We've reclaimed the entry - It was a rubbish dump, it did seem to get worse, we’ve had a dramatic change
Most people for example would call the area at the back of a row of terraced houses an alleyway. Around here though, you’re more likely to hear “I’m in the entry.”
If you walk down Buckingham Road in Tuebrook, that’s something you’ll likely hear more and more as people living on the street who had become tired with the unsightly build up of rubbish at the back of their homes have taken it upon themselves to brighten up the entry into a community space. What was once a home for binbags and weeds has become a sanctuary of colour and life.
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Where rubbish once sat, art adorns the brick walls with messages next to flowers and planters. On a beautiful sunny day when the LDRS came to visit last week, an umbrella had been put up where a pothole had once been left as chairs were placed out for people to enjoy the sun.
Cllr Billy Lake, who represents the Tuebrook Larkhill ward, worked with the residents to help them turn an unloved and sorry site into a space filled with community spirit. After enlisting the help of Liverpool Streetscene Limited (LSSL) – the city’s waste removal and collection arm – it left households with a blank canvas to call their own.


Cllr Lake said: “I said to people, let’s do something with the alley, let’s reclaim the alleyways. I was having a conversation with a mate of mine who said growing up, we played in the alleys because it was safer, not in the street.
“It was with that in mind we said to the community let’s reclaim them. Once they were cleared, it gave us the impetus to do something then.
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Hide Ad“The residents have been really creative in what they’ve done. It’s been down to their creativity.”
Cllr Lake added how the upgrades to the entry were hopefully the start of further improvements in the area, with hopes to install more planters in what one passer by called “Costa del Tuebrook.” One of the people to feel the benefit of the improvements was John Suffield.
John, 90, has lived off Buckingham Road for more than 20 years and sat out in the sunshine admiring the improvements to the entry. He told the LDRS how he took heart from the work done by his neighbours.


He said: “It was a rubbish dump, it did seem to get worse. In the last fortnight, we’ve had a dramatic change.
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Hide Ad“The way of using it as a public amenity is amazing. I go out there and look at the plants, I can open my back gate and see the flowers, people really appreciate it.”


John, wearing a gardening hat said he was “90 even” and still tending to his own garden, with lights placed round his neatly trimmed lawn at his home. He said the changes to the entry had given the area new energy with people coming by to call in on him.
He said: “Every day I see them, I can sit there with it open and people come by and say hello. Nobody ever used to bother in the last 20 years.
“I’ve got wonderful neighbours, you couldn’t replace them. Nobody comes past now without saying hello.”
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The work hasn’t gone unnoticed across the city either, with praise from the city council. Posting on social media, the local authority said: “”Bravo to the residents of Buckingham Road whose amazing alleyway transformation has inspired nearby streets to start their own Tuebrook In Bloom.
“Congrats to all involved.” LSSL added: “Residents of Buckingham Road, Tuebrook, have turned their alleyway into a stunning community space.
“The before captures an area not yet transformed to show what it used to look like. Huge shoutout to the volunteers and Cllr Billy Lake for leading the way.”
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