Where to live: Retiring in South Liverpool’s Mossley Hill

Community | Green space | Bars & Restaurants | Transport links | Recreation

With an abundance of green space, bars, restaurants, and a strong sense of community, it’s easy to see why Mossley Hill appeals to anyone searching for a home to spend the rest of their lives.

Words by Lawrence Saunders

Glorious green space

Bordering South Liverpool’s biggest park and home to one of its smallest, Mossley Hill ensures residents are well looked after when it comes to open spaces within walking distance.

The Grade I-listed Sefton Park, which skirts our underscored suburb at Sefton Park Meadows, boasts two cafés, a popular playground, a large boating lake and the beautiful Sefton Park Palm House.

The number of visitors to the 235-acre green space swells several times a year during large-scale events such as Liverpool International Music Festival and Liverpool Food and Drink Festival.

Sefton Park Cricket Club on Croxteth Drive is a bustling local sports club which is always looking for players, many of whom don their whites well into their later years.

Whilst Greenbank Park is no match for its near neighbour in the size stakes, it’s still well worth highlighting as an elegant green space which has long been a haven for keen anglers to sun-seekers.

Greenbank will soon have another reason for you to visit, should you need one, as work progresses on a new café on the site of the old potting shed.

It’s called The Potting Shed, fittingly, and will serve breakfasts, brunch and small plates when it opens later this year.

Much like Penny Lane Development Trust (PLDT) centre at the bottom of the hill, Mossley Hill Athletic Club (MHAC) is a cherished part of the community it has been serving since 1924.

With a wide range of sports including crown green bowls, cricket and tennis, MHAC is perfect for anyone who wants to stay active into their later years.

The club also hosts regular live music evenings and, for the last five years, a charity beer festival which this April featured around 80 different beers and helped support a number of local organisations.

Prized property

Average house prices: Apartment £189k | Terraced £201k | Semi-detached £288k

North Mossley Hill Road and its nearby streets boast possibly the highest concentration of surviving Victorian mansions in Liverpool – and certainly some of its most desirable.

We have the city’s wealthy Victorian merchants to thank for this as they spent their huge fortunes establishing sprawling estates away from the bustling city centre.

Many of these grand villas have disappeared, or have been converted into other uses, but many endure as much sought-after housing.

A number have been divided into apartments which are perfect for those looking to downsize including the former Carleton House Preparatory School, built over 100 years ago on Lyndhurst Road.

However, according to Rightmove, most of the sales in Mossley Hill over the past year were terraced properties which went for an average price of £200,594.

Semi-detached homes had an average sold price of £288,469 whilst apartments averaged £189,193.

There are also a number of retirement developments worth considering on the periphery of the district including Kelton Park on Woodlands Road, Aigburth and Gorselands Court in Aigburth Vale.

Road and rail links

Mossley Hill train station, situated on Rose Lane, offers regular services to Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Oxford Road.

The trip into town takes 10 minutes whilst the commute to Manchester can be managed in just under an hour.

For journeys further afield, Queens Drive terminates in Mossley Hill so following the ring road round to the start of the M62 motorway is a cinch.

Beneath the blue suburban skies

It might be the most popular stop on the Magical Mystery Tour thanks to Paul McCartney, but Penny Lane is much more than just a picture opportunity.

The lane has a small yet first-rate selection of independent bars, shops and one much-loved community centre to discover.

Penny Lane Wine Bar has been quenching the thirsts of the local community since 1989 and continues to serve as a popular meeting spot.

Meanwhile the Dovedale Towers, which has been through many guises over the years including an orphanage, Merseybeat venue and Freddie Mercury’s flat, is known for its Sunday roasts and screening plenty of live sport.

 

Backing onto this popular watering hole is a community hub which, since 2010, has been facilitating activities as wide-ranging as yoga and pilates to mindfulness and Italian language lessons for local residents.

The centre is operated by the PLDT, which traces its roots back to 1998 and the resistance to plans by Liverpool City Council to sell off the derelict Grove Mount playing fields for housing.

“The classes and activities have been instrumental in engaging our community,” says Julie Gornell, senior charity officer and one of the founder members of the PLDT.

“Local people are more aware of what is going on in their community thus making them feel more involved in community life.

“In addition to this we host a number of themed events throughout the year whereby local people can get involved.

“Moreover, we play host to thousands of visiting tourists each year who come on a pilgrimage to Penny Lane.”