Latest news with #Caldy
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Homes Under the Hammer star Dion Dublin can demolish his £1.2million mansion to build new luxury five-bed
Homes Under the Hammer presenter Dion Dublin has been given the green light to demolish his run-down mansion and build a series of luxury homes. The ex-Celtic and Manchester Utd forward, 56, splashed out £1.24million on a mansion in the upmarket village of Caldy, on the Wirral Peninsula, in Merseyside last year with his wife Cheryl. He had originally planned to renovate the run down property with Wirral Council giving him the go-ahead to take the house back to its former glory. But after some investigations Dublin decided to level it and start from scratch after the Aston Villa striker said the 'poor physical condition' of the 1930s building meant it would be cheaper and easier to build a new property. The new house will include a cinema room, large kitchen diner with pantry, plus games and play rooms for the couple's five-year-old daughter Ruby on the ground floor, and five en-suite bedrooms and a laundry room upstairs. New gate pillars will be installed at the entrance but the existing large hedgerows will be kept 'to retain the natural sense of enclosure which is enjoyed', the application says. There will be off road spaces for at least three cars, including electric vehicle charging and cycle parking, and a 715sqm garden accessed via a tiled terrace and steps. Specialist bat boxes will also be installed on the outside walls after four different species of the protected animal were sighted either emerging from the eaves of the house or foraging in the garden during surveys last summer. Bats are a protected species under UK law and it is illegal to kill, possess or handle them without a licence or to cause them harm or disturb their habitat in any way. Experts visited the property and a special bat licence would be needed if any of the mammals are discovered. The plans also state that the replacement home would not overlook or create any 'loss of privacy issues' to existing neighbouring properties. The application that has now been given the green light and the family claim the new house better reflects the family's 'needs and aspirations.' It has been designed in order to 'create a quality new living environment' while maintaining 'a sympathetic appearance within the street scene,' it says. The plans also state that the replacement home, which has impressive views over the River Dee estuary and north Wales and is just five minutes' walk to the nearest beach, would not overlook or create any 'loss of privacy issues' to existing neighbouring properties. Dublin, who moved into punditry and television work after retiring from football, previously revealed how he was asked to present Homes Under the Hammer when the BBC discovered he had set up a building firm after he finished playing. He said: '(They) said, '"Do you fancy walking around an empty house in Salford and telling us what you think of it?" And that's basically what happened. The new house will include a cinema room, large kitchen diner with pantry, plus games and play rooms for the couple's five-year-old daughter Ruby 'I walked around an empty house in Salford with a cameraman, had a look around and I said what I would do if it was mine. They liked it and there you go, that's how I've got onto Homes Under the Hammer.' Dublin, who married wife, Cheryl, in 2017, is also currently a director at former club Cambridge United. During his playing days he also had spells with Manchester United, Coventry City and Aston Villa before retiring and moving into broadcasting. Wirral Council said: 'The proposed development for the erection a replacement dwelling is not considered detrimental to the character of the wider street scene and is acceptable in terms of scale and design. 'The development is also not considered to have an adverse impact on the amenities which the occupiers of the neighbouring properties can reasonably expect to enjoy and provides sufficient residential accommodation for the enjoyment of future occupiers.'
BBC News
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Wirral home's garden makeover before This City is Ours filming
The designer of a garden which features prominently in the BBC drama series This City Is Ours has spoken of the "pleasant shock" of having his work seen by millions of Walker helped design the spacious grounds, complete with outdoor kitchen, hot tub and sun loungers, outside the home of the Phelans in the show about a fictional Merseyside crime than six million people watched the first episode of the series, which has become a word-of-mouth hit and is due to end on BBC One Walker runs Native Landscape Design, which was commissioned in 2022 by the owners of the property in Caldy, Wirral. Mr Walker said he "had no idea" the garden would become a location in the drama, adding that he only noticed it while watching the series on the BBC iPlayer with his wife."It was bewilderment," he said. "I wasn't expecting it - it was a pleasant shock!"The huge garden first appears in the fourth episode of the series, when the action moves back to Merseyside after a detour to the Phelan family's Mediterranean Walker said he worked with another company, Bespoke Outdoor Spaces, which built the garden over four months."When I first saw the garden, the patio was really narrow and felt quite cramped," he the patio did not get much light due to its north-facing aspect, he suggested extending it "to create a space that actually gets some sun". A huge sofa that has become the focal point of many meetings for the Phelan clan, dubbed the "Scouse Sopranos", was Walker said he felt some pride at seeing several characters - who live the high life of champagne and haute couture - sitting on the garden's "wide porcelain steps".The garden has made an impression on many viewers, with Mr Walker saying his firm had seen a "20% increase in enquiries" recently, not just in Wirral but across north-west England and north a possible second series has not been confirmed, some of the show's actors have said they would be very full series of This City Is Ours is available on BBC iPlayer Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram, and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
21-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Cornish Pirates 'pretty ugly' in Caldy victory
Cornish Pirates joint-head coach Gavin Cattle described his side's 27-24 win over Caldy as "pretty ugly". Pirates trailed 12-5 at the break in the Championship fixture before scoring three second-half tries as they recovered to get their third successive bonus-point victory keeps Pirates fifth in the table with five games to play."It was pretty ugly," Cattle told BBC Radio Cornwall. "We like looked like we had not a lot of energy in that first half."There was a lot of disjointed combinations in there and we expected to be a bit clunky, but we just didn't quite get that energy for whatever reason."We'll will have a look at that, but I thought the response at half-time in that aspect was better."We left some points out there to close the game, but credit to Caldy, they're a good mauling team and you can see they can play a bit as well."Callum Ridgway put Caldy in front after two minutes before Harry Hocking's try levelled the scores soon after, only for Charlie Hyde to cross midway through the half to give Caldy a 12-5 a try from Dan Hiscocks before a penalty try and a score from Alex Everett saw Pirates go 24-12 up midway through the second Hanson pulled an unconverted try back for Caldy, but Bruce Houston's penalty secured the win for the hosts before Hanson got a second try in the dying seconds."There's no doubt in my head around the hunger and the drive to do well for the shirt," Cattle added."We were just a bit clunky at times. Our backs have been executing really well on the wings, but I felt we threw a lot of missed passes."
BBC News
09-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Exeter & Newcastle seal cup quarter-final spots
Exeter Chiefs and Newcastle Falcons sealed quarter-final places in the Premiership Rugby Cup as they both made it five wins out of five in the group beat Cornish Pirates 43-7 to ensure they finish top of Pool E, while Newcastle dominated Caldy 73-12 to go through as Pool A join fellow Premiership sides Bath and Harlequins in the last eight with the final four places to be determined next Caldy and fellow Championship side Cornish Pirates will both finish bottom of their groups having lost all five Exeter and Newcastle struggling in the Premiership, their cup form has been Sandy Park Paul Brown-Bampoe starred for the hosts, scoring four tries, including a hat-trick after the break as Exeter pulled clear from their 10-7 half-time Capstick, Tommy Wyatt and Ethan Roots also went over for Rob Baxter's side, with Tom Georgiou scoring Pirates' only try in the first completely outclassed their lower league opponents, running in 11 tries at Kingston took a surprise lead through Will Robinson, but from then on Falcons took complete control with Jamie Blamire, Nathan Greenwood, Freddie Lockwood and Joe Davis all crossing from Adam Brocklebank, Connor Doherty and Reuben Parsons completed the rout.
