Oxton Village Annual Review 2003

Looking back on 2003 there were a number of significant changes around the village with shops and restaurants closing and the continued development of flats and houses within the area.  On the website front there were no real major developments this was partly due to family viruses at the start of the year (Chicken Pox for January and February) plus a computer virus in September and October. In between these events I managed to cover the very successful Secret Gardens event  in May and also complete the village diary up until September. On the village diary front I have decide to call it a day after completing it for nearly three years, which should allow me to spend more time on developing some of the other sections within the site over the coming year. The village lost two restaurants during 2003 with Restaurante Roma and Beadles closing in quick succession. Beadles has now been replaced by Oceans Fish Bar and it looks like a new restaurant is set to open in the early New Year in place of the Italian. Oxton Computers moved back into its old premisis allowing a carpet shop to open in Claughton Firs. Whilst the Sunbed shop closed and re-opened under new management as Ox-tan Sunbeds. Rumours abound about other developments that could be happening over the coming year however I'll wait until I get more news on these before going to print about them. On the developments front the Flats at the top of Storeton Road were completed and quickly sold, whilst the development of the two bedroomed "Luxury Appartments" in Prices Lane also recently went to market. Roklis Manor, the two bedroomed appartment block development in Claughton Firs, has almost been completed, and I noted that just before the end of 2003 a commemorative plaque was added to the wall off the building. Oxton seems to remain on the list desirable places to live with a number of houses currently on the market for in excess of £250,000 in Victoria Mount and houses in Village Road selling for over £350,000. Cosmetic Changes during the year included a number of waste paper baskets appearing around the village, and the junction at the bottom of Rose Mount was significantly changed with the addition of an island in the middle of Village Road. This development was just about completed in time for the Oxton Societies Annual Secret Gardens event, which once again proved a major hit attracting close on 1000 visitors over the day. The noticeboard at the centre of the village appears to be being updated regularily with events and information particularily with reference to the Oxton Society who have run a number of fund raising events during the year as well as continuing with a number of campaigns to improve village life. Details of all this can be found on the Oxton Society web pages. Looking forward to 2004, as already mentioned I have decided to stop producing the monthly village diary which should enable me to spend some extra time developing the site itself. My immediate thoughts are to update the site with some new pictures, and also look back through my catalogue of old pictures (I have over 300!!) and try to add a few more galleries to the site.  I am also hoping to develop the Oxton Society web pages within the site to hopefully provide a more up to date point of reference on the Societies current projects. (keep an eye out for the latest news on Spring Villas and the campaign to reinstate the Oxton Postal District). During 2003 I didn't spend much time promoting the website on the internet and as such there wasn't really an increased number of hits on the site (5277 in 2004 compared with 5043 in 2003) although it was nice to see that the site did manage to maintain an average of over 420 hits per month in 2003. I have decided that on an ongoing basis I will be looking to attract more visitors to the site during 2004. Initially I will be attempting to link to a number of other sites of interest over the coming months, so keep an eye out for new links that appear throughout the site.   Finally I hope that everyone has an eventful and Happy 2004 and as usual I would welcome any thoughts or articles for the site that can be emailed to me directly on webhost@oxtonvillage.com	Oxtons Secret Gardens event 2003 This was a hugh success with over 3400 visitors enjoying not only the opportunity to see a whole host of varying gardens but also the change to listen to Jazz musicians and a Brass band, in the village centre whilst local crafts were available for sale in the Oxton Arms car park.
	Stats for 2003 Total hits in 2003 - 5277 Average Hits per month - 439 Best Month - May (559) Worst Month September (320) Graph showing the monthly hits the site received during 2003
	A couple of Images from 2003 (above)Hanging Baskets appeared in full bloom over and around doors in the village. Whilst I added a number of views of Liverpool to my collection of pictures taken from my upstairs window before the new Roklis Manor development obscured the Liverpool Waterfront in September.