The description of the location "Between Woodside and Birkenhead" is interesting. It seems to indicate that Birkenhead was originally the area which is now around the tunnel entrance. This figures because that's where the market was built and where "Town" station was.
It's interesting to note that the Monk's Ferry Hotel opened about the time that the original Grange Lane railway terminus commenced operations. But over time as the line was extended, and the terminus moved, it must have increasingly cut off the coastal areas of Birkenhead and shifted the focus of the town centre. What with that and then the Queensway Tunnel.
The description of the location "Between Woodside and Birkenhead" is interesting. It seems to indicate that Birkenhead was originally the area which is now around the tunnel entrance. This figures because that's where the market was built and where "Town" station was.
I think the reference to "Between Woodside and Birkenhead" is talking about the different ferries meaning that Monks Ferry was between Woodside Ferry and Birkenhead Ferry which was operated by the Willoughby brothers at the end of Mersey Street. They also operated the Tranmere Ferry.
It's interesting to note that the Monk's Ferry Hotel opened about the time that the original Grange Lane railway terminus commenced operations. But over time as the line was extended, and the terminus moved, it must have increasingly cut off the coastal areas of Birkenhead and shifted the focus of the town centre. What with that and then the Queensway Tunnel.
Not really - as it was underground in a tunnel.
The thing that did start to isolate that part of town was the flyover scheme @1970 - which also cut off the Jackson Street/Hind and Blackpool St areas from the rest of town.
The description "between Woodside and Birkenhead" doesn't necessarily refer to the Ferries. Maps from the 1830s and 1840s show that there were several discrete (ie separate) built-up areas at that time, which only later merged to became Birkenhead. The area first designated as Birkenhead was bounded roughly by the river, Ivy Street, Old Chester Road (later Tunnel Road) and Tranmere Pool. The area around Woodside was always referred to as Woodside, not Birkenhead. There was a small built-up area at the west end of Bridge Street referred to as Bridge End, whilst the area in the vicinity of Laird's Boilerworks was called North Birkenhead. It was only really from the 1850s onwards that these areas began to join together to form one town to which the name Birkenhead was applied.
Thanks for that, Marty. It's interesting too to note that until the 1931 census, Tranmere had a larger population than Birkenhead, but that after that, the population of Birkenhead grew very rapidly.
Extract from the book "Sidelights on Tranmere" by J.E. Allison.
