O.K. not Wirral, but close enough. Reading the 1837 Parliamentary report on the proposed Chester-Birkenhead railway which granny linked to on the Seafield House thread, I came across references to a possible stopping place at Capenhurst, which the report said would be a convenient place for people and goods to join the trains if they had come from King's Ferry. All I could find about this was that it was on the river Dee, which immediately led me to think of Queensferry. I Googled it and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensferry,_Flintshire I'd no idea how the name had changed from "Lower Ferry" to "Kingsferry" then "Queensferry", according to which monarch was on the throne.
The new vehicular bridge was built at a cost of £13,000, met by the councils of Flintshire and Cheshire. It was expected a toll would be paid for the use by vehicles and animals, while foot users would be free.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
When the river was diverted into the New Cut in 1737 it became clear that the previous freedom to cross the Dee via the fords had disappeared. Therefore an Act in 1743 required that two ferries must be provided across the canalised Dee. They were called the Higher Ferry at Saltney and the Lower Ferry at the place that later became Queensferry.
In 1820, to celebrate George IV’s accession, the Lower Ferry was renamed King’s Ferry.
In 1837, when Queen Victoria took the throne, the ferry was renamed Queen’s Ferry.
In 1897 the Victoria Jubilee Bridge opened. It was made of iron girders and was in three spans, one each on the north and south bank abutments and a central span which was in two parts. When vessels needed to pass, the centre sections were withdrawn into a box space in each of the bank spans. Steam-driven hydraulic rams powered the opening and closing of the central span sections.
In 1926 a new bridge was built and received the name 'Jubilee Bridge'. It was a bascule design i.e. lifting sections. It is now a distinctive blue colour. It has not opened since (at least) the 1960s.
The abutments of the Victoria Jubilee Bridge can still be seen next to the blue bridge.
In 1926 a new bridge was built and received the name 'Jubilee Bridge'. It was a bascule design i.e. lifting sections. It is now a distinctive blue colour. It has not opened since (at least) the 1960s.
Correction - the 1926 bridge (known today as the Blue Bridge) was never called the Jubilee Bridge. It was the 1897 bridge which was named Victoria Jubilee Bridge, or Jubilee Bridge for short.
