New Brighton Palais de Danse

The New Brighton Palais de Danse was the name given sometime in 1926 to the ballroom located within New Brighton Tower:

The Ballroom was one of the largest in the world, with a sprung floor and dance band stage. The orchestra had as many as 60 players. Big bands played at the Tower, including Bert Yates, Bill Gregson and Victor Sylvester. Other well known artists appeared at the Ballroom including Mae West in November 1945. Well over 1,000 couples could dance without undue crowding. It was decorated in white and gold, with the emblems of various Lancashire towns. The Ballroom had a balcony, with seats to watch the dancers below. Behind this was an open space, where couples used to learn the dance without interfering with the more proficient ones. History of Wallasey

The phrase Palais De Danse was a popular name given to many dance halls in England during the early 20th Century conjuring up images of cosmopolitan Europe.

The above photograph is one of the most famous dance halls called Palais De Dansein Berlin before the First World War and maybe the precursor to the others. Read more on Malcolm Lowry @ 19th Hole

Lowry refers to the New Brighton Palais de Danse in his novel Ultramarine when Dana recalls dancing there with his girl friend Janet Travena; "I shut my eyes and imagined that this was indeed Janet and I dancing at the New Brighton Palais De Danse. (Pg 106) and later Dana and Janet see "the two saxophonists of the Palais de Danse, Zez and Mas..." (Pg. 130). These recollections are probably drawn from Lowry's visits to the ballroom with Tess Evans in 1927. Lowry may even have originally met Tess at one of the dances at the ballroom as she lived in nearby Liscard.

Central Park, Liscard

Liscard Hall, Wirral and the surrounding parkland was home of Sir John Tobin, ship owner, merchant, African trader and one-time Mayor of Liverpool. On the death of his successor, son-in-law Harold Littledale in 1889, Wallasey Local Board bought the estate and opened it to the public on Whit Monday 1891.

Lowry refers to the park in his novel Ultramarine; "...in search of the tobacco pouch, the last birthday present you gave me, Janet...do you remember? It was in the Central Park, a year ago tomorrow, when we paused to watch the children playing on the swings, and then, 'Look, would that be any good to you dear? Many happy returns of the day..' " (Pg. 123). We must assume that this reference is based on an actual event   between Lowry and his girlfriend Tess Evans as the park is less than a mile from her former home at 26 Thirlmere Street (now Drive).

Winter Gardens Theatre, New Brighton

Albert Douglas, a member of the well-known theatrical family, came to Merseyside on business in 1907, and realising how little entertainment there was in Wallasey, decided to stop. With Mr H.E Jones as a partner, he leased the Conservative Hall in Atherton Street and renamed it Alexandra Hall.

In February 1908 the name was changed to the Winter Gardens, and palms were placed round the auditorium to justify the appellation. In 1909 a limited company was formed to purchase the building, and alterations on a major scale were commenced in March of that year. A 'Circle' was provided, and an entirely new stage measuring sixty feet by thirty-three feet was installed, with adequate new 'flies' and a modern electric lighting system. 

During the Great War the theatre remained open and in spite of many difficulties made a modest profit. In 1919 Albert Douglas became sole manager director, with his eldest son A.C Douglas as general manager. It was not unusual for London success to visit New Brighton before going on to Liverpool, and from 1919 onwards many famous stars appeared.

In 1924 the younger side of the management wanted to rebuild the theatre on modern lines, but this was vetoed by the older side. However, in 1929 all the directors agreed on rebuilding and work was commenced in February 1931. Read more on History of Wallasey

Lowry refers to the Winter Gardens in his novel Ultramarine when Dana reads in Janet's letter; "On Saturday I went to the Winter Gardens alone and saw - what do you think? So This Is London!...." (Pg. 169). There is no record of whether Lowry actually saw the play or whether Tess Evans saw the play either. To date, no record of the play being performed at the Winter Gardens in New Brighton has been discovered. We must assume Lowry was familiar with the theatre on his trips to New Brighton to meet Tess Evans especially as the theatre was near to the railway station.

