Toxteth
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Huskisson_Street_Liverpool.jpg
Toxteth is an area of inner-city Liverpool, England, starting approximately a mile south from the city centre. The area is roughly located in the psuedo triangle formed by Sefton Street (A5036, along the river), Upper Parliament Street leading into Smithdown Road (A562) and Ullet Road (B5342). It is also known as "Liverpool 8" after the former postal district (now the "L8" postcode area). However, the bad reputation that Toxteth has had in the past means several L8 locations prefer to be known by their sub-area rather than Toxteth itself, eg, the Georgian area of "Canning", around Canning Street.
Politically, the parliamentary constituency Liverpool Riverside is under Labour Party control (although the MP, Louise Ellman, is Labour Co-op rather than strictly Labour).The council ward (Princes Park) has two Labour Councillors and one Liberal Democrat Councillor (Ali Mohammed Mahmoud), who is also the first local councillor of Somali origin.
House prices are cheap in Toxteth: in summer 2003, the average property price was just GBP £45,929 (compared to the national average of £160,625). Housing tends to be in terraces but there is a growing number of flats available as larger Victorian properties (particularly around the Princes Road/Avenue boulevard) are broken up into separate dwellings. The previously mentioned Canning area, at the north of the Toxteth boundary, features many fine examples of Georgian architecture – previously the houses of merchants and those profiting from the port of Liverpool, and including many fine examples of building constructed for ritual use.
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Riots
Unfortunately, Toxteth is probably most famous for the riots that took place in 1981. Fierce battles between members of the local community and the police took place in July of that year – sparked by the arrest of Leroy Alphonse Cooper. The Merseyside police force had a poor reputation at the time for stopping and searching young blacks in the area under the infamous "sus" laws and the police officers' handling of Cooper, watched by an angry crowd, led to a disturbance in which three officers were injured. Over the next weekend, this exploded into full scale rioting, involving petrol bombs (used by the rioters) and CS gas (used by the police). In the first week alone, there were approximately 470 injured police officers, 500 arrests and over 70 buildings destroyed.
Outside popular opinion labelled the riots, like those around the same time in Brixton, Handsworth and the year before in Bristol, as simply "race riots" but this is not strictly the case. There are many reports of similarly frustrated white youths travelling in from other areas of Liverpool to fight alongside those from Toxteth against the police. Putting the blame on "race problems" allowed many people, including the Merseyside Chief Constable at the time, Kenneth Oxford, to ignore the possibility of general social problems behind the violence.
History
Toki Staith is thought to be the Viking, 9th Century origin, meaning, landing place of Toki. The settlement of Toxteth can be found mentioned in the Doomsday book of 1086.
Toxteth Park Puritan Colony C1600s. Puritans from Bolton settled in Toxteth royal deer park. Setting up 25 farms on land outside Church of England control they worshiped at the "Ancient Chapel" of Toxteth on Park Road. Opposite the chapel is the last remaining significant part of the Liverpool Overhead Railway, the underground sections of the Park Road station at the end of the railway's south extension tunnel.
Famous people
- Paul McGann Star of cult classic film Withnail and I, The Monocled Mutineer, and Doctor Who - Enemy Within, among others.
- Jeremiah Horrocks, who first observed Transit of Venus. A plaque dedicated to him can be found in Toxteth Ancient Chapel.
- John Lennon once lived at No. 3 Gambier Terrace, where he shared a flat with Stuart Sutcliffe.
- Herbert Louis Samuel, the first Viscount Samuel of Mount Carmel and of Toxteth, who became the first Jewish Home Secretary.
See also
- Toxteth Unitarian Chapel
- Sefton Park is one of the last reminders of the once open countryside.
- The Belvedere School
External links
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1419981.stm – a series of account of the Toxteth riots
- http://www.bwpics.co.uk/gallery/riot.html – some photos from the period of the riots
- http://www.transit-of-venus.org.uk/history.htm – Jeremiah Horrocks (1619 to 1641) and the Transit of Venus
- http://canning.merseyworld.com/ – Canning area.
- http://www.ngfl.gov.uk/news.jsp?sec=5&cat=261&res=67480 – History of Liverpool's Jewish Population.
- http://www.seftonparkliverpool.info/History.htm – History of the Sefton Park.
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