Theres a low bridge before the motorway and before asda in woodchurch/prenton. I think its woodchurch road the road were the swan pub is, anyway,
Is it true about when it was first built an open top bus when under it and someone got there head tuck striaght off?
just wondering if anyone knows anything coz that story has always amazed me and Im not sure if its really true or just a story

The bridge is the rail bridge for the Wrexham-Bidston (Borderlands) Line

Can't find any history on the bridge though

Take it you are going on about the railway bridge by Durley Drive. A doubledeaker bus clears that with quite a bit of space left over, so unless it was an extremely tall person, I'd say it is a myth.

standing up i think

Don't forget its the floor you stand on, on a bus, not the roof, so standing up on a open top bus there is still loads of space above your head. I've never heard that story myself, That bridge was known as the commodore bridge.

The stated height clearance was always 13'-3" (disregard the Euro-Crap measurements)under the Woodchurch Rd railway bridge. As Neston Vasey says, a d/deck bus clears it with oodles to spare. Never heard the de-capitation story before.

The present bridge was erected in the 1930's when Woodchurch Road was widened. MAYBE the original, smaller bridge was lower. I have never seen a photo of the original bridge. Has anyone else ??

B'head only had two open top d/deckers, both AEC "B" types which ran from 1921 to 1925/6. Reg.Nos. CM 1711-12. They ran mainly on the Moreton route. So maybe ...... ?? After those, Leyland Leviathans with covered tops took over and it's been covered top decks ever since.

Come to think of it, B'head had another 3 (?) open toppers from the mid fifties onward. At least they became open toppers after trying to go under the low bridge in Green Lane. Only the buses returned to service. The drivers didn't !

during the boy scouts jamborie which was held at Arrow park in 1917 {think that is the correct year} a boy scout was standing up on the top deck of an open top bus and was killed when his head struck the railway bridge at the bottom of woodchurch road. One can only assume he was a very tall person for this to have happened unless he was fooling arround and standing on one of the seats

The jamboree was 1929 i think and that would be before this bridge was erected according to Pinz.

I was going to post earlier that buses clear this with ease. But, then it occurred to me, even though the bridge may have been in the same position, the road below it may have been higher. It's a possibility that the road was dug deeper afterwards.

I live near here, I've seen about three trains in all that time.
They need to put a station here (I think they were at some point), as there's loads of space and there's no station for about 3 or 4 miles.

There is a plan that being lurking for years that gets dusted off regularly, to build at new station at the Woodchurch Rd. railway bridge. The 3rd rail would be extended from Bidston Station via Upton. You would then have a direct electric train service to/from L'pool. So easy to do.

This could have been done years ago. Too much time spent faffing around and no action !

Heard (but think it's twaddle myself) that, once upon a moon ago, someone got brained on the Wallasey Village station bridge and was only saved because the bus was going relatively slow after moving off?

As for 3rd rail electrification of the Bidston-Wrexham line, I'm all for it but I think they should re-open the spur between Bidston and Wallasey Village again so routes between West Kirby and New Brighton are better. I mean personally I'd like to see the Wirral Way reinstated and a rail junction leading from Leasowe to Upton so all sorts of connections can be made but hey! That's a little off-topic rant for you!

The story about the boy scout is mentioned in one of the wirral books but i cant remember which one. I think (not sure though) that the monument in the grounds of the hospital are in his memory. Apparently he was a foreign scout. I will have a look in some of the books i have and post any info

i was just about to brush this story off as just a story someone made up and they told to me but seems now it must be true wow a horrable way to died you'd think there would be some sort of plack on the bridge in his memory

went through here today and noticed the shape of the road,your theory could be correct..looking from further back there is a definate dip in the road under the bridge and there did not seem to be that much clearance when i watched a bus go under it.....how much clearance is classed as plenty for a bus driver?

Just to clear up a few misconceptions:


The Jamboree at Arrowe Park was from 31st July to 13th August 1929


Correct, although there is a bit of uncertainty in the date of withdrawal, T B Maund gives the date of withdrawal as 1925/26; Tom Turner gives 1925 for CM1711 and 1928 for CM1712. Either way, there were no open topped buses operated by Birkenhead Corporation in 1929.





