Knotty Ash

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Knotty Ash
Knotty Ash sign.jpg
Knotty Ash district sign
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Knotty Ash
Location within Merseyside
Population13,312 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference SJ408911
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LIVERPOOL
Postcode district L14
Dialling code 0151
Police Merseyside
Fire Merseyside
Ambulance North West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Merseyside
53°24′47″N2°53′24″W / 53.413°N 2.890°W / 53.413; -2.890

Knotty Ash is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and a Liverpool City Council Ward. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the 2001 Census was 13,200, [1] increasing to 13,312 at the 2011 Census. [2] Knotty Ash is well known as the home of comedian Sir Ken Dodd, who often mentioned it in his act.

Contents

Description

Knotty Ash is a small area on the eastern fringe of Liverpool and neighbours the West Derby, Old Swan, Broadgreen, Dovecot and Huyton districts. Its name is derived from a gnarled ash tree which formerly stood near the present-day Knotty Ash public house. In 2004, comedian and local resident Ken Dodd planted a new ash tree close to the site of the original.

Governance

Knotty Ash is represented on Liverpool City Council by three councillors, and is wholly within the Liverpool West Derby constituency. The current MP is Ian Byrne (Labour), who has represented the seat since 2019.

Education

Knotty Ash has the special needs secondary school Clifford Holroyde and a primary school, Knotty Ash CP.

Transport

Knotty Ash has an extensive bus network which, in the main, uses the Prescot Road corridor. Services 7, 8/9, 10/10A/10B, 15 and 204 link Knotty Ash to Liverpool City Centre, and these services provide links to Dingle, Toxteth, Edge Hill, Kensington, Tuebrook, Wavertree, Old Swan, Stoneycroft, Broadgreen Hospital, Belle Vale, Page Moss and Huyton, with some of these services going further afield to Prescot, Whiston, Cronton, Thatto Heath, St Helens, Penketh and Warrington.

There are also services like the 61 (Bootle - Aigburth) and 102 (Page Moss/Broadgreen Hospital - Fazakerley Hospital) which do not service the city centre, but provide links to various areas of North and South Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton. In addition, there are various industrial and school bus services which pass through Knotty Ash.

Knotty Ash railway station on the North Liverpool Extension Line formerly served the area, but this closed to passenger traffic in 1960. The former trackway is now part of National Cycle Network Route 62. The nearest current National Rail station is Broad Green, approximately a mile away from Knotty Ash, where fairly regular trains go to/from Liverpool Lime Street, and generally continue on to Wigan North Western, Manchester Victoria and Warrington Bank Quay stations.

Knotty Ash is also approximately a mile away from the western terminus of the M62 motorway, Rocket Roundabout in Broadgreen.

Sport

Between 1951 and 1968, the district was home to the city's rugby league team Liverpool City who played at their Knotty Ash Stadium, Mill Yard. Their playing strip consisted of white jerseys with a broad green hoop and white shorts. After the 1967–68 season, they left the district and moved to nearby Huyton, changing the club's name to Huyton RLFC. Having no home venue for the 1968–69 season, their new Huyton home ground of Alt Park was opened for the following 1969–70 season.

In the 1960s, Knotty Ash was made famous in the United Kingdom by stand-up comedian and lifelong resident Ken Dodd, as the home of the dwarfish comic characters he called the Diddy Men. In his BBC children's television programme Ken Dodd and the Diddymen (1969), the fictitious Diddyland, boasting the highest sunshine rate in the world, was situated in the centre of Knotty Ash. The Diddy Men worked in the local "Jam Butty Mines". [3]

Knotty Ash was reportedly the site of the unsolved "Tiki" Murder in 1961, in which a housewife was killed in what was claimed to be a ritual linked to the worship of the Polynesian idol Tiki. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Dodd</span> English stand-up comedian and singer (1927–2018)

Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd was an English comedian, singer, and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley</span> Metropolitan borough in England

The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley is a metropolitan borough in Merseyside, North West England. It covers several towns and villages, including Kirkby, Prescot, Huyton, Whiston, Halewood, Cronton and Stockbridge Village; Kirkby, Huyton, and Prescot being the major commercial centres. It takes its name from the village of Knowsley, though its headquarters are in Huyton. It forms part of the wider Liverpool City Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huyton</span> Town in England

Huyton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which it formed Huyton with Roby Urban District between 1894 and 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainhill</span> Village in England

Rainhill is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2011 census was 10,853.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A57 road</span> Road in England

The A57 is a major road in England. It runs east from Liverpool to Lincoln via Warrington, Salford and Manchester, and then through the Pennines over the Snake Pass (between the high moorlands of Bleaklow and Kinder Scout), around the Ladybower Reservoir, through Sheffield and past Worksop. Between Liverpool and Glossop, the road has largely been superseded by the M62, M602 and M67 motorways. Within Manchester a short stretch becomes the Mancunian Way, designated A57(M).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Swan</span> Human settlement in England

