Medical Climatology: Hoylake

Nick Prebble, (not pictured – that’s Bill Giles) currently working in London as a meteorologist for MeteoGroup UK, stumbled upon an old publication entitled Medical Climatology.

The book, published sometime around the 1920s discusses the Wirral climate and how it might improve ones health and makes for an interesting read. Here’s what it says about some local villages and towns:

West Kirby

Mild and warm all through the year with a large amount of sunshine but, owing to its more sheltered position, it is perhaps less bright than Hoylake. It is recommended for cases of chronic respiratory and renal disease, of feeble circulation and valvular trouble (heart disease), and of neurasthenia requiring sedative treatment. It is not suitable for acute or advanced phthisis (consumption) or rheumatism.

Hoylake

The climate is warm and bracing but not so in autumn and winter, greater even than that at Blackpool. Hoylake is very useful in convalescence but because it is rather liable to sea-mists in winter it is said to be unsuitable for chronic bronchitis, valvular disease, rheumatism or renal complaints.

New Brigthon

The beach, of rather muddy sand, is safe for children and for bathing. There are amusements of every description, but although the climate is bright and bracing, the place is too overrun by trippers to be, in any way, suitable for invalids.

Poor old New Brighton didn’t receive a glowing report did it!

With regard to West Kirby, whenever I go along the beach from Red Rocks up to Dee Lane it often feels warmer along there to me. I wonder if it’s due to the sand dunes in front of the golf course and the board walk?

Do people living around the left-hand corner of Wirral enjoy health benefits as a result of the local climate? Does the sea air help blow the cobwebs away? What do you think …have your say with a comment!