Hi all i was wondering if anyone can help me with some information about wirral smugglers my son is learning about this in school now and he has said bidston smugglers that why i have titled it this.I have looked on the net but carnt find much about it but i must say what i have found has got me very intrested and would love to find out more on this it has also got my son intrested so it must be good ha ha ha thanks for reading this
Contraband was stored in the ring o bells pub opposite st oswalds church. It seemed a right establishment in it's day. The contraband may have originated from smugglers.
Think I've read somewhere that smugglers used to come ashore at Mother Redcaps then cross Bidston salt marshes by little known pathways to the Ring o' Bells inn in Bidston Village then by packhorse over Bidston Hill towards Prenton.
Not sure if the bridge in Saughall Massie built by Thomas Brassey was to enable law keepers to get to Wallasey to apprehend either smugglers or wreckers.
they used to burn fires on the sand banks at new brighton to make the ships crash on the rocks and then loot the ships
Very nice find granny, i've not heard of that place before now.
Theres an excellant book about Wirral smugglers. The title escapes me but the author is Gavin Chappell, its available at libraries.
Extract:
Contraband for Parkgate, Neston, or further inland was unloaded at night on Heswall or Gayton Beach. The shore was a wild, desolate place, half a mile from the nearest village; the steep hillsides were swathed in woodland where almost anything could be concealed. For smaller operations, goods would be hidden aboard Irish packet boats, coal sloops heading for Denhall Colliery, cattle boats, or even ships of the Royal Navy. When revenue men were in the vicinity, fishermen would row out to these vessels, and a member of the crew shouted out to the fishermen, asking to buy fish. The fishermen then passed fish up in covered baskets, and a swap would be made, the fish for contraband goods. Then the sailors would lower the baskets back down to the fishermen.
Almost all the people of Heswall, Gayton and Parkgate were connected with smuggling, or at the very least benefited from it, including the clergy, who were happy to receive contraband wine. Customs officers were regarded as tyrants who were to be cheated and gulled with impunity, and they encountered a wall of silence when making enquiries. The smugglers employed an elaborate system of codewords. When there was to be a landing of contraband, it was said that “the ghost walks tonight.”
http://gavinchappell.blog.co.uk/2012/09/26/smugglers-of-parkgate-and-heswall-14884514/
In addition to the above post could the following extract be relating to the picture.
I don't 'want' it to be..if you understand me, but as this picture has been in the family for well over 100 yrs(it has been posted on here before for identification) could it be the archway, mentioned in the extract? Any thoughts? It would be nice, if there could be some completion.
""The cave starts as a small man made archway in the cliff face where the sea used to come up to until about 80 years ago when they extended the seafront and reclaimed loads of land. The arch is still visible but sadly I don't have a picture. This section heads inland and is completely backfilled up to the currant entrance area which from then on is a mostly natural cave. ""
The Smugglers’ Route from Mother Redcap’s to Bidston
Extracts from ‘Smuggling in Wirral’ by E. Cuthbert Woods, 1927
“I will add a few words about its [Wallasey’s] isolation. Separated from Liverpool and the rest of Lancashire by the Mersey, one can see the difficulty of transport when the only ferry boats were small sailing craft. Nor was the parish of Wallasey much more easy of access from the rest of Wirral. Before the Birkenhead Docks were made, the tidal waters of Wallasey Pool flowed as far as Leasowe Castle, and the only land exit from the parish roughly followed the line of the present Green Lane, which now terminates at the Castle, but in old maps is shown running to seaward of it. In addition to that from the landing-place at Seacombe, dignified by the name of ferry, there plied another ferry boat from the site of the present Duke St. Bridge, known as the Ferry at the Hooks. There was also a ford at low water on the site of the present Wallasey Bridge. The houses in the parish were not numerous, and until the inclosure of the commons in 1814, large areas of waste land existed. On the edge of one of these, called Liscard Moor, and close to the river, was built about 1595, a small two-storied house of red sandstone, with walls in some places nearly three feet thick. This house is still standing, and is known as " Mother Redcap's." Until the Promenade was made and the Drives cut, there was no road to it”.........................
