Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past Wirral History The railways of Wirral, 1830s to present day.

Cheers Pinz!
I guess you've seen them, but there are similar pictures to Chisto's one of the Mersey Railway stock at Rock Ferry Here
Not actually the one, but similar.

The area bounded by Jackson Street - Borough Road East and Tunnel is where i am hoping the question is about.

This area was not only the site of the Grange Lane and later Town stations the left hand portion of it - up to the goods line to the docks was taken up by the first Birkenhead Joint Railway sheds - two separate ones - one for the LNWR and one for the GWR.
These were built in the 1840s and replaced by the much larger depot at Mollington Street in 1878.
Both buildings were still there in @ 1970 with the LNWR one surviving past the flyover scheme building to at least 1971, as a store for out-of-use engines then as a parcels/goods depot.
The GWR shed after replacement was used first as a railway wagon repair depot - then latterly as the Abacus Engineering works.

I suspect what the author saw was either the remants of the engine sheds or part of the flyover works - which has been cut off - where the Conway Street branch used to 'fly - over' this area of town.

Have a look at the Google satellite view for the area - there seems to be concrete pillars strewn about - in the exact area the sheds were...

Hi Billy, I've managed to find those photos. They're not amazing quality, but you get the picture! Here's a link to them -

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x445/rgp500/IMG_0111.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x445/rgp500/IMG_0119.jpg

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x445/rgp500/IMG_0097.jpg

There's 5 images in this album of a few of these different stone lumps.

bigpete, the area between Borough Road East and Jackson St. is indeed where I'm talking about. However, I think these blocks are somewhat further west of where the LNWR shed used to be. They're stone and don't seem to have formed part of any building, certainly not concrete...

Rowan

Could they have been used to protect gateposts etc. from damage by wagon wheels?
The pillars on the Overhead Railway had similar protection at their bases when near a roadway.

Bob.

Interesting - will have a look later at home as Works PC gone funky over displaying pictures .. :-(

Interesting - will have a look later at home as Works PC gone funky over displaying pictures .. :-(

I know what these are !
On the right lines Bob - they are actually to protect the horse-drawn wagon from damage - accomplished by the wheels rubbing against them - which pushed the whole wagon sideways, rather than let it rub against the harder item - a wall or railway wagon probably.
These will have been put in after it ceased to be an engine shed.

You can see these around the older parts of Oxton Village for the same purpose, e.g. the alley opposite the Oxton Society bookshop near the top of Christchurch Road

Thanks for the photos Rowan - Superb
Think we have this solved - they are from the LNWR sheds later life as a goods transhipment shed.
BTW the LNWR shed west wall formed part of the cutting wall for the docks goods line - so immediately west of this wall was a signifcant drop down to the goods lines or Sough as it is known.

Hi, my sincere apologies for not responding sooner (due to having a baby and not getting much time on-line now!). I obtained my 'snaffled' pic from the in-house library at the NRM in York whilst on holiday. Unfortunately, I had selected a few books relating to Wirral's railways and failed to note down which books I was actually 'snaffling' from. So sorry!