Focus Point 4:
Dr Stoopes' Stone
In the latter part of the 18th Century, Wirral was a very wild and desolate place. When dusk descended it was also a dangerous place and strangers would soon get lost.
A medical man, Dr Haughton, had patients in the parishes of West Kirby, Woodchurch, Tranmere, Wallasey, Birkenhead and Bidston. He had to make numerous journeys by night and day, often getting lost especially during night-time or when it was misty. For guidance he erected a stone gatepost, called in country dialect a “stoop” and thus originated a nickname for himself “Dr Stoop”.
The stone can still be found today on Upton Road nearly opposite “Thermopylae Pass”.
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