The Palmhouse in Liverpool's splendid Sefton Park was a gift to the city by Henry Yates Thompson. It was designed by a Glasgow firm, McKenzie & Moncur ("hothouse builders and heating engineers to Queen Victoria") and completed in 1895.

Designed in the tradition of Joseph Paxton's classic glass houses, it was stocked originally with a magnificent collection of exotic plants. There were nine marble statues on display inside together with a marble bench. On plinths around the outside there were a further eight bronze & marble statues by Charalliand of famous explorers and naturalists including Charles Darwin and Christopher Columbus.

...and how it appeared in 1990, a mere five years later- disgracefully boarded up, derelict and stripped of the sculptures loved by generations of Liverpool people.

At the beginning of World War II the Palmhouse was camouflaged in case the glass reflected the moonlight and thus act as a guide for enemy aircraft. Matt oil paint was used on the outside of the building- grey stripes were painted over the dome, and the rest was coloured green to blend with the surrounding parkland.

In the blitz of May 1941 a bomb fell nearby and shattered all the glass. It was reglazed in 1950 at the considerable cost of £6,163 and continued to be enjoyed by the people of Liverpool. From childhood on, it was for years one of this writer's favourite places to visit.

However, a period of decline and deterioration culminated in its closure in the l980s. Many at the time considered the deliberate neglect of the Palmhouse to have been an ideological act of vandalism by Derek Hatton's Militant Labour government.