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The signpost recorded William Hall Walker's generosity, and its '1897 AD' weathervane became a permanent reminder of the diamond jubilee year. The signpost was given to the Little Woolton Local Board of Health, which was the local council of the day. In 1913, when the city's boundaries were extended, it became the property of Liverpool Corporation.
After the second world war, the once-rural landscape on either side of Belle Vale Road was transformed. To the west was developed one of the largest prefab housing estates in the country, the 'temporary' bungalows of which survived from 1947 until the 1960s. To the east was developed the Lee Park council housing estate.
In the 1970s, private houses were built on the site of the prefabs; but the signpost and the chestnut trees survived. The signpost - which had by now been designated as a Grade II 'listed building' by reason of its architectural and historic interest - was in need of renovation, and this was undertaken by Liverpool City Council's Estates Surveyor's Department in 1981.
Continued . . .
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