“At the end of the chamber mentioned [the cellar] was a passage said to lead to a cave in the Red Noses, but really leading into the deep ditch which formed part of a field boundary and was much overhung by a hedge. It was thought that the passage from the dry well in the yard joined with this tunnel and had a common opening into this ditch, which was a deep cutting as far up as a large pit situated about half-way up what is now Lincoln Drive. At the edge of this pit a large willow tree grew, the pollard trunk of which was of great girth, with a number of shoots close enough to conceal the presence of any one amongst them. From its position half way up the hill, it commanded an extensive view of both river and shore”..........................
“For small articles of contraband the rushes and bushes surrounding the pit already referred to afforded temporary hiding-places; but the more bulky ones were removed from the larger excavations and taken by pack-horse over the moor through or round the scattered village of Liscard, and over the dreary moor which lay between the Boot Inn and the Breck; by the old track which came past Wallasey Townfields, down Folly Lane, and along Breck Road below Wallasey Mill; then, turning to the right, along what is now the public footpath to Bidston and so on to the Moss. Wallasey mill (built in 1780) was above suspicion, and was never connected with any tales of these practices. The passage over the marsh to Bidston, before the Docks were made and the land drained, was both difficult and dangerous. People who endeavoured to cross without a guide, even as late as 1830, got into difficulties and had to be rescued. The ground was full of pools and branching tributaries of the main stream, forming a veritable labyrinth, where at night Will o' the Wisp was an added danger. There was only one safe path, and this was very tortuous. A pair of whale's jaw-bones were laid across the stream at one dangerous point, with cross beams of wood to form a rude bridge. This had no posts or rails, and to find it required a very thorough knowledge of the locality; to add further terrors the spot was said to be haunted by the ghosts of two men drowned here at different times. The jaw-bones were still to be seen in 1840, but gradually decayed and were engulfed in the bog. Here the path forked, one arm leading off to the left along the banks of the Pool, to a farm house, probably at one time part of the Bidston Mills, afterwards known as Hanna Mutches'. The other path led in a more southerly direction towards Bidston, over the old pack-horse bridge, which still remains, up Uric Lane to Bidston and on by the pack-horse track through Prenton. At Bidston was another hostel, the Ring o' Bells, kept by Simon and Phoebe Crofts, with its signboard bearing these lines:
‘Walk in, my friends, and taste my beer and liquor.
If your pockets be well filled you will find it come the quicker.
But as the want of that has caused both grief and sorrow,
You pay to-day and I will trust to-morrow’.
If it was reported at the jaw-bones, or at the Bidston side of the marsh, that it was not safe to proceed to the Ring o' Bells, the contraband was deflected westward along the edge of the Moss, to old Saughall windmill. Built of wood, standing on a rough base of stone, with gaunt sails, strong oak beams, and a large wheel to turn it round, it stood in an isolated position only a short distance from the edge of the Moss, but a full mile from the village of Saughall Massie. It also enjoyed the reputation of being haunted, and its eeriness was increased by the presence of several ravens who made it their home”
Unfortunatly that place is weel and truly sealed up now, due to idiots. I dont think there is physically a way in any more
re granny's pic Should look like this way if it was the Wormhole with the pier to the left
ive got a full set of pictures of the wormhole caves if anyone wants to see them including shots of all the graffiti carvings in there
Jabber that would be awesome!!
Tunnels under the indoor fair New Brighton
click Video of them
click
re granny's pic Should look like this way if it was the Wormhole with the pier to the left
Granny was on the cooking sherry last night maybe ??
ive got a full set of pictures of the wormhole caves if anyone wants to see them including shots of all the graffiti carvings in there
just tried to make a thread on this topic but i can only attach 2 pictures to the thread so theres not a lot of point , no idea why this is , used to be able to put more than 2 in
re granny's pic Should look like this way if it was the Wormhole with the pier to the left
Thanks Deredwc. Not Wormholes then. (where?)
Pinz, why can't you keep a secret?
Jabber, please get those pics up, post haste.
theres 24 pics and cba to do tonnes of threads lol
anyone know why im limited to 2 pics ?
maybe host them on imageshack? or if you want to email them to me i can host them and link them in on a thread so they will all show up?
theres 24 pics and cba to do tonnes of threads lol
anyone know why im limited to 2 pics ?
Your limited to 2 images because you have a Member Status Only. Please see this topic
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Wormhole Thread
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