e-bay item 280478422881
Anybody heard of this name in connection with Birkenhead? I think it's probably the Thermopylae, with the Vyner Rd. South bridge, but I haven't been there since childhood.
Or does anybody know different?

I agree Chris, that's the Thermopylae , never heard it called anything else. Played there as kids, only we called it the mopylae pass.

We called it thermopylae pass too but we couldn't spell it, so we shortened it to "The Mops".
All round there was great, carrying on past it to the 7 Stiles, and Flatt Lanes. We could go missing from home all day as a gang and nobody would be worrying. Now if I'm out ten minutes there's fretting goin' on. (SSshh!)

Item in Question

..also interesting but not as local as this is Carry On Up The Khyber was filmed up the Watkin Path at Snowdonia!!!!

There is a "Kyber Pass" near to Birkenhead, Aukland.

Well now, DD, that could be the answer; it could be in New Zealand. I think it's a possibility, since no-one seems to remember the Thermopylae ever being called anything else. It would be good if someone could go to the Thermopylae & compare the lay of the land & the construction of the bridge: any volunteers?

I'll check that out tomorrow afternoon on my way home from work. i'll try and get a piccy for a comparison.

I googled it myself this morning, the Khyber pass, New Zealand, seems to be a road intersection.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newmarket,_New_Zealand

Agreed, Bert. Found it on Bing maps by entering "Newmarket, Auckland".
Stegga; will be good if you can get a pic.

Think I may have found a bit of evidence confirming this is Thermopylae. If you look on the pic. Bert posted, on the high ground, right of centre, under the tree, there is what looks like an artificial structure, slightly tapered, made of stone. I think this is the direction dial shown on the 1912 O.S. map attached.

Chris, can you put the pic up and circle it.

It certaily looks like the entrance to the Mops but can't for the life of me remember that bridge.

The bridge is where Vyner Rd.South crosses.
Bert; pic attached.

Went up there late this afternoon. Pretty certain that the postcard is wrongly named and it is the bridge over the Thermopylae Pass. It was almost imposible to get the picture from as far away as the original due to the undergrowth and tree growth, you can see how bad it was in what i took. Had to get the pic from closer. The overhang of rock in the near foreground of my picture can (i think anyway) be made out a little further distant in the old piccy.

Thanks, Stegga; I'm pretty certain that's the place. There's been a lot of tree growth since the postcard was taken.

When you are there right in front of it you can see its the same bridge. I just tried to get a similar view to the original. I took more pictures but for some reason only the one i posted, was on my memory card. May try and get some more another time. Also hunt down this dial thingy you mentioned in later posts, never noticed anything.... but then, i wasn't looking for it at the time.

I doubt the direction dial is still there, but it's worth a look. Really appreciate you taking the trouble to go.

Good find mate, the direction dial is still there, it hasn't got the dial from what I remember. I will try and dig out my pictures from last year.

A few pictures of the direction dial and bridge taken May 2009

I always thought that was a Sundial. Walked through the "Mops" nearly every day it wasn't rainy to go to B.I. and back home in the (early) seventies.We also used to play there very often, or use it as a short cut to the top of the Noccy.

Well, that pillar in DD's pics isn't like the thing I thought I saw on the postcard. I see it had a plaque fixed to it at some time' wonder what it was. Can you locate it on the map, DD?
Just a small point about the bridge. I'm sure I remember driving over it a couple of years ago & noticing that the parapet was built of brick & stone faced (some of the stone had fallen off). Wonder if it's all of that construction.

Its roughly the same location as where the "direction dial" is marked on the maps. Quite a few steel park benches around there as well, some in the open and some overgrown when I was there.

Edit: If you look at my closer picture, the edges of the top of the pillar have been knocked away, taking that into account it is the same as the postcard I think.

i have never even heard of this place,can someone post a modern map showing where this bridge is to get my bearings....might go for an explore

Could be that the original construction was replaced with the pillar. Interesting about the benches; it was much more open there years ago; the views would have been great. A lot of trees have grown since the postcard picture.
Here's another map of the area, unsure of the date, but pre-1896, because no railway. No Vyner Rd. either, so the postcard (which I'm bidding on BTW) is later than this map.

Chris, could you send me the post card, just put on it, wish you were here, good luck with your bid.

Ah, you can see my "dial" just slightly to the right of that tree (need to open piccy to get it big enough to see), I just realised you said in front of the tree.

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=53.39014802449627~-3.0755452105638312&lvl=15

The big loop of Ford Hill, on Upton Rd., was built to replace the old route: imagine a straight line cutting off the loop. That old track was known as the Thermopylae Pass & the bridge in the pics. is where Vyner Rd. South crosses it.

Went here today. The direction dial is much nearer the bridge than I'd imagined, so definitely not the construction I thought I saw on the postcard (which I won, BTW). Here's an enlarged section of the map, with it arrowed in red. You can see the 2 sets of steps leading to it; I just walked down them from Vyner Rd.South, the other steps are those you can see in DD's pic. leading down into the pass.
Also, I was right about the bridge wall on Vyner Rd.South. It now looks as if a large section of the stonework was demolished at some time & re-built in brick, which was then rendered & scribed to match (not very well) the surrounding stonework. I wonder what happened.

Possibly car damage? I know that that stretch of Vyner Road is used as a bit of a high speed race track and short cut to avoid the lights at the Boundry Rd/ Upton Rd junction.

I think that stone wall would have resisted most cars. Also, whatever happened, it was a long time ago, judging by the weathering & lichen on the rendering.

Brilliant pics, brings back the memory. Thanks fellahs. It hasn't half changed though.

I never knew it existed. I do now, as the dog & I went for an explore. Now I know where "Hilbark" came from!

My best guess is that the postcard was labeled "Khyber Pass" because they couldn't spell thermopily themoppily you know what I mean

Thermopylae pass.