So This Is London!

Lowry refers to the play in his novel Ultramarine when Dana reads in Janet's letter; "On Saturday I went to the Winter Gardens alone and saw - what do you think? So This Is London!...." (Pg. 169).

So This Is London is a comedy play by the American writer Arthur Goodrich, first staged in 1922. The play is an Anglo-American culture clash, in which a wealthy Anglophobic American shoe manufacturer arrives in London to discover his son is marrying the daughter of British aristocrats.

There is no record of whether Lowry actually saw the play or whether Tess Evans saw the play either. To date, no record of the play being performed at the Winter Gardens in New Brighton has been discovered.

26 Dornberg Road, New Brighton

The fictional name for the road where Janet Travena lives in Lowry's novel Ultramarine. The real address of Tess Evans, the model for Janet in the novel, was actually 26 Thirlmere Street, Liscard.

Lowry refers to the fictional address twice when mentioning Janet's letter to Dana when it arrives in Dairen from Singapore. (Pg 168 and 169)

There is a possibility that Lowry noted the name Dornberg for the fictional road while living in Blackheath in 1928 as there is no other road in the UK with that name. Lowry was cramming for his entry examination to Cambridge with the help of E.E.Kellett who lived at 5 Woodville Road. Dornberg Road is less than a mile from where E.E. Kellett once lived. The road is now a cul-de-sac but in the 1920s the road ran between Banchory Road and Old Dover Road.

Kings Picture House

The site of the King's with new housing in 2009

The Old Court House Picturedome was in Liscard Road and began life as a Police Station, being built in 1845. The building was then converted into a 400 seater cinema and opened on Saturday 31st January, 1914.

Performances began each evening at 6.30 pm and 10.30 pm with matinees at 3.00 pm on Wednesday and Saturdays. On Mondays and Wednesdays the programmes were changed twice weekly. Ticket prices were 3d for the Pit Stalls, 6d in the Stalls and 9d for the Balcony.

On the outside of the theatre wide, steep steps led to a small entrance hall with its central paybox and a pair of steep staircases on either side provided access to the balcony. Inside the theatre the auditorium was square shaped with a lofty ceiling and a silver screen was raised high up on the end of the wall. The electric generator was housed in the former basement which had been the prison cells.

Between the 13th June 1914 and the autumn the Old Court closed, in part due to the drab design of the building but on 14th November of that year the newly decorated cinema reopened as the Kinema under the management of C.W Harrison.

By the early 1920s the cinema was renamed Kings and in 1931 talkies were being shown. Throughout the 1930s the Kings underwent several changes in management and refurbishments. On 2nd November 1963 the cinema closed for the final time. The building was subsequently used for a time as a bingo hall but was finally demolished in 1986 and new properties built on the site. Read more

Lowry refers to the cinema in his novel Ultramarine when Dana and Janet are walking around Egremont; "Later, however, avoiding Egremont Ferry as they ascend a street of houses built on an incline to Brighton Road, which runs parallel to the promenade, as they waver at the King's picture-house, with its peeling stucco, where they are showing on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Love's Crucifixion, with Olga  Tschechowa.." (Pg. 131). We must assume that Lowry and Tess frequented the cinema which was about a mile from her home at 26 Thirlmere Street in Liscard from which they could have walked or got a tram.  Love's Crucifixion was not shown at the King's according to newspaper records from 1929 when the film was released though it may have returned at a later date.

Bidston

Bidston is a suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula. In the 1920's, the area was vastly different to today's landscape of modern housing, retail and industrial parks and new road layouts. In the 1920's, the area had 3 distinct areas: Bidston, Bidston Hill, and Bidston Moss.

Bidston Village has appeared in records since Doomsday, but evidence for occupation goes back to the Stone Age. The Village still maintains its medieval shape of church, farms, village green and manor house.

