Wooden bungalow on the idyllic island cut off by the tide 12 hours a day

Inside a wooden bungalow on an island in River Dee, Mike Cox's family have 100 years of memories.

The 77-year-old uses the bungalow on Hilbre Island as a holiday home, first bought by his grandfather in 1922. Located around a mile from West Kirby in Wirral, Hilbre Island boasts panoramic views across the Dee estuary to North Wales and Wirral.

Only 11 acres in size, the small and rocky island is accessible by foot during low tide from the mainland at West Kirby. But when the visitors go home and the tide comes in, the island is completely isolated in the River Dee.

This sense of solitude is something Mike has experienced every year since 1946 when he visited the island for the first time, aged just six weeks old. Mike told the ECHO: "I was taken over when I was six weeks old - we stayed three nights.

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"I'm the only person on the planet who has stayed on Hilbre Island every year since then. When we're there and people go home and the tide comes in, we've got solitude.

"We can watch the sun go down and the seals - they're extraordinary beings the Atlantic seals. When the tide comes in it cuts us off and I can't explain that - we're isolated and it's great fun.

"You can sit in the garden and have lunch, open a bottle of wine. It's very special."

Hilbre Island is part of a group of three islands, along with Middle Eye and Little Eye. They are part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest and home to a colony of grey seals, as well as a huge variety of plants and birds.

Mike's family own their bungalow and rent the plot on which it sits from Wirral Council. The building was originally located on the Manchester Ship Canal where it was used as a Navvy's hut, before it was relocated to Hilbre Island around 1896.

The two bedroom bungalow is made almost entirely out of wood and can sleep up to seven people in total. It has no running water, gas or central heating.

This means Mike collects rain water from the roof to store in tanks around the house which contain up to 500 gallons of water in total, for everything except drinking. The family also use gas cannisters to operate a heater and cooking facilities at the bungalow.

The tide cycle on the island is 25 hours, meaning there are 12 hours out of 25 when you can't cross. Mike's family have helped to rescue visitors who have been stranded on the island and assisted them back to the mainland.

Mike said: "We use it for holiday accommodation. It was a stroke of genius for my grandfather to buy it.

"Every member of my family who goes there gets a tide timetable at Christmas so we know exactly when we can cross and when we can't.

"Some of the sunsets we have in the summer are spectacular. We watch the sun go down over North Wales.

"There was one occasion when I was still working, I went back to work and they said 'where have you been to the Caribbean?' I said 'no I've been to Hilbre, less than 10 miles away'."

Mike's bungalow is one of four buildings currently occupied on the island, including another holiday home owned by a different family, a bungalow used by the Mersey Canoe Club and the Bird Observatory.

A number of derelict buildings on the island could become a new scientific research base and art studio as plans move forward. You can read more about the plans here.

Merseyside is full of interesting buildings, each with their own story to tell.

From the first townhouse to be built on one of the city's oldest streets to the wooden chalets by the sea, we love taking a look inside these buildings and what came before them.

That's why we've launched our 'Behind the Doors' series to take a closer look inside some of the region's much loved buildings - and we'd love to hear from you.

Whether you live in a quirky or historic building or walk past one on your daily commute, we'd love to hear from you. If you'd like to get in touch please email: charlotte.hadfield@reachplc.com

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