Another long-running saga was the question of UPVC windows in the Wavertree Garden Suburb Conservation Area. This resulted in a series of articles [118 Apr 1998, 119 May 1998, 120 Sep 1998 & 124 Mar 1999] when the City Council first declared its intention to take action against the use of UPVC, and further articles when it later modified its stance [181 Nov 2010, 193 Mar 2013 & 197 Jan 2014]. We celebrated the centenary of Wavertree Garden Suburb with a series of talks in the Institute about the area's past, present and future [177 Jan 2010, 179 May 2010 & 181 Nov 2010] - and with a souvenir tea towel [179 May 2010]. We had earlier published a 'warning to bidders' about so-called Development Opportunities being offered for sale by auction [163 Mar 2007]. While our attempts to prevent the installation of alleygates in Fieldway was unsuccessful [182 May 2011] we were pleased to be able to bring Morris Dancing back to Fieldway Green [195 Aug 2013], a hundred years after its creation.

Our other Conservation Area - Wavertree Village - was described as 'at risk' by English Heritage [175 Sep 2009] but we did our best to improve it with Heritage Litter Bins [102 Jan 1995], Heritage Plaques [119 May 1998 & 188 Mar 2012], a Street Audit [153 Jan 2005 & 156 Nov 2005] and a 'de-cluttering' programme [168 Mar 2008].

We celebrated local history with our books 'Discovering Historic Wavertree' [126 Sep 1999] and 'Wavertree' (archive photographs) [151 Sep 2004], and a series of calendars [161 Nov 2006 and later years]. We commemorated the 1895 absorption of the Township of Wavertree into Liverpool with a 'beating the bounds' guided walk [105 Jun 1995 & 106 Sep 1995]. We published full-page articles on the life of 'George Harrison, son of Wavertree' [139 Jan 2002] and 'The Lune Laundry Remembered' [168 Mar 2008]. We printed a fascinating piece by Alan Waterworth (Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside) entitled 'The Maltese Connection' [133 Nov 2010] about a one-time resident of Victoria Park. We were also pleased to be able to print the reminiscences of several Wavertree residents, such as Murial Jackson's 'Ollies and Hopscotch in the Groves' [166 Oct 2007].

In striving to look to the future of Wavertree rather than just its past, we held a 'special consultation' entitled 'The Wavertree Society: Which Way?' [136 May 2001] followed by a series of slide-show presentations - in different venues around the area - by Jim Hart entitled 'A Portrait of Wavertree' [137 Sep 2001, etc.]. Of course, there were also talks on a host of other subjects - local, national and international - too numerous to mention here. And annual events such as Heritage Open Day [195 Aug 2013 and earlier].

In 1999 we reported that 'we are investigating the use of the internet to publicise our activities' [127 Nov 1999]. This rapidly led to the establishment of our website, which has been maintained ever since, in tandem with the Newsletter. Nowadays, we are also on Facebook [187 Jan 2012] and YouTube [193 Mar 2013] but 60% of our members still prefer to receive their Newsletter in the traditional printed format. Long may it continue!

Mike Chitty (Editor of Wavertree Society Newsletters 126-200)