Bidston Hill comprises 100 acres of heathland and woodland maintained by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council as a nature reserve and public park. The land was purchased in stages from 1894 to 1908 by Birkenhead Corporation from local landowner Lord Vyner. It is the site of Bidston Windmill, built around 1800 and the former Bidston Observatory and Bidston Lighthouse. Read more

Bidston Moss was originally low-lying wetland marsh at the head of Wallasey Pool. Early reclamation by railway companies led to the use of a triangular piece of land between railway tracks being used for the West Cheshire Golf Course. In 1936 most of the land was given over to residential, commercial and industrial landfill which ceased in 1995 before conversion to a nature reserve.

Lowry refers to Bidston in his novel Ultramarine when Dana recalls crossing the Great Float via the former swing bridge at Duke Street Birkenhead: "We stood there often on our way to Bidston" (Pg. 62). In the 1920's, Bidston Hill was a popular attraction for people to visit to picnic and take in the panoramic views of the Wirral, Liverpool and the Mersey Estuary. We must assume Lowry visited the hill with Tess Evans during 1927.

Bidston features in his novel In Ballast to the White Sea; Sigbjørn recalls making love with Nina on the hill;"They leaned in silence, looking over towards Bidston Hill where they had once made love, but which was now invisible." (Ch. V11); the hill, the observatory and the windmill are noted when Sigbjørn drives to Birkenhead to catch the train to Liverpool on his journey to Preston;  "and down the incline beyond, faster here, to get a run for Bidston Hill where trees, hedges, and houses rushed up to them as from a screen, to be instantly transferred into new, ever-changing scenes; and soon they had reached the summit where it was so clear they could see the Observatory through the trees." and further on in the journey; "Noctorum on the right and Bidston Common on his left. With huge and tattered sails the old windmill loomed before them like a derelict being driven before the storm on the dark sea of the moor where snow patches on the heather were like white crests of waves." (Ch. X1); the windmill had been damaged in a storm in a 1927 remaining unrepaired for several years, Lowry changes the topography at this point as the windmill and observatory were not visible from Upton Road on which Sigbjørn is travelling; "This wound in great curves over the back of the Wirral.......it mounted a final hill at the other side of the county, thickly wooded and crowned by an observatory and an ancient windmill. This was Bidston and the last station of the ancient Telegraph." (Ch. X111). The "ancient telegraph" refers to the site of penultimate station of the Liverpool - Holyhead  Semaphore Telegraph.

West Cheshire Golf Links

Lowry refers to the golf course in his first novel Ultramarine; "Spring on the West Cheshire Golf Links, with its background of cylindrical brick- red gas works" (Pg. 118).

The West Cheshire Golf course was formed in September 1908 and went into liquidation on 7th June 1952. The address of the course was Breck Road, Wallasey with W.H. Carter Secretary in 1927.

The course occupied 2 sites as indicated on the map above. The first course occupied the former Bidston Moss to the east of the Birkenhead to New Brighton Railway and south of the line to Seacombe with the club house and first tee lying to the north across the Seacombe line. The course could be reached by an underpass under the Seacombe branch line. The first course moved from this site sometime in the mid-30s possibly due to the expansion of Birkenhead Docks with the construction of Bidston Dock which can been seen on the above map (click on image to enlarge) and in the photo below.

This expansion is referred to here: 

The low-lying land north of Bidston, the site of the old West Cheshire Golf Course, is suited to port industries. The latest of the docks, Bidston Dock, at the head of the West Float, gives shipping facilities Merseyside Plan 1944

The original course became a municipal tip in 1936 which gradually expanded across the former course into the 90s.

The original course is the one referred to by Lowry in Ultramarine which we can assume he used with Tess Evans ( the basis of the character Janet in Ultramarine). Lowry himself was a member of Caldy Golf Club as a youth and later was a member of the Royal Liverpool Club at Hoylake. We can only speculate why he used the West Cheshire course rather than the ones at Caldy and Hoylake. Certainly, the West Cheshire was nearer to Tess's home at 26, Thirlmere Street, Liscard, she may have been a member or perhaps Lowrywas "hiding" with her at the West Cheshire from the prying eyes of his family and their friends? You can see the course's clubhouse which Lowry and Tess would have used on the left of the photo below.

