Since this was on the edge of a marshy area, Bidston Moss, it's difficult to imagine the area being suitable for mining. Maybe they were sunk to allow the escape of methane from the marshy land below?
I haven't given up on this as yet, my best bet at the moment is that they were remains of air-raid shelters but there is some mention of ammunition huts in that area.
Here is the same site in 1972ish.
Last edited by diggingdeeper; 21st Feb 20095:39pm.
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The 1972 aerial photo looks like some sort of sports track / oval - if you look just east, there is a sports ground with a 440 yard running track marked out with 8 lanes and looking about the same size - perhaps this one was a cycle track / dog track / training track ? Further east there is a football pitch, and some stadiums / pavilions ?
The 1972 aerial photo looks like some sort of sports track / oval - if you look just east, there is a sports ground with a 440 yard running track marked out with 8 lanes and looking about the same size - perhaps this one was a cycle track / dog track / training track ? Further east there is a football pitch, and some stadiums / pavilions ?
This place you describe as a running track used to be Valley Rd playing fields.The Bidston tennis centre now stands on the exact spot.
Just a thought! That area must have a very high water table. Remember how easily Bidston Station used tot flood. If they were air holes perhaps they were from sewer pipes. Any tunnels would require almost continuous pumping.
I lived in Mason Avenue (now Wildbrook Drive)from 1948 until 1971 and I can assure you that Comptons field never had any airshafts on it while we played on it. There was a couple of ponds, the cowpond and the crater and what we called the 7 seas. This was an area that flooded often as the water ran down from the top of the field. Comptons field became a tip to supposedly become a sports track. The original dump was alongside the Bidston railyard. This became the playing area with the sports barn that is there now. If there had been an airshaft we would have found it.
As I have mentioned on another thread the RAF base field was on the other side of Lennox Lane and abutting the railway line at Bidston station.
The only reason Bidston station flooded was because the Birket used to overflow in very bad weather were you might get days of continuous rain. That was cured when the river was diverted to an undergriound culvert leading down to the Morpeth dock area by the lairage.
I think that those if us talking about tips are spot on!
If you have a look at this map on the Environment Agency website showing historical landfill - there's Compton Road Tip - I bet they were/are methane vents
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