Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request What is this structure?

OK, possibly wrong forum, so forgive me if it is.

I was at New Brighton today, on the Dips. I noticed this brick structure - grey engineering bricks - made me think railway related. But its not near the railway.

Can someone tell me what it is? Is it just where they have girded up the land so it doesn't slip? It is in front of the tower blocks.

Thanks.

As a guess it might be blocking up caves or tunnels?? I think read somewhere its called the noses and in victorian times there was a lot of caves along this bank.

This is apparently Red Noses

'The Red Noses are sandstone outcrops above which William Rowson built his home, Cliff Villa. This is possibly the building on the extreme right of the card. Cliff Villa was demolished in 1960. The land is now occupied by a multi-storey building of flats know as the Cliff Estate.
Before its demise Cliff Villa was, in the 1930s, home to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Committee (later the Guilde Dogs for the Blind Association).
The three buildings on the left are Ewart House, Ewart Villas and Rock Villa. Ewart House has since been replaced by the flats of Portland Court.
Card 27, dated 1905, has a similar view of the rocks and houses.'
Source

Ill ask my dad today - see if he knows

tunnels

I have herd there was the worm holes there

Have they been 'robbo-d' yet, i wonder?'

He'll need something to get through engineering brick

It indeed the Noses. I also believe that the caves use to stretch all the way to 'Rock Villa' house on Wellington Road and could be accessed via a manhole in the garden but is blocked up.

dont know what that is. Never saw it or heard of it.

I believe that it is just a retaining wall, as many years ago as a kids we used to play there before it was built & I don't remember any caves just there. The rock to the left of the picture was a lot higher then as well!

if you look to the right of the picture of flats known as the cliff,you will see what is left of the railway shunting yard at the warren station,part of the platform is still visible,one of the reasons i know quite a lot about new brighton is that in the fifties when i was very young my father was landlord of the travellers rest bottom of rowson street,i used to spend some time with some of the old timers who worked locally.

The railway was/is set well back from this wall, in fact it was inland of The Cliff.

I believe this wall was built around WW2 and may be part of the gunsite infrastructure.

Warren Station was at the end of Sea Road (which has been shortened), what is now the middle of Links View where it takes a 90 degree turn.

other than wormhole caves, the other cave entrances would have been much lower as the area is backfilled to create the promenade

Just a retaining wall and was there when I was a kid so Tatey mate, you can't remember it being built as it was there at least since they built the new prom in the 30's. Mind you, you could be a really old feller for all I know?

Interesting! I certainly do not remember it being there say, 57 years ago when I was a nipper, but you may well be correct. I am sure that that rock was a lot bigger though!!!

It was or were we just smaller? Good photo though and you can see why they were called red and yellow noses can't you? Did you live in Windsor or Richmond street Tatey?

No, I was a Wallasey Village lad at the time, just did a lot of wandering around. It was definitely bigger, as was the Granny Rock on the Breck. It was a mountain in those days!

Could well have been built to protect the public from land slips/ collapsed caves etc.

My mum often recounts how she, her younger brother Hugh and lots of other people dug in the collapsed sand at the Red Noses because some young boy had been buried by a sand slip or just inside a cave that had collapsed. The lad did not survive.

Tomorrow I will ask mum what sort of date that may have happened

Snod

I asked mum what approximate date would have been the incident she remembers when a young lad was buried at the Red Noses because of a sand slip or part collapse of a tunnel.

Her best estimate is 1931, and the lad's surname was Bell.

And yes, after that event she remembers there was some "activity" to make the area safer, but she does not know any more details. She and her brothers were simply forbidden to go near - and in those days you generally obeyed your parents instructions.

Snod

Just doing a look see and and found this, have a look at the bottom picture, from what I can see,your structure is showing, you will need something like Irfanview to magnify.

https://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/267637/10.html

The structure may appear to be there just in front of the old Cliff house before the high rise block was built, there also appears to be some sort of post/tower in front of the wall.

I'm a bit undecided on this. I seem to remember some work happening on the wall in the 70's and not sure if it changed colour or something then

Ran the picture through Irfanview and it looks as if there's a Brick building with a something on top,urinals?? , theres huts all around, small and large and the shadows are from the east.

Looks like Nissen huts just by the roadway.

[quote=Snodvan]I asked mum what approximate date would have been the incident she remembers when a young lad was buried at the Red Noses because of a sand slip or part collapse of a tunnel.

Her best estimate is 1931, and the lad's surname was Bell.

And yes, after that event she remembers there was some "activity" to make the area safer, but she does not know any more details. She and her brothers were simply forbidden to go near - and in those days you generally obeyed your parents instructions.

If your mum is right, that would tie in with the building of the prom shortly after and this could be a retaining wall. There could have been a gap in the cliffs between the Red and Yellow Noses which needed blocking to allow for the prom infill.

Have you had a look at the Cheshire Tithes map ,I do know that the outcrop is shown.

A 3 year old and a 15 year old with the surname Bell died in 1927 (Birkenhead district) according to the BMD. I searched between 1925-1937. Could it be as early as that?