Welsh Streets
The Welsh Streets is an area of around 450 terraced houses next to Liverpool’s Princes Park. It’s within walking distance from both Princes and Sefton Park with great transport links and local shops. The Welsh Streets have held lasting appeal to young and old alike, offering affordable housing in a friendly neighbourhood. Their continued existence is under threat.
Although Liverpool's connection with Ireland and Irish emigration is well known, a less told story is that large parts of Liverpool was built by Welsh workers who were attracted to Liverpool with the promise of jobs in the late 19th and early 20th century.. They left behind a poignant built reminder of their labours. There were once 70 Welsh chapels in Liverpool but now only a handful remain. However, it is in housing that they really made a mark. In the late-1800s the Welsh Streets were built near Princes Park. So called because they were built and lived in by Welsh workers and the streets were all given Welsh names reminiscent of the towns, villages and valleys they had left behind.
Ringo Starr, of Beatles fame, was born in 9 Madryn Street although his family moved a few streets away before he became famous.
When demolition was first mooted a decade ago, many residents called for alternatives About 30% were owner-occupied with the remainder owned by housing associations or the city council