Mount Rd. Higher Bebington

What was it beforehand? A quarry? And how come it looks like there's a peak-less lighthouse in the background of the first pic?

ZOMG, so many questions!

One of the Storeton quarries, filled with the spoil from the Kingsway tunnel.
Bebington mill in the background; several of us oldies remember it.

Thanks for combining the old pic & my pic Joe.

Cheers, Chris.

No problem Chris.

Never knew there was a mill there

What happened to it?

Don't know when the re-development of that area happened; someone will know. The mill is still commemorated in a couple of the road names: Mill Brow, Millfield Close, off Village Rd., just down from the Sportsman's Arms on Mount Rd.

Cheers, Chris.

I never realised that there was so many Quarries on the wirral. Good Work Chris.

This may answer a few questions -

The outcrops of white or cream-coloured "Keuper" sandstone which form the Storeton ridge have been quarried for more than 1,700 years.
Buildings constructed of this stone include the Liverpool Custom House (1828), the houses in Hamilton Square, Birkenhead (1830-40), the original Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool (1845), the Birkenhead Town Hall (1883), and the nave and tower of St. Andrews Church, Bebington.
However, the present records relate only to the period when the quarries were worked by the Wells family (of Bootle): Charles Wells (between 1905-16), his executors (between 1917-20), and Frank Wells (between 1922-59). After the auction of the estates of Sir Thomas Brocklebank in 1911 see ZST/12 the quarries were owned by Lord Leverhulme.
There were two quarries. The older "North Quarry" was abandoned during the 1920's and filled in (during 1926-31) with waste from the Mersey Tunnel excavations. Working was then concentrated on the other (east) side of Mount Road, at the "Higher Bebington White Freestone Quarry".
This was gradually run down; it closed in 1959, and has also since been filled in.
For a period during the 1940's and 1950's timber was cut and sold at the quarry.

courtesy of Clicky

Thanks for that, Colgo. I'm surprised that this quarry was not closed till 1959, as I left the area in 1956 & had been playing around there for years & thought it was abandoned then. There was a large pool at the bottom of this quarry & I used to throw rocks in; from memory, I'd guess it was about 20-30 metres from the top to the water; made a great splash anyway
I see your quote doesn't mention that Storeton stone was used in the Empire State Building in New York.
The stone from all the quarries on the ridge was transported to Bromborough Pool by a tramway opened in 1838. the trip was mostly by gravity & the wagons were hauled back by horses. There's a good book about the tramway: "The Storeton Tramway" by R.C.Jermy.
ISBN 0 907768 00 8

Cheers, Chris.

As regards the mill, don't know when it was demolished, do you remember it still being there in 1956 Chris ?
Did find this though,so it was there in 1936

Black and white negative and print made from it of a sailess tower mill at Higher Bebington, Cheshire, showing side view, taken on 25th June 1936.

Please note copyright !

Doh, Must read more carefully

Ahh, see, I'm learning all the time! Nice!

My folks house is called Millview, as you can see the mill (or used to) from the house. (It's about 5 minutes away).

There are several pointers that have been left behind from the quarry. There is one small tunnel under one of the walls in Storeton Woods, which has now been bricked up. A train used to take the deliveries from the quarry down what are now normal roads (most of the straight longs roads were the old railway).

Yes, you can follow some of the line on the attached link. Starting from Cross Lane, which was a gated crossing, the line followed what is now Quarry Ave. to another gated crossing at Church Rd. then along Quarry Rd. & Quarry Rd. East, then under Bromborough Rd. where there was a bridge & under the main line. Then it went along the front of Lever's to Bromborough Pool.
The wagons went most of the way by gravity & were hauled back up by Shire horses.
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=53.345466~-3.005533&style=r&lvl=16&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=29161045&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

I beleive that parts of the tramway bridge are incorporated in the pedestrian tunnel under Merseyrail opposite Quarry Road East. It has also been said that some of the garden walls on Quarry Road East are made from some of the stones originally in the track bed.

I always thought it went down Mount Road towards Cammell Lairds! My da has loads of books on this, I'll have to scan some stuff in.

The definitive book on the Storeton Tramway is the one by R.C.Jermy. It describes the route in detail.

I remember my mate's dad had a bronze sword that he found in the quarry at some point. I've only just remembered this, it was mounted on the living room wall. Surely this would be pretty valuable now? I'd love to know where and what period it was from, and whether he was bullshitting me?

Maybe that sword was from the Battle of Brunanburh??

Here are somephotos I have 'borrowed' from Ian Boumphrey's book. Sorry for poor quality - I had to photograph them as I do not have a scanner.

Nice pics MissG and i can see the tunnels in the first one i think.

Also has anyone heard about storeton hill being called soldiers hill as it might of been the site for that battle years back??

Heres a pic i just stumbled on in 'Yesterday's Birkenhead' book by Ian Boumphrey

You can still see (just) where the Great Cutting was.

We used to play in the tunnel when we were kids till the bricked it up.

You couldn't get all the way through though as it was bricked up where it would have gone under the road, tuning it into an artificial cave of soughts.

when was it bricked up bud?

It would have been 84/85 as one of the lads I was hanging around with at the time moved away summer of 85.

i vaguely remember the tunnel from when i was a kid,just down a bit from the tree with the rope swing that i nearly killed myself on,how many of you have swung on that same tree?

That'd be me

I remember it getting re-bricked up in the late 80's, it must've been 'rumbled', and then bricked up again.
Rope swing was excellent, I doubt there's another one on the Wirral of the same rope-swing-caliber. It's -still- there as well!

I remember it before it was bricked up,(also before the rope swing). This was in the 1940's. The tunnel was partly filled with rubble & earth. You could get in from the woods end, but the other end was blocked.

Myself and a school friend used to worm our way in over a pile of soil at the woods end. Only about an 18" gap between soil and crown of tunnel. The quarry side was bricked up. This would be 1958/59 ish. Don't remember the rope swing.

The OLD Bromborough Road went over the tramway here and the new alignment dipped to the same level as the tramway, making the cross-roads with Quarry Road East.
I used to go to Stanton Road School up Quarry Rd. E. and remember seeing the stone sleepers sticking out from the side of the tarmac. No pavement,just a thick hedge and ditch on the side opposite the golf course.
I wish I'd known in those days what I know now!