
“It’s not finished, it’s a work in progress, but we’ve had some good gigs here. The owners said to demolish the Hope Anti-Supermarket, but because we’ve put so much work into it, we’ve got a campaign to save the venue. We don’t want to lose it.” You can donate to the fundraiser to help save the Hope Anti-Supermarket here.
Get the top stories straight to your inbox by signing up to one of our free newsletters.