The gas works which Lowry referred to in Ultramarine was located the east of the course in Gorsey Lane, Wallasey which would have been clearly visible from the east end of the original course.

The only meaningful mention of the course in local newspapers I could find related to winding up of the club. However, the most detailed mention of the course is in Bill Houldin's Up Our Lobby which refers to the West Cheshire Artisans based at the course but also talks about caddying at the course. The book includes this description:

The West Cheshire Course was situated around what was the Wallasey Pool, (now Bidston Dock). The Pool was simply an irregularly shaped, grassy banked stretch of water. On one side ran the Wrexham/Wallasey railway, and on the other side up to the road bridge, the golf course. The course followed the line of the pool and then took a right turn following the road past what is now the incinerator. It went up to what is now the Co-op Coal Depot, but which then was a railway engine sheds. It then took a right turn again. It was a nice undulating and interesting course and bred many fine golfers... The clubhouse itself was on one side of a dirt road which starting at the first tee and going under the Wrexham/Wallasey Railway line bridge, would stretch for three or four hundred yards up the hill to Breck Road, Poulton... The Professionals Shop and Caddies Stand were on the opposite side of this sunken, dirt road. They were connected by a wooden bridge which lay alongside the railway bridge, both crossing the sunken dirt road at this point.The Caddies' Shed was just that, an open-ended wooden structure, roofed in with corrugated iron and having a dirt floor. Nothing here to encourage the lazy tom lounge about.

The second course was located west of the New Brighton to Birkenhead line occupying the former Bidston Aerodrome site as seen below:

Both former sites are now virtually unrecognisable due to the first being used as a tip and the second being consumed by a motorway, access roads and a retail park. There is sparse information existing about the course unlike Caldy and the Royal Liverpool - the course has virtually disappeared off the map and local consciousness. It must be noted that the course was not connected to Bidston Golf Club which still exists on land adjacent to the second course.

The original West Cheshire course and the later tip are now Bidston Moss Nature Reserve as seen below.

Read more on Malcolm Lowry @ The 19th Hole

Crosville Bus Stop

Lowry refers to the Crosville Motor Company Limited in his novel Ultramarine when Dana recalls his time with Janet; "His whole being was drowning in memories, the smells of Birkenhead and of Liverpool were again heavily about him, there was a coarse glitter in the cinema fronts, children stared at him strangely from the porches of public-houses. Janet would be waiting for him a the Crosville bus stop, with her red mackintosh and her umbrella, while silver straws of rain gently pattered on the green roof..."Where shall we go? The Hippodrome or the Argyle? ..... I've heard there's a good show on at the Scala -" (Pg. 27).

The Crosville Motor Company Limited was formed on 27 October 1906 in Chester, by George Crosland Taylor and his French business associate Georges de Ville, with the intention of building motor cars. The company name was an amalgam of 'Crosland' and 'de Ville'.

By 1909 Crosville had commenced its first bus service, between Chester and Ellesmere Port, and was to grow to incorporate bus services in Cheshire, Lancashire and north-east Wales, becoming one of the major names in the British bus industry.

Crosville expanded rapidly after WW1 including onto the Wirral. In October 1919 a service from New Ferry to Meols commenced, running via West Kirby and Hoylake. With Crosville now expanding outwards from Chester and into the Wirral, it was inevitable that conflict with some of the municipal operators would ensue. Licences to run from West Kirby to Wallasey village were granted in May 1920, but plans to extend the services to Seacombe ferry and New Brighton were opposed by Wallasey Corporation. Similar problems were encountered with Birkenhead Corporation, who steadfastly refused to allow the Company's vehicles into the town.

