As a follow-up to the post by bri445 on page 1, showing the culvert & locomotive. I've just got a copy of "The Railways of Port Sunlight & Bromborough Port by M.D.Lister. Here's an extract describing the Lever Bros. extension from Port Sunlight to Bromborough Port Estate in 1910. It's on 2 pages cos I don't know how to stitch them together.
That's a lot of water when you compare it with the height of the wall by the lamp post in picture 3 on page 1!! It appears to be flowing over this wall towards Spital Road but it's hard to imagine a high tide would get THAT high at this point. It would have been VERY high at the Wharf and Port Sunlight Dock and you would not expect this to happen since it should be controlable by closing the Bromborough Dock gates. If it was storm water coming down through the Park, it's hard to imagine the culvert would not cope and the excess be controlled by opening the Mersey gates. Were there other occasions when this happened? Bri
I believe it to be rainwater in both the previous photos. That b/w photo is from the time that the tide was controlled by the dock gates. I understand that the present situation is that the Dibben passes through a non-return flap which keeps out the tidal water. My knowledge of the Bromborough Pool dock system is not good - so what I've just said may not be correct (comments & corrections, please). This photo shows the embankment and the road to Bebington - it should show the culvert but it's hidden by the flood. Possibly the culvert would be capable of the job but the other end is inundated as well.
If you have a high tide and the outlet valve or gate /paddle is closed so not to let the high tide into the drain system and at the same time you have a large amount of rain water flowing down the drain system towards the river you end up with flooding some where, and in this case it spital dam area.
Ships that pass in the night, seldom seen and soon forgoten
Really interesting photo. There must have been some serious blockage in the culvert or the PS Dock/Wharf system to cause that. It's a winter scene...when?
The later b/w photo shown no movement of water in the area of the culvert ("it's as calm as a millpond") so the culvert must be equally inundated at its other end. Spital dam is 2½ km (1½ miles) inland from the Mersey, so presumably the floods extend for a long portion of this distance. Ref dating the b/w flood photos - The person who gave them to me (a relative of the last miller) declined to date them as accuracy could not be guaranteed. The mill, which appears in some of them, was demolished in 1949. My estimate for that flood is between 1935 and 1945, judging mainly by the clothing of people in the other photos.
When planning approval for the childrens' nursery was given in 2008, one of the conditions ( Application 20085003 - Decision) was - 13)The finished floor levels of the proposal shall be 7.775m Above Ordnance Datum and the levels of the access road shall be 7.475m Above Ordnance Datum. This was "To reduce the risk of flooding"
It should be a bit worrying that the flooding happened in 2008 after the 'improvements' downstream! The Dibben below the culvert is no longer tidal and there don't appear (on Google Earth) to be any high banks from Mersey to culvert to cope with flooding by extra high tides overtopping the dam at the Mersey end. Thus, the 2008 photo would indicate a blockage at the culvert holding back the water from the roads and the Park. I hope the sewage pumping station has no outlet to the Mill Pond! I'm no longer local but is there public access to the tree-lined part above the White Bridge. I can't believe how rural it all looks these days! Bri
Thanks, that's some nursery! I was thinking of something just a bit bigger than a Portacabin. The water still looks pretty grim but I suppose it doesn't smell as I remember it in the '50s. They would have had to keep the windows shut! The anti-flooding height 'above datum' is obvious, too.
Does anyone know where I can find more of these pictures?
My house can be seen in a few of the pictures; the chimneys can be seen on top of the hill. I want to find any pictures looking up from the dam after 1846 when the house was built.
