Hi

Not sure if i'm posting this in the right place, am new to this forum was advised to join this site from another forum.

I'm looking for a church not far away from Nelson Street area of Birkenhead. I understand Nelson Street was knocked down in the 1970's and that tha Grange Precinct stands on this site now.

The church i am looking for had some major work done on it in about 1966/67. I am trying to find the name of this church. One of my ancestors worked on the spire i think up a load of scaffolding. The scaffolding collapsed with two men on it one man survived with just cuts and bruises but my ancestor was killed. We are trying to find any newspaper cuttings about the incident and if there would have been an inquest and how i would go about finding this information out.

Thank You

Barnes75

i believe there's a pic of it in the grange precinct thread.

Thank you looks like this could be the church i am looking for. Was the whole are demolished for the Grange Precinct as my family came from the Nelson Street area of Birkenhead but can't seem to find this street on Google map.

Barnes75

Is this it?

Click here for the Grange Shopping Centre topic

google for St John Street and the church would have been a continuation of it into what is now the Pyramids
Nelson Street was roughly between 2 churches St Johns (C of E) and St Werburghs (RC)
info on accident may have been reported in the Birkenhead News
Liverpool Echo and not sure if Wirral Globe was about then
These may be online or in the Birkenhead library or Archives on microfiche

Just spoken to my dad and this doesn't seem to be the church i'm looking for. The church i'm looking for was of the Borough Road looking towards Tranmere. Could be the church in a triangle of roads Looks like Hind Street, Thomas Street,can't work out what the name of the other street is. Looking at old map of before the Grange Shopping Centre was built.

Barnes75

You referring to the Mission Chapel on Hind Street?

Thank you for that. That could be the one. Now got to find a way of getting newspaper reports and inquest reports. Now i've got a church name should be a lot easier.

Barnes75

From

http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/chs/birkenhead.html

Birkenhead, Methodist Chapel (Wesleyan), Hind Street. Built in 1873 (replacing a building in Blackpool Street), closed in 1966. Registers of baptisms 1873–1965 and marriages 1965–66 are at the Cheshire Record Office.

Where would i be able to find photos of this Church to show my dad then we will know for sure if this is the Church i am looking for. What i don't understand if it was closed in 1966 why where they doing work on it around this time.

Barnes75

Just guess work - sometimes when a church closes its not the immediate end of the building. Sometimes another church could take over or its turned into a community hall. Also, the church being "worked on" could be the removal of anything valuable ie spire before demolishing. Just guess work.

As for pics:- now we know the church someone may come across a pic. I'll search my database of pics and see what I turn up.

Could be the Hind St. one, or maybe more likely St.Werburgh's, near the bottom of Grange Rd. as this is close to Nelson St. The street is no longer there, but the church is. Both churches are on the attached map & Nelson St. is there at the extreme left edge. I'm sure someone could get pics. of St.Werburgh's for you.
Hope you find this site interesting.

Cheers, Chris.

P.S. Enlarge the map by using Ctrl and +

Chapel in Hind Street in the early 1900s.

I think the church you are looking for WAS St John's, because that was the only church in that area with a spire. Neither St Werburgh's nor the Hind Street Methodist Chapel had a spire, whereas St John's had a very tall traditional pointed spire.
St John's - which was just off Borough Road - was still standing in 1967. Around that time, clearance of much of the area was about to begin, to make way for the new shopping precinct.
It could be that scaffolding had been set up around St John's to help with demolition of the church. The tragedy of your ancestor's death would certainly have been reported in the Birkenhead News and possibly the Liverpool Echo (there was no Wirral Globe at that time) and an inquest would have been held.

Which church did the parish hall on the corner of Wilbraham St and Borough Rd belong to?

I think that may have been the old parish hall for St Werburgh's Church.

Hi All

Dad just been around and looked at old maps of Birkenhead. We were looking in totally the wrong direction. If you come out of Nelson Street onto Borough Road turn right and look at the opposite side of the road. I think it was a big church as dad seems to remember that you could see it from a distance. This Church was definately knocked down a few years after our ancestor died as the family were not happy that there son died doing work to the church and less than 10 years later they had demolished it, and that there son had died for nothing really.

Thanks for all the help so far am relying on my dads memory of over 30 years ago that don't help.

Barnes75

I've looked through all the maps I have for the Borough Rd. area & I'm confident that there wasn't a church on the South side of the road between Central station & Whetstone lane. All I can find are a Baptist Chapel & a Mission Hall, both on The Woodlands, which is in Clifton Park & runs parallel to Borough Rd. I'm pretty sure neither of these would have a spire. All the properties on Borough Rd. are houses. It really does sound like St.John's & that your dad's memory is playing tricks (it's been happening to me quite a bit lately!).

The Welsh church was in Clifton Road, had a nice smooth sounding organ there.

It was the Welsh Independant Church and became the Welsh Congregational Church.

The Reverand Mon Hughes was at that church for a long time, he was also active in getting the 1917 Birkenhead Park Eisteddfod Stone refurbished in 1957.
https://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/forums.../Re_Birkenhead_Park_Rock.html#Post177138

could this be the one at the bottom of Whetstone Lane
(Borough Rd)
Grange Baptist & Wirral Chinese Church

sorry didn't realise the church you were looking for had been knocked down

Hi

I have now found the death record. The death was registered in the 2nd quarter of 1966. Thank you for all your help. Now i have a rough period of when i am looking at i am more hopeful i will be able to search newspaper records and see if i can find out the information i am looking for.

Thank again.

Barnes75