Because of the similarity with Letchworth, many people referred to the Wavertree estate, in the early days, as a 'Garden City'; but this was very definitely a misnomer. For true Garden Cities were the idea of a housing reformer called Ebenezer Howard. He had visited 'model' industrial villages like Cadbury's Bournville (in Birmingham) and Lever's Port Sunlight (on Merseyside) and been impressed by their spacious layout and wide range of social facilities. His dream was of a series of free-standing Garden Cities - combining the benefits of town and country, but the disadvantages of neither - where the residents would have not only decent houses to live in but also recreational facilities and a choice of employers close at hand.

In the event - largely owing to the difficulty of attracting firms away from the established centres of population - only two such Garden Cities were ever established: at Letchworth and Welwyn. But other reformers, including Henry Vivian, seized the chance to build 'garden city type' housing on the edge of existing towns and cities; leaving the residents to commute to work by bus, tram and train. Ebenezer Howard was not pleased; for suburban sprawl was the very thing which he had sought to avoid.

One of the key figures in the Garden Suburb movement was Raymond Unwin, the town planner responsible for the layout of Letchworth in 1904, and Hampstead Garden Suburb (probably the best-known example in England) in 1906. It was Unwin who laid out the first section of Wavertree Garden Suburb - north of Thingwall Road and west of Wavertree Nook Road - in 1910.

The early provision of recreational facilities was an important objective of most Garden Suburbs. Here at Wavertree, the 'Town Planning Review' was able to report, in October 1911, that: "A bowling green and two lawn tennis courts have been laid, and a gravel playground about half an acre in extent has been provided for the children and furnished with swings and see-saws". The bowling green and tennis courts still exist today: hidden away between the houses in Thingwall Road and Nook Rise.

No.13 Wavertree Nook Road was the very first house to be built in the new Garden Suburb, and under the bay window you can see the foundation stone laid on 20th July 1910 by the Marchioness of Salisbury. The stonelaying ceremony was attended by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and other prominent local personalities, who were treated to a programme of entertainment by the 'Victorian Court Band' and stirring speeches by Henry Vivian and others drawing attention to the wonderful Garden Suburb that was about to be created.

The Marchioness of Salisbury was, of course, the wife of Lord Salisbury, and he too spoke of his pride in being associated with the venture. It was the Marquess who had made the land available to Liverpool Garden Suburb Tenants on what were described as 'favourable terms'. In all, 180 acres - sufficient for over 1,800 houses - had been promised, which would make this Garden Suburb the largest in the country. The area earmarked for development straddled the newly-opened Queens Drive - 'Liverpool's circumferential boulevard' as it was described at the time - and extended almost as far as Broad Green station. Initially, though, it was just the 12 acres between Wavertree Nook Road and Southway which had been taken on a 999-year lease, and for which Raymond Unwin had planned the layout.