Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request duke st police man

my dad took me to work with him when on school hols by pump dock.and i remember a policeman on duke st /corporation rd he stood in a black and white box in center of road controlled traffic with hand signals wore big white gloves.STILL THERE ON WAY HOME

That control point at the junction of Duke Street and Corporation road was manned 24 hours a day. The reason was because of the heavy amount of rail traffic that was constanty traveling along feeding the docks. If you look at the old maps and study the amount of railway lines and goods yards that where along the Birkenhead side of the docks you will realize how much rail traffic there was.

And what won't be on the maps are the little bottles of whiskey etc being passed in to the box by the dockers for the lovely policeman. What was that all about,? you may well ask. Keep your eyes on the traffic, lovely policeman.

As jimbob pointed out, that was a busy road junction - even then. Right on one "leg" of the junction were the rail tracks. Regular through trains of good vans plus plenty of shunting movements across the road.

Add to this the many occasions when the bridge was up, so everything backed up to the junction as well !

The only reason that the bobby was there 24/7 was that no automatic signals (traffic lights) could control all these conflicting road/rail movements without making a HUGE cock-up. This was a vital pinch point in the whole dock system.

THEM LOVELY POLICEMEN WENT FOR LUNCH IN THE DUKE PUB. DOCKERS TOOK DINNER FROM DOCK CANTEEN TO PUB FOR HIM. A COUPLE OF BEERS WITH LUNCH AND A BUCKET WHEN HE WENT BACK TO WORK. TWO OF THEM WORKED 12 HOUR SHIFTS OR TWO 6 HOURS EACH AND TWO 6 HOURS KIP EACH IN PUB.TRUE..I WORKED IN DUKE FOR A WHILE 1983-85 GOT TOLD AND SEEN A LOT? NEED TO GET SUM HISTORY OR INFO ON NEXT TOPIC. THANKS GUYS..

this is my mates dad and he is still alive mr dave roberts

haha youve got know mates?
empty your pms ta (or pm me when next on line)
might give you a knock

These policemen were dock police as opposed to ordinary coppers. I used to work with the wife of one of them. I remember seeing a one bar fire on the floor of the pedestal to keep them warm. Must have had hot ankles!

one of these policemen was my mums stepdad