The monument is to commemorate the jamboree, the inscription reads:

"The Chief Scouts farewell bidding – Today I send you out from Arrowe Park to all the World bearing a symbol of peace and fellowship. Each one of you a ambassador bearing a message of love and fellowship on the wings of sacrifice and service to the ends of the earth. From now on the Scout symbol of peace is the golden arrow carry it fast and far"

I, personally, doubt the story as none of the published histories of Birkenhead Corporation Transport mention it, while they do mention other accidents - but that is just my opinion.

There has always been a dip in that road, i can remember before the flyover was built there was a bad storm one night and the water flooded on to the bus at that spot, the Fender was flooded and the water use to trap under that rail bridge and back to the road bridge that ran across the fender

'Tis true that it was known as the Commodore bridge,Way back in the '70's somebody from the Woodchurch was arrested for painting "Commodores"on the bridge.As they were playing in Liverpool,I was always led to believe that Lionel Richie and the rest of the band had heard of the arrest and paid the lads fine.

Chris.

Yes this has been going around since I was a kid. Also they were going to build one by Ridgeway school, with link bridge/tunnel over motorway to Woodchurch and also one were the scout hut is/used to be on the Ford/Beechwood.
This would have then given these areas regular links to liverpool and the rest of he Wirral line

Like Bert, I too remember the low point under the bridge flooding on more than one occasion. As a child I used to live just off Woodchurch Rd., a couple of hundred yards from the bridge. I suppose if the Fender was in full spate there was nowhere for the water to go.

Maybe it was Bert's flood, but once the water depth was a good 2' 0" deep. (That's a third of a fathom DD. !! - sorry couldn't resist that one)

No one's coughed up any photo of the pre-1930's bridge yet, which would be good to see. I'll hurl a separate thread about same into the Electric Mangle and see what comes up.

There's actually an hourly service between Wrexham & Bidston, so a train passes over the bridge every 1/2 hour.
There certainly were plans for a station here, as far back as the late 1800's & on & off since then. At one stage, it was where the proposed line from Birkenhead Central (see other threads, including 'Abandoned train station at Singleton Ave.'). I think they're still considering electrifying the Wrexham line.

i've read about the plans for a station there in merseyrail eletrics the inside story (which i have lost a very good book with good pics) by T.B Maund

There is a lot of information on the line, its history, the plans for electrification, and the planned new stations on Dave Sallery website here

The following comes from his site (November 2008):

re a possible new statoin:

I have heard (don't know if it's entirely true though!) that Merseytravel have always owned the land that the rugby club is on by the bridge with a view to there being a station on it eventually. When the club cleared out a few years ago I thought something was going to happen but no.

If a new station was built here (with a free bus to APH perhaps), along with one at Beechwood and one as near to Clatterbridge as posisble with a dedicated bus route to the Hospital. The line would have to be electrified and plugged properly into Merseyrail so trains would go direct from Liverpool to Wrexham.

Not going to happen though they've spent their £30 million for this year on the Bidston flyover.....

A couple of times a year something gets stuck or hits this bridge - I saw a car transporter hit it about 6 weeks ago.

I think the headroom is OK, it's just the road dips down on both sides - so if it's a long trailer load - it's going up the other side whilst the back is still going down - if you get my drift.

this always makes me wonder why that flyover constantly has scafolding and cones all over it.

The story of the Boy Scout being decapitated on the top deck of a bus was around when I was a kid in Birkenhead in the 1950s and accepted as fact by most people.
It seems to have been one of those persistent urban tales that may well have had an element of truth about it - and it would be interesting if any firm evidence could be found even now.
I definitely remember seeing a double-decker bus soon after it had its top torn off while trying unsuccessfully to get under the low railway bridge at Waterloo Place / Blackpool Street in Birkenhead in the late 1950s. However, this was not the 'Boy Scout' bus, because there were no casualties (apart perhaps from the driver's job prospects!). This bridge is still there, but the railway line is now unused.

It really p1sses me off to see no station near the Woodchurch bridge. Dell estate, Woodchurch Estate, Holmlands estate, Durley estate, North Cheshire Industrial all within easy reach. Not to mention the M53 and APH and the fact that it's on a major bus route. Space for parking too!

