Guide to Hoylake

There are eleven schools with either a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ Ofsted report within a three mile radius of Hoylake – offering plenty of options for a child to go from preschool to completion of A-Levels at schools with great reputations. For families looking to find a community to grow up in, schools are an integral part – and this makes Hoylake a fantastic option, especially as increasing the school run a little to a maximum of five miles takes the total of good or outstanding options to 43.

With such a wide selection of excellent schools on offer, it’s no wonder Hoylake is an attractive proposition for young families who are trying to give their children the best start. You can find a full list of the fantastic schools available in and around Hoylake here.

Hoylake contains half a dozen well reviewed doctor’s surgeries and dentists which, falling under the jurisdiction of the NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and their mission to: ‘commission high quality services which enable the people of Wirral to improve their own health and wellbeing.’

The area is not only well served by practitioners offering care for minor injuries and ailments, it is also within a short drive of Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge NHS hospitals and the Spire Murrayfield private hospital. Residents can therefore be sure they should never be too far from the treatment they need.

You can find out more about the NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group here.

Hoylake offers all the nation’s favourites where dining is concerned – from cafes to pub lunches, fish and chips to Indian and Chinese restaurants. However, it doesn’t end there for residents of Hoylake – there’s a gastronomic world tour on offer with Spanish, Greek, Turkish, Thai, Belgian, Southern USA and other global menus on offer all within town.

For something a little more casual, there are also a host of wonderful independently owned cafes for you to meet up with friends in, as well as the standard fast food outlets for when you’re just in need of a little comfort food. 

So whether you’re looking for a night of fine dining, or a bucket of chicken, you’ll be well looked after.

Hoylake is served by two railway stations – Hoylake and Manor Road – both on the West Kirby Wirral Line operated by Mersey Rail which has been rated among the best performing and lowest costing rail providers in the UK. The West Kirby line runs between West Kirby and Liverpool Lime Street.

However, if you’d rather give the train a miss, you can reach Liverpool by road in around half an hour, Chester in 45 minutes and Manchester in under an hour – so if you’re looking to maintain a job in the city while having a quieter time where you live, then the transport links from Hoylake offer reasonable commute times to three vibrant and thriving north west cities.

Hoose, now part of Hoylake, was one of The Wirral Hundred – an ancient administrative area dating back to the Middle Ages (5th to 15 Century) and was merged into the town of Hoylake in 1894.

In 1870, in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, John Marius Wilson described Hoylake as follows:

HOOSE, or Hoylake, a village, a township, and a chapelry in West Kirby parish, Cheshire. The village stands on the coast, near the mouth of the Dee estuary, 7½ miles W by N of Birkenhead; is now a favourite watering place; has a post office, of the name of Hoylake, under Birkenhead; is connected with Birkenhead by a railway, completed in 1866; and has a race-course on which races are run, in May and Sept., by the Liverpool hunt.

Around this same time, in 1869, the Royal Liverpool Golf Club was built and is the second oldest golf links in England.

If you’re a nature lover, then the ideal attraction to begin with is Hilbre Island – an island reachable by foot at low tide and cut off from the mainland for four of every twelve hours – which is a haven for local wildlife. The summer months will allow visitors to catch sight of grey seals and, less often, whales and dolphins.

However, you’re never too far from an area of natural beauty on the Wirral – and there are parks and nature reserves aplenty in nearby villages and towns. There are also museums and galleries in nearby Port Sunlight, as well as the historic, culture rich cities of Liverpool and Chester within an hour. 

The town of Hoylake offers plenty of entertainment, with plenty of sport to watch and play – the town is home to a rugby club, a sailing club and one of the world’s foremost golf courses – but the upcoming Beacon Arts Village due to open in October 2020, but delayed, should prove to be an excellent option for entertaining families and friends alike, promising to bring a state-of-the-art cinema, a restaurant, bar and café to the Hoylake high street.

However, if Hoylake doesn’t offer what you need, then there are plenty of bars and nightclubs available in nearby Liverpool and Chester – as well as music venues, galleries, museums and more.

Market Street in Hoylake could just as well be called the beauty mile, with more than a dozen salons of various kinds from stylists to nail technicians, tanning and more, you’ll find exactly what you need whether you’re preparing for an interview, a wedding or a night on the town – and the majority of them are rated four stars or more on Google Reviews.

It may not be the first thing a person considers when looking for their ideal community, but it’s important to know that you won’t struggle to find a salon that meets your style and needs – and with the breadth of choice on offer in Hoylake, you should find your favourite in no time.

In addition to the unique stores on offer on the Hoylake high street, and its proximity and ease of access to the shopping delights on offer in Chester, Liverpool and Manchester, Hoylake is within five to ten miles of at least four retail parks, ensuring you can enjoy a more sedate dose of retail therapy closer to home.

Nearby are the JunctionONE and Marine Point Retail and Leisure Parks, the Coliseum Shopping Park in Ellesmere Port and The Croft Retail and Leisure Park in Bromborough as well as the Rock Retail Park and Pyramid Centre in Birkenhead. 

It will come as no surprise that Hoylake offers easy access to the usual large chain supermarkets – there aren’t many places that don’t any more – but what they don’t have is the selection of great independent stores. For example, there’s the popular Hoylake Pantry, an independent, zero waste shop that sells wholefoods by weight as well as detergent refills, toiletries, reusable water bottles and more – all single-use plastic free. There’s also the marvellous Honest to Goodness – a health food store with an excellent selection of vegan and vegetarian foods.

There are also independent butchers and grocers offering a range of locally sourced, sustainable meat and produce – meaning that Hoylake residents can choose whether they want to pick up their favourite brands, or take home something a little special as a treat from time to time.