Old Swan is an eastern neighbourhood of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, bordered by Knotty Ash, Stoneycroft, Broadgreen, Fairfield and Wavertree. At the 2011 Census, the population was 16,461.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whiston, Merseyside</span> Town in England

Whiston is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Previously recorded within the historic county of Lancashire, it is located eight miles east of Liverpool and 3/4 mile east of Huyton Quarry. The population was 13,629 at the 2001 Census, increasing to 14,263 at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool–Wigan line</span> Railway line in the north-west of England

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The Diddy Men are a mythical race whose invention is often attributed to the Liverpudlian comedian Ken Dodd. However, they have existed in Merseyside mythology for much longer and, along with the Treacle and Jam Butty Mines of Knotty Ash, had been referred to in the earlier act of another Liverpool comedian, Arthur Askey. When Ken Dodd began playing seaside resorts, he made famous his home area of Knotty Ash in Liverpool and popularised a miniature race of people who inhabited it. Diddy is an informal British word for "little".

Liverpool Stanley was a semi-professional rugby league club from Liverpool, England. It was renamed Liverpool City in 1951, but was otherwise unrelated to the original Liverpool club of the same name. The club's origins date back to 1880 when it was founded as Wigan Highfield. Although the club was best known for its years in Liverpool, the club relocated numerous times, and were known as London Highfield, Huyton, Runcorn Highfield, Highfield, and eventually Prescot Panthers throughout their existence before being eventually wound up in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dovecot, Liverpool</span> Human settlement in England

Dovecot is a district of Liverpool, England, on the eastern edge of the city bordered by Knotty Ash, West Derby, Broadgreen and Roby. The area is part of the Knotty Ash ward of Liverpool City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yew Tree (Liverpool ward)</span> Metropolitan Borough Council ward in Liverpool, England

Yew Tree ward is an electoral division of Liverpool City Council within the Liverpool West Derby Parliamentary constituency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thingwall House</span> Building in Liverpool, England

Thingwall House was a Jacobethan manor house built in 1869 by Henry Arthur Bright, the shipping magnate, and was originally known as Ashfield. It is set on a 4.8-acre (19,000 m2) site in the district of Knotty Ash, Liverpool, England. It should not be confused with Thingwall Hall, a local stately home just a few minutes walk further south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knotty Ash (ward)</span> Former metropolitan borough council ward in Liverpool, England

Knotty Ash ward was an electoral division of Liverpool City Council centred on the Knotty Ash district of Liverpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadgreen</span> Human settlement in England

Broadgreen is an eastern suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. On the edge of the city, it is bordered by Old Swan to the north-west, Knotty Ash to the north-east, Childwall to the south and, further east, Bowring Park. Until 2004, it was a Liverpool City Council ward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Liverpool City Council election</span> Liverpool City Council elections 2023

The 2023 Liverpool City Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Liverpool City Council. Following a Boundary Review by The Local Government Boundary Commission for England, the size of the council was reduced from 90 to 85 seats with a change from three-member seats, elected in thirds, three years out of every four, following the British Government instigated Best Value Inspection Report which led to the appointment by the government of Commissioners and the subsequent boundary review for Council Wards in Liverpool which the government initiated with the proviso that the number of councillors be reduced and the predominant number of wards be reduced to single members with all-up elections every four years. The election also marked the end of Liverpool's directly-elected mayoralty. After the election the council reverted to having a leader of the council chosen from amongst the councillors instead. Labour retained control of the council and their group leader Liam Robinson became leader of the council after the election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadgreen (Liverpool ward)</span> Electoral division in England

Broadgreen ward is an electoral district of Liverpool City Council. It was created in 1953. Its boundaries were changed for the 1973 and 1980 elections. The ward was dissolved prior to the 2004 Liverpool City Council election and distributed into the new Knotty Ash ward, and small parts of the Old Swan and Yew Tree wards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knotty Ash & Dovecot Park (Liverpool ward)</span> Metropolitan borough council ward in England

Knotty Ash and Dovecot Park ward is an electoral district of Liverpool City Council within the Liverpool West Derby constituency.

References

  1. 2001 Census: Knotty Ash, Office for National Statistics, retrieved 14 June 2008
  2. "City of Liverpool ward population 2011" . Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  3. Diddy? Doddy! Ken Dodd hits the road again, The Independent, 27 January 2007, retrieved 30 March 2009
  4. The Knotty Ash Ritual Murder, archived from the original on 19 February 2010, retrieved 28 March 2009