I'm hoