West Kirby Today #133
Invitation to lifeboat naming ceremony | Rotary Club to get on their bikes to tackle prostate cancer | Small plates make a big impression at Chaat | Birkenhead School Seniors & Sixth Form Open Evening
Letter from the Editor
Welcome to our newsletter, with the latest news for West Kirby, Newton, Caldy, Hoylake and Meols.
West Kirby Today is provided free of charge, and a big thank you to our current advertisers whose paid partnerships help to subsidise our work. You can also contribute a small donation to help cover our running costs by buying us a virtual coffee here - thanks to Barbar Dufton and Annabel Underwood for their recent contributions.
Kind regards,
Paul Johnston - Editor, West Kirby Today
New lifeboat naming ceremony on Saturday
The Chief Executive of the RNLI and Wirral’s Mayor will officially name West Kirby’s new lifeboat at a special ceremony on South Parade on Saturday 21 September.
It follows a fundraising campaign which saw £73,000 raised in less than eight months to purchase the D-class vessel, Leonard Pownall. Read more.
West Kirby Rotary Club are getting on their bikes to tackle prostate cancer.
On Saturday 21 September, from 9am, their members will be saddling up for a 200k static bike ride which will see them undertake a virtual tour around all the hospitals treating prostate cancer in our region. Read more.
RESTAURANT REVIEW: Small plates make a big impression at Chaat
One of West Kirby’s long-standing Indian restaurants has recently had a major makeover, changing its name from Karma to Chaat, creating a smart new interior and introducing a brand new tapas style menu. We popped along to sample the food, as guests of the Miah family…
This is a bit awkward, given the circumstances, but I need to bring it up at the start: I am not generally a fan of tapas. Or small plates. Or sharing dishes. I am old school when it comes to eating out. My preference is to order the meal I want, and eat it myself.
As Smithy famously ranted on TV’s Gavin and Stacey when railing against a shared curry order: “I can guarantee that Pete is already eyeing up my bhuna…if you want a bhuna, order a bhuna!”
So a trip to Chaat, which now specialises in tapas style dishes, could have been – pardon the pun – a recipe for disaster.
Spoiler alert: it didn’t turn out that way.
The first thing you notice when you enter Chaat is how green it is. I am not just talking about the chairs, tables and menus, but also the foliage hanging on the walls.
There’s been investment in a smart new bar area near the entrance, which serves cocktails as well as beer and wine.
The exposed brickwork on the wall adds to the contemporary feel.
As my wife and I perused the menu, I resolved to overcome my prejudice of tapas. After all, I told myself sternly, we usually share a naan bread when we go for a curry.
We started with ‘Papadom Chaat’, which is a new take on papadoms. It is designed to share (naturally), and features several nacho-style snacks covered in a tangy spicy sauce and mixed herbs. They are a bit messy if you use your hands, but are a taste sensation and beat a pickle tray hands down any day of the week.
We then opted for starters: masala grilled fish which melted in the mouth, and an extremely flavoursome paneer tikka.
Our curries were the railway lamb, which has a subtle heat that gradually builds the more you eat, and murgh makhani – chicken tikka with spiced tomato, ginger and curry leaves in a rich butter sauce, which was lightly spiced.
We bulked out the dishes with the traditional Indian accompaniments of garlic naan and rice.
One benefit of tapas dining (although not for our waistlines) was that we had room left for dessert. I am slightly ashamed to say that we chose the least Indian dish on the menu: a delicious chocolate brownie with ice cream.
And yes, we shared it.
Chaat is open Tuesday – Sunday, 5-9pm. For reservations visit
https://www.chaatwestkirby.co.uk/
West Kirby Today dined as guests of Chaat.
Birkenhead School Seniors and Sixth Form Opening Evening
Are you considering Senior Schools or Sixth Forms for your child, or know someone who is?
Birkenhead School is holding a Seniors and Sixth Form Open Evening on Thursday, 3rd October, from 6-8pm.
The School offers an education that extends beyond the national curriculum. With an enriching co-curricular programme including sports, music, drama, clubs and trips, that adds value to every student’s journey and sets them apart from their peers.
The School achieved excellent examination results in the summer with 25% of A-Level grades awarded A* and 62% at A/A*. GCSE results were equally strong with 21% of grades awarded grade 9 and 59% of grades awarded 7-9.
Bus routes are available from West Kirby, Caldy, Hoylake, and Meols.
Register today to explore the unique opportunities a Birkenhead School education can offer your child: https://bit.ly/4e7vsX7
⭐Assessment Days for 2025 entry (Year 6 applicants) are taking place 20/21/22nd January
⭐Assessment Days for 2026 entry (Year 5 applicants) are taking place 16/17/18th June
#ThereIsSomethingSpecialAboutThisSchool #IndependenceToInspire #FindYourNiche #OpenEvening #Liverpool #Wirral
The above article is sponsored content.
Things to do - what’s on!
Join Hoylake Chamber Concert Society for the opening concert of their 2024-25 season, featuring internationally renowned choral group, The Gesualdo Six, at St Hildeburgh’s Parish Church in Hoylake on September 23rd at 7.30pm. Tickets are selling fast, so make sure to get yours at https://tinyurl.com/4wzak5f6
Tickets are now available for West Kirby Musical Theatre Company’s performance of Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast – The Broadway Musical’. It is being staged at the historic Gladstone Theatre in Port Sunlight from Wednesday 6 November to Saturday 9 November at 7:30pm, with a Saturday matinee at 2:30pm. Tickets cost £16 plus booking fees and are available at https://www.wkmtc.co.uk/tickets.
Light is emphasised in all its subtlety and drama in Light Untold - a new exhibition at the LAKE gallery on Grange Road in West Kirby. Four artists tackle the subject in very different ways via photography and collage, oil paint and watercolour, and with varying degrees of realism, expression and abstraction. The exhibition is on until 12 October, and the gallery is open Thursday – Saturday, 10am – 4pm.
West Kirby Farmers’ Market takes place in St Andrew’s Church Hall and car park on Saturday 28 September from 9am - 12 midday.
Hoylake Artisan Market is on Saturday 28 September from 11am - 4pm at The Shop Inn on Market Street.
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Has the review of Chaat got a paragraph or two missing? I see plenty about the writers personal preferences and prejudices and what him and his wife ordered, comments made on the decor, but no analysis on how good the dishes were, what it tasted like? etc - I literally have no idea from this piece if it was good or not - should I go and get a non Indian dessert??? lemme know