A tiny village on the Wirral started with just nine homes and eventually had its own airport.
Hooton, which is in the southern part of the peninsula, can be first traced back in the Domesday Book as Hotone and was reportedly under the ownership of Richard de Vernon, and consisted of only nine houses. William the Conqueror granted the lands of Hooton to Adam de Aldithly in 1070 before being eventually passed down to the Stanley family.
The village went through many changes through the decades, including having Hooton Hall which was designed for the fifth Baronet Sir William Stanley. In the 19th century after Sir Massey Stanley went bankrupt due to his high living, the family decided to sell the estate.
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The hall was then left abandoned after the last private owner Richard Naylor moved due to the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal. As WWI broke out, the hall was used as a military hospital and officers mess.
It was sadly demolished in 1932 after being neglected. However, part of Hooton is now in Wales as Hooton Hall's façade was reconstructed as The Gloriette at the tourist village of Portmeirion.
The tiny village also had its own RAF base which was originally a racecourse but became an aerodrome in 1917 and was used as a site to train the army and pilots. In 1930, 11 years after the Royal Flying Corps disbanded from the area in 1919, Hooton officially became Liverpool Airport serving the Northwest.
A title the Hooton site held for three years before Speke - now known as Liverpool John Lennon Airport - took it when it was officially named in July 1933. When WWII hit, Hooton became an industrial hub of activity housing bombers such as Fairey Battles, Hurricanes and Spitfires.
Patrol flights operated out of Hooton across the Irish Sea and RAF aircraft were assembled and repaired. One of its most poignant moments during WWII was during the retreat from Dunkirk - the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940 - when a huge variety of aircraft landed at Hooton.
While aircraft repair work continued at the site after the war, it closed in 1957 and was later bought by Vauxhall Motors in 1962. Hooton Park slowly fell into disrepair, and with the risk of losing the historic site, The Hooton Park Trust was founded in 2000.
After taking ownership of the extensive site, the trust looked to preserve the Hangers for future generations. Due to the conditions of the buildings, they were put on Historic England's 'at risk' list in 2003.
In 2018, Building 17 (Central) and Building 18 (Southern) GS sheds were taken off the register thanks to repairs funded by Historic England, WREN (landfill tax), Vauxhall matching funding and the dedicated team of the Hooton Park Trust. These two sites have become venues of heritage open days and the trust supports restoration work by storing people's cars for a fee.
More recently the Hooton Park Trust have also opened Building 16 on the site. This part of Hooton's history has also inspired owner's of the only hotel in Hooton in their business.
David Cobb, also known as Chip, has been the owner of The Woodcote Hotel for the past five years, together with his wife Tina. Sitting on the long road of Hooton Road, the venue is perfect for those who want a place to stay, eat or drink for those passing by or people living in the village.
David, 66, said they purchased the hotel five years ago and set out to refurbish the property. Speaking to the ECHO, he said: "Initially we had considered closing and completing all the work without the additional concern of customers. However, we realised that there were too many advanced bookings for events. Not a good thing to tell a customer that their wedding is cancelled because we were decorating.
"The decision was made to co-ordinate around the hotel's events, this led to many wonderful challenges. We completed our refurbishment after 12/18 months and began to plan for promoting the business. Then we were introduced to covid, and the business closed.
"We reopened after covid, and sadly discovered that some of the staff had moved on to other careers. It has been quite a challenge to assemble a new staff, however, this has been achieved and we are ready to forge forward and become the shining star in Hooton."
Speaking about Hooton's history and how it inspired The Hotel, David added: "To this end, we have decided to rename our restaurant and bar. After much research of Hooton’s history, we discovered that we are a hop, skip and a jump from what was Hooton Park Airfield.
"The airfield was built in 1917 for training WW1 pilots and after the war became a commercial airfield with the longest runway in Europe. It was the primary airfield of the North serving Liverpool and surrounding areas. With the advent of WW2, it once again became an RAF facility with Meteor jet, hurricane and spitfires along with the 610 squadron assigned from Chester.
"The squadron fought in the Battle of Britain with many brave fighter pilots serving. The history of the airfield is very replete with many stories of Hooton and its community. With this in mind, our new restaurant and bar will be named “The 610 Squadron” in memory of Hooton’s Airfield and all the amazing history that surrounds it.
"Even though we are now open for business, the new restaurant and bar will have a soft launch in August. Hopefully, the business will take off."
People living in Hooton described the village as "small" and "lovely". It is home to around 400 people. There is The Chimney pub just across the busy New Chester Road and off Hooton Green. Near the pub are more homes.
When the ECHO visited this small village, we saw how traffic passed through via Hooton Road to join the New Chester Road and the M53. One resident said that the road "can be busy".
The mum-of-two who said she had lived in Hooton for 27 years described the village as "lovely". She said: "I have had a lot of friends who have lived here. Some of them have downsized and I am getting to that situation myself in couple of years because my kids are 25 and 21. Sometimes this road can be a bit busy but it is lovely."
She told the ECHO how she had some concerns with potential developments coming in on land which surrounds the village. Alan Knight who stopped and chatted to the ECHO as he walked his dog said: "We have been here 30-odd years and it is a lovely place. The neighbours are nice and everyone keeps their gardens tidy. It's a nice place. You have a restaurant, pub which is OK as well. They do well, they do a lot of functions there.
"I find people are very nice here and it's nice and quiet here as well. We used to live in Great Sutton and it could get a bit rowdy there. Plus where we are it has got a little bit more room."
Like many small villages, Hooton is sparse of shops and supermarkets and a car is needed to get to one. There is a Spar in the nearby village of Willaston or three Tesco Express which are in the Little Sutton and Great Sutton areas.
One resident told the ECHO: "You need to get in your car, but I didn't mind that. I just think if you want to live somewhere like this you have to be prepared to get in your car. When they built the new housing estate people were saying 'where do you go shopping' and I said 'you have to do what we did and get in your car or don't live there'".
Hooton does have a train station at the other end of Hooton Road. A new housing development has also been built called Palladian Gardens and close by is the Church of St Mary of the Angels.
There is also the industrial side of the village, with Hooton Works Training Estate and Oaklands Business Park also near the train station.
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