I understand that electrification of the line would be expensive, either by third rail or overhead but this can come at a later date.

I am expected to consider leaving my car at home? For f*cks sake put the stations where they are needed and will make financial sense. Give us viable alternatives to the horseless carriage!

10/11 years ago my son used to play football there and they had to move to another home pitch elsewhere because they were told there was going to be a train station built there
Same type of rumour about building one at Millhouse Lane by the Arrowebrooke stream

the building of a station at the bottom of woodchurch road was part of the grand plan when the site was chosen for arrow park hospital along also with the electricifaction of the railway line and the link up of that same line into the mersey railway loop at bidston

It was always known as the Rockers Bridge when I was younger as someone painted the word "rockers" on it in the late 60s or early 70s. Later in the 70s, it had Dalek I Love You painted on it allegedly by Dave Balfe himself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalek_I_Love_You

The pitch is the other side of the fender? I'd imagine without some of the pitch space, there wouldn't be much of a car park though.

New stations have been built recently, Eastham, Bromborough Rake, Liverpool South Parkway to name a few. Lines have been electrified to Hooton ('85) then Chester ('93) and Eport ('94). I would hope that it would give the Bidston/Prenton some hope.

I'm not an expert of railway privatisation, but it makes you wonder if things may have progressed further under BR than network rail.

I could have sworn that I had already posted this ages ago but reading the thread it would appear that I hadn't. Myself and Jake were going to Asda one day about 2 years ago when we saw a car transporter hit this bridge coming the other way. Wiped out the entire contents of it's top floor. 4 brand new Fords (I think) upside down on Woodchurch Road. It was so cool!

I remember that, quality entertainment. The Wilkinson lorry was another good one, the whole of prenton was almost littered in cheap household goods.

Got a reprint of the Hundred of Wirral somewhere by Wirral libraries,it has a map in side the front cover showing the proposed routes/built route for the railway lines one part showed a line coming off the mid Wirral line and go to Prenton,can't remember where the book is as it's packed away but will look for it when time permits.

There have been suggestion of alternatives to 3rd rail electrification on the Bidston/Wrexham line. Some of these could include part electrification to Prenton or overhead (25KV) along all or part of the route.

25KV is more efficient and there is less current loss and in most cases safer. No other organisation would be allowed to run 750vdc along the ground unsheilded. Merseyrail would need to stay with 3rd rail due to the number of bridges and most importantly the dimensions of the tunnel/loop.

Duel fuel trains could also be an option and these are being considered to replace the existing 507/508 classes due around 2012. Motive power could come from diesel/electric, electric 750vdc, 25KV or a hybrid of all three.

I know that objections have been raised in Wales for Welsh passengers having to change at Prenton for services to Liverpool

As opposed to now when they have to change at Bidston?

Here's a copy of an 1888 map. This was before the Bidston/Wrexham line was built, but the map shows the proposed (& authorised) line of what was to be the Connah's Quay railway. It clearly shows the proposed junction at Prenton Bridge; also, the proposed line from there to Central station.

Interestingly, it also shows a proposed new road through Bidston Hill, which would later be called Vyner Rd. North, and a building estate South of there. Also, the loop of Ford Hill is shown.

yup. Because there is the West Kirby train to catch and if they terminated at Birkenhead North like they used to; there is also the new brighton train to catch.

Just to put the cat amongst the pigeons, the following item appeared in the Birkenhead News on 31st July 1929.

No decapitation, or even a death (I can't find any trace of an inquest over the succeeding weeks), and the item doesn't specifically mention Woodchurch Road...But how many bridges do you pass under on the way to Arrowe Park?

It just goes to show it doesn't pay to be too sceptical, even about apparent old wives' tales!

Bit harsh, bring back the guillotine....she does a better job on the French metinks!!

The bridge that the French scout clipped his swede on may not have been the present structure. The current (girderplate on brick abutments) bridge was installed when they widened Woodchurch Road. I stand to be corrected, but I think that was the early 30's.

The original bridge would have been a stone arch type and probably much lower and narrower. An open top bus. Low bridge. Le thwack !! Maybe ??

Maybe La thwack ??