A NEW housing development at Rainhill will be a reminder of the part the area played in railway development and a pioneering loco.

St Helens Council has approved Countryside’s plan to build 89 new homes on the former Oak Tyres site on Warrington Road. The site will feature two, three and four-bedroom detached and semi-detached luxury homes which are targeted to go on sale this coming September.

The railway connection is that the development will be named Stephenson Grove in homage to George Stephenson and the famous Rocket which opened the Liverpool - Manchester railway on September 15, 1830 following its success at the previous year’s Rainhill trials.