Beautiful but quiet village becoming foodie haven with more visitors than ever

A beautiful but quiet village is becoming a foodie haven with more visitors than ever.

Oxton is a small village nestled in the east of Birkenhead. It remains unknown, or at least unvisited, by many people across Merseyside. This is changing, however, as foodies and Instagrammers begin to catch on to its unique offering of independent businesses.

The village may be modest in size, but it has a charming high street rich with cafes, bars and restaurants as well as attractive residences and pretty green spaces that locals are proud of. 

Married couple, Helen and Chris Jones own one such business, the coffee shop Twenty Sixteen.

Helen told the Liverpool Echo: "Everywhere in the village offers something different so there’s not really a rivalry between anyone. We all help each other and want everyone else’s businesses to thrive.

“If other places are doing well, it is good for your place as it brings more people to the area. I love that it’s all independent around here. There are so many quirky little places with their own personality. It’s not like other high-streets which have your typical chains."

Chris added: “Oxton’s such a busy little village and has so much personality. You can spend a whole day here, going in and out of the different shops, cafés, bars and restaurants."

Manager of Tex-Mex restaurant Low Slow & Dough, Tom Murray, said that the village is like Lark Lane in Liverpool in its infancy.

“Loads of folks don’t know about the place yet, but I feel like if more people knew about the area, then we’d get a lot more footfall,” he said. “The village is beautiful; it’s part of Birkenhead but is its own little thing at the same time."

Fontaine Fadiora, owner of Bisque-It pottery café, added: "Oxton is a little haven here where you feel welcomed and homely. People around here become part of your life and become invested in each other.

Jess Basnett, who helps her parents run the wine bar The Library, said when they opened she was worried that they wouldn’t be accepted. 

“There’s a lot of bars here that have been in the village for a very long time and I wondered that the locals would be set in their ways about where they wanted to go,” she said.

“But when we opened, I couldn’t believe how welcoming everyone was. People were so lovely and there is such a community feel here. On a Friday night in the bar everyone knows each other and people will be sat with people they didn’t walk in with. A couple of people have told us it is like the show, Cheers in here."