The above is important to note as to which bus stop Hilliot (Lowry) would have met Janet (Tess). If Janet (Tess) was coming from her home in 26 Thirlemere Street in Liscard then she could have taken a Wallasey Corporation bus from Liscard across Birkenhead Docks to Park Station, which was the terminus of Crosville buses in 1927 in Birkenhead. This would have been logical if Hilliot (Lowry) travelled to meet her either using the steam train from West Kirby Station, which terminated at Park Station in the 20's before electrification in the 30's; or he travelled by Crosville bus 108 from West Kirby. This would enabled them to  walk into Birkenhead town centre to visit the theatres. Another possibility is that Hilliot (Lowry) traveled to Liscard to meet Janet (Tess) as Crosville operated a service from West Kirby to the Queens Arms Hotel in Liscard.

Chlo-e (Song of the Swamp)

Chlo-e (Song of the Swamp) (1927) is a show tune with music by Charles N. Daniels, writing under the pseudonym of "Neil Morét," and lyrics by Gus Kahn. It is now regarded as a jazz standard.

The first recording of Chloe was made for Columbia in Los Angeles in September 1927 by singer Douglas Richardson, a vocalist with ties to Charles N. Daniels; it was followed by another Columbia by The Singing Sophomores made in November. The first instrumental recording of Chloe was made by the All-Star Orchestra for Victor, with a vocal chorus by Franklyn Baur, in December 1927. This is identified in the Victor ledgers as "the Fud and Farley Orchestra," indicating the participation of Fud Livingston and Max Farley, though Nat Shilkret probably led the band. Shilkret did record another arrangement of it for Victor with his Rhythm-Melodists in 1928.

However, the record that appears to have popularized Chloe is an elaborate version by the Paul Whiteman Concert Orchestra recorded in 1928 with vocals by Austin Young. This arrived along with a host of other 1928 recordings of the song. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the song in Chapter 4 of Ultramarine - Dana and Janet see Mas and Zez two saxophonists from the Palais de Danse on the shore near New Brighton;  "We must get them to play Chloe - but no, they can't hear. It's against the wind". Later Dana recalls "even had Mas heard, it would have been all to no purpose, they would never have been able to dance to Janet's favourite tune - Chloe, the Song of the Swamp - for this is the last day. They are parting perhaps forever..." (Pg. 131).

Lowry's mention of the song is an example of him using a reference outside its proper time. The incident on the shore relates to a time in Lowry's love affair with Tess Evans before he sailed to the Far East in May 1927. The song had not been recorded at that stage. Lowry may have heard the song later while in America in 1929 - possibly the Paul Whiteman version as he was already familiar with the bandleader having seen him perform in Liverpool in 1926.

The inference in the saxophonists playing the song is that Lowry is referring to the instrumental version. However, the lyrics may have appealed to Lowry as Dana walks through "dismal swampland" of the red light district of Dairen "searching" for Janet with "empty arms outstretched, he's crying" .

Chloe! Chloe!

Someone's calling, no reply
Nightshade's falling, hear him sigh

Chloe! Chloe!

Empty spaces in his eyes
Empty arms outstretched, he's crying

Through the black of night
I've got to go where you are
If it's dark or bright
I've got to go where you are

I'll go through the dismal swampland
Searching for you
For if you are lost there
Let me be there, too

Through the smoke and flame
I've got to go where you are
For no ways can be too far
Where you are

Ain' no chains can bind you
If you live, I'll find you
Love is calling me
I've got to go where you are

26 Thirlmere Street

The home of Lowry's youthful love Tess Evans (Janet Travena in Ultramarine) in Liscard, Wirral. Renamed Thirlmere Road in 1962/63. Tess lived their with her father Will and mother Eleanor and possibly two siblings. She must have moved out of the house before she was old enough to appear on the electoral roll. Her mother lived there until at least 1949. She sent 2 letters from this address to Lowry circa 1927/28 (Huntington Library Conrad Aiken Archive AIK 2585/2586). 

There are three specific references to the house in Lowry's first novel Ultramarine; Janet's letter to Dana is addressed 26 Dornberg Road, New Brighton, Cheshire, England. (Pg 168); the address is repeated again and (Pg. 169) and "Oh Dana, the sun is shining ever so brightly and the grass in the cricket field looks wonderful after the rain..." (Pg.169) - the rear of 26 Thirlmere Road looks over New Brighton Cricket Club which she would have seen if her bedroom was at the rear of the house. Lowry may have thought that the road was in New Brighton - it is near the boundary between Liscard and New Brighton. Since 1974, the area is in the Wirral Metropolitan Borough and not in the county of Cheshire. The change of name to Dornberg may have been suggested by a road close to where Lowry stayed during his time in Blackheath in 1928.

Note: 26 Thirlmere Street is the pebble dashed house in the above photos.

Janet Rohtraut (Beauty Rohtraut)

Rohtraut by Rudolf Schiestl 

"Janet Rohtraut. Beauty Rohtraut, listen to me." Lowry refers to Rohtraut in Chapter 3 of Ultramarine during a long internal dialogue by Dana Hilliot as he muses after his drunken drift through the red light district of Dairen. Hilliot appeals to his lover Janet Travena by alluding to George Meredith's The Ballad of Beauty Rohtraut (1850), a translation from the German of Moricke Morike's " Schon-Rohtraut". The poem represents the gradually growing desire of a youth to be near the maiden ending in the fulfilment of the dream. The allusion is one of many in Lowry's works to desire, nympholepsy, sirens and muses.


BEAUTY ROHTRAUT (From Moricke)

What is the name of King Ringang's daughter?
Rohtraut, Beauty Rohtraut!
And what does she do the livelong day,
Since she dare not knit and spin alway?
O hunting and fishing is ever her play!
And, heigh! that her huntsman I might be!
I'd hunt and fish right merrily!
Be silent, heart!

And it chanced that, after this some time, -
Rohtraut, Beauty Rohtraut, -
The boy in the Castle has gained access,
And a horse he has got and a huntsman's dress,
To hunt and to fish with the merry Princess;
And, O! that a king's son I might be!
Beauty Rohtraut I love so tenderly.
Hush! hush! my heart.

Under a grey old oak they sat,
Beauty, Beauty Rohtraut!
She laughs: 'Why look you so slyly at me?
If you have heart enough, come, kiss me.'
Cried the breathless boy, 'kiss thee?'
But he thinks, kind fortune has favoured my youth;
And thrice he has kissed Beauty Rohtraut's mouth.
Down! down! mad heart.

Then slowly and silently they rode home, -
Rohtraut, Beauty Rohtraut!
The boy was lost in his delight:
'And, wert thou Empress this very night,
I would not heed or feel the blight;
Ye thousand leaves of the wild wood wist
How Beauty Rohtraut's mouth I kiss'd.
Hush! hush! wild heart.'

Wie heißt König Ringangs Töchterlein?
   Rohtraut, Schön-Rohtraut.
Was tut sie denn den ganzen Tag,
Da sie wohl nicht spinnen und nähen mag?
   Tut fischen und jagen.
O dass ich doch ihr Jäger wär'!
   Fischen und jagen freute mich sehr.
- Schweig stille, mein Herze!

Und über eine kleine Weil,
   Rohtraut, Schön-Rohtraut,
So dient der Knab auf Ringangs Schloss
In Jägertracht und hat ein Ross,
   mit Rohtraut zu jagen.
O dass ich doch ein Königssohn wär!
Rohtraut, Schön-Rohtraut lieb ich so sehr.
- Schweig stille, mein Herze!

Einsmals sie ruhten am Eichenbaum,
   Da lacht Schön-Rohtraut:
Was siehst mich an so wunniglich?
Wenn du das Herz hast, küsse mich!
   Ach! erschrak der Knabe!
Doch denket er: mir ists vergunnt,
Und küsset Schön-Rohtraut auf den Mund.
- Schweig stille, mein Herze!

Darauf sie ritten schweigend heim,
   Rohtraut, Schön-Rohtraut;
Es jauchzt der Knab in seinem Sinn:
Und würdst du heute Kaiserin,
   Mich sollts nicht kränken:
Ihr tausend Blätter im Walde wisst,
Ich hab Schön-Rohtrauts Mund geküsst!
- Schweig stille, mein Herze!