An original signboard has been restored and returned to its former home at Hoylake Station – 70 years to the day it was first hung.
 
The sign was originally erected when the art deco station was rebuilt and reopened on 14 March 1938, following the electrification of the rail lines from Birkenhead Park to West Kirkby. However, over the years the sign was replaced, fell into disrepair and was only discovered by chance in a Merseytravel store room. Now it has been refreshed and returned to its former home.
 
Councillor Mark Dowd, Chair of Merseytravel, said: “This is the finishing touch to Hoylake Station, which we fully and painstakingly restored only recently in the run up to the Open Golf Championships. The art deco station is a real gem on the network and it was nice to celebrate the anniversary in this way.”
 
The news comes after Hoylake Station narrowly missed out on a National Railway Heritage Award – second only to the £800 million transformation of St Pancras Station in London – following a £600,000 restoration project by Merseytravel last year.
 
Neil Scales, Chief Executive and Director General of Merseytravel, said: “There was no way our renovation of Hoylake Station could compete to St Pancras on sheer size and scale, but for detail and precision it is a great achievement to be considered as a project of national significance.”
 
The works, up for the national Station Restoration Award, took just four months to complete and were carried out with careful precision to protect the building’s period features. The project saw improvements to the platforms, booking hall and ticket counter, waiting facilities, toilets, windows, platforms, car parking and exterior brickwork.

Judges of the awards said the station was “a delightful trip back to the 1930s”, adding; “Hoylake is one of very few stations renewed in the inter-war period and, thanks to the vision of the architect, it is a superb example of the tragically short-lived art deco style”.
 
History of Hoylake Station

In 1861, the population of Hoylake was only 924. However, the opening of Hoylake Railway Station on the Wirral Railway Line, in July 1866, had a big effect on its growth.
 
In 1876, the line was extended to West Kirby and, in 1888, it was directly connected to Liverpool via the Mersey rail tunnel. By 1901, the population had grown to 6,352.
 
The rail link to the important port and commercial centre of Liverpool provided the impetus for the rapid expansion of Hoylake and, by 1911, its population had swelled to 14,009.
 
Hoylake Station was re-built in 1938 in a contemporary style for the period, adopting the chic of the ‘modern movement’. The new look station opened on March 14th 1938.
 
Today the stunning art deco structure is Grade 2 Listed and, only last year, Merseytravel completed a £600,000 restoration project.