Received a call from my cousin in America today.

He would like me to locate photos of the river mersey frozen over about 1895

He is sure there is one with a horse and cart on it!!!!

Can anyone help?

Thanks

Buddy

Would be interesting to see, can't help you am afraid though!!

thats impossible, the tide nis to fast moving for that to happen, well the ambient temperature would of had to of reached at least -30, but then it would still be really hard

Bloody ell Andy you dark horse! You impress me very much with your geographical knowledge sometimes.

Don't know about horses, but from 'Bygone Birkenhead', J R Kaighin, 1925:

"The Mersey is a noble river, and often presents aspects beautiful and magnificent in the changing moods of the seasons. Because of its ceaseless flow, the continual passage of ships up and down its stream, and the briny character of its water, one concluded it was impossible for the Mersey ever to become frozen over. But one winter, to the writer's personal knowledge, this actually happened. The volume of fresh water poured down from its source formed into blocks of ice; they increased and became adherent to one another. Soon the passageway across became impeded, gradually the ice formed in a solid sheet from Cheshire to the Liverpool side, and a way had to be made and maintained for the ferry boats to ply to Liverpool."

wow, i'll be dammed, that must of been a cold winter lol

Photo available on eBay. Click Here

Thier illustrations, but great find man!!

Thanks to all for your prompt replies
I remember seeing photos of the frozen mersey near seacombe ferry many years ago (not in 1895!!!!!)
So they did exist - probably saw them in a local paper

yeah. hard one this

chriskay might have more luck with this

And Mark will remember it like it was only yesterday.

lol

Just PM'd Chriskay about this

In the bitterly cold winter of 1962-1963, Ice floes formed on the Wirral banks of the Mersey, but the river was not frozen over. That was one heck of a winter, when the temperature never went above freezing for about three months. I remember it well and I'm still shivering.

I remember 1963 as well - I used to travel to Carlett Park each day on the back of a motorbike. I also remember the local ponds (Triangle, Captains Pit etc) being frozen solid and all the dead fish when they thawed.

Snod

Can't find the main pictures of the 1895 Big Freeze but here are a couple of bits.

One of my most vivid memories is of two lads carrying in the school milk in a crate which had been left outside and it was just a solid block of ice. That was in the days when we still had school milk, of course. What amazes me now is how we survived those terrible months of cold when houses had no central heating and most of us didn't even have proper warm clothing. No one seemed to think much of it and just got on with it as best they could - today it'd be a national catastrophe. Apologies for going off the subject of the frozen Mersey.

Sorry I can't help with this. My gran, born 1888, would have remembered it. It just reminds me of how important it is to talk to your older relatives; if not, once they're gone, the memories are lost.

Many thanks one and all for your input
I'll sent him the one of Egremont and I'll keep searching
Yoller how right you are about no central heating or warm clothes in those days - I lived in seacombe about 200yards from the mersey - bloody cold!!! - but it was our playground

Thanks to all

Buddy

Here's one more for you, but still no horse I'm afraid, only a ferryboat.



The other side of the Wirral wasn't much better, in that same winter there was an iceberg in the Dee, estimated as over 12 foot high and 50 to 60 foot wide.

Thanks uptoncx

I'll send him those also

Buddy

Yep started snowing on Boxing day if I remember rightly? Used to dive into the snow drifts because they were so deep until they froze of course. Anyone else have to get water from a stand pipe in the street because ours had all frozen up?. Central heating what was that? Brrrrr!

excellent pics guys thanks for Sharing

I've got vague memories during that winter of welding generators being lent out by Lairds to thaw out water mains.

All mains and most service pipes were iron/lead then. Stick one connection on the pipe at the end of your street. Using a long cable from the generator, connect the other lead at the far end of the pipe and apply a low voltage with a few hundred amps behind it for a few minutes. Pipe warms up just enough to melt the blockage !

Does anyone else recall this ?? Wouldn't work today of course. Most of the system is plastic/alkathene !!

They experimented with a similar scheme on the live rails of the London Underground (surface section). Putting a short on the ends of a long length of rail warmed it enough for ice to melt off the top of it. It cost a fortune ! Sorry - off topic AGAIN !

Yes it this defo happened. The crew of HMS Conway moored at Rockferry state in their crews log:

"28 Feb 1895 The Mersey was frozen from shore to shore. "

wow never thort that the mersey could freez i remember walking along the canial`s wen i was a kid ther wear a foot to a foot an a half thick but ther minute to the mersey nice pics thanks for sharing.

some more pics borrowed from "yesterday's birkenhead"

My mother was born in 1901 and she told me that she remembered the River Mersey being frozen over when she was a little girl.
Les Roberts

Welcome, Walter. Where in Shropshire are you? I'm in Shrewsbury.

If I had of thought on I could of looked this up today as I was working in the archives and had the 1900 Birkenhead news paper out.

I've got a copy of my great great grandfathers obituary from the Birkenhead News. It mentions him remembering ice skating on the frozen Mersey when he was a young lad !

In February, 1895 the River Mersey resembled a vast ice field -as can be seen in the photographs posted in the thread. Large ice flows had come down from the upper reaches of the river, bringing small icebergs and the river froze - remaining so for a few weeks before the thaw set in. It was said it was possible to walk across the river from Liverpool to the Wirral side.

Standing on the ice at Egremonet


The Wallasey Ferry ice-bound with passengers


A ship stranded close to Egremont Ferry


A scene in Laird Brothers' yard where the ice was particularly thick


The cleared channel leads to New Ferry pier


Ice seen at Rock Point - later the site for the New Brighton Tower


A ferry boat near Egremont Ferry seen from the promenade

the kids must have thought it was great to look at. you wouldn't imagine it now days.