Solar School The Solar Campus, on Leasowe Road, is the former St Georges Secondary School, and is the site of the Solar Building, the first building in the world to be heated entirely by
solar energy. At 53.4°N, it is also the most northerly. The school was built in 1955, in the contemporary style as the St Georges Secondary School for Girls; in 1958, it was decided to admit boys, requiring a doubling in capacity. This was met by building a new block, now known as the Solar Building, to a design by Emslie Morgan, the Assistant Borough Architect, who spent a lifetime looking into ways of harnessing the sun's rays. A small secondary single-pipe heating system was installed to give additional heating on cold winter days with very few hours of sunlight but, by 1966, it had never been used and was dismantled. In 1963, the
Liverpool Echo reported that during the previous winter temperatures never dropped below , while in the summer it was cooler than the older part of the school. and is maintained by the Children & Young People's Department of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.
Leasowe Castle Leasowe Castle may have been built for
Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby – a patron of
Shakespeare – in 1593, possibly (though this is disputed) as an observation platform for the Wallasey races which took place on the sands in the 16th and 17th centuries, and which are regarded as a forerunner of the
Derby races. Ferdinando's brother
William, the 6th Earl, was described as a noted sportsman and is remembered as a keen supporter of the Wallasey races. At first the castle consisted only of an octagonal tower. This had become disused by 1700, and it became known as "Mockbeggar Hall", a term often used for an ornate but derelict building. The term
Mockbeggar Wharf is still used for the adjoining foreshore. The
Mockbeggar Hall is also the name of a
Wetherspoons pub in neighbouring Moreton. In 1821, ownership passed to the Cust family. The Star Chamber was so called because the ceiling was decorated with bright stars. The ceiling and four tapestries depicting the four seasons still remain. Oak panelling from the Star Chamber and some made from the submerged forest along the coast were also installed; Leasowe Castle is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England as a designated
Grade II* listed building.
Leasowe Lighthouse Leasowe Lighthouse was built in 1763 by Liverpool Corporation's Docks Committee (the forerunner of the
Mersey Docks and Harbour Board) and is the oldest brick-built lighthouse in Britain. According to local tradition its foundations were built on bales of cotton from a nearby shipwreck. with the only known female lighthouse keeper in those days, a Mrs. Williams. It then became a tearoom for a period, but was unused before 1989, since when it has been the base for the ranger service of the
North Wirral Coastal Park. The lighthouse is a
Grade II listed building and houses a visitor centre which is occasionally open to the public.
Leasowe Hospital Leasowe Hospital or
The Leasowe Sanatorium For Crippled Children and Hospital for Tuberculosis, to give its full and original name, later became known as the Liverpool Open-Air Hospital, Leasowe, and finally Leasowe Hospital.
Margaret Beavan (1877–1931) was the driving force of the hospital, admired by all, she was known affectionately as the "Little Mother of Liverpool", also not quite as complimentary, the "Mighty Atom" and "Clever Beggar". The first mention of a sanatorium for children with tuberculosis occurred on 16 December 1911. Slowly, Leasowe Hospital changed from being principally a children's T.B. hospital to one for dealing with burns and skin grafts, and then arthritis until its closure in 1979. Another name closely associated with Leasowe, amongst others, is that of (the late) Dr T.R. Littler, Consultant Rheumatologist, who was devoted to Leasowe. Leasowe Hospital was eventually bought by the Wirral Christian Centre in 1981; it was used later as a retirement home and handicap centre. After failing to make that facility work, the buildings were eventually repossessed then later demolished around 2002–03. Luxury flats and houses have since been built on the site.
Notable staff at Leasowe Hospital • Edith Marie Tucker (1876-unknown), Matron of the new hospital building from 1915 to 1919. Tucker trained at The London Hospital under Matron
Eva Luckes between 1904 and 1906. After her training Tucker remained at the London as a staff nurse, then gained promotion to sister working as holiday sister, night sister, in Outpatients department and in Matron's Office until she was seconded to head a party of London Hospital nurses to the Balkan Wars between 1912 and 1913. Hughes also trained at
The London Hospital between 1906 and 1908. After her training Hughes remained at The London working in various departments including the Private Nursing Institute, as a ward staff nurse, and pupil (student)
Midwife, before being promoted to holiday sister, then ward sister. Hughes was in charge of both the TB hospital and adjacent Liverpool Babies Hospital, comprising over 300 beds. Whilst she was Matron at Leasowe, one of Hughes's ward sister's married, and Hughes 'gave the bride away.' Probationer nurses trained for two years at Leasowe in the nursing care of children with Surgical
Tuberculosis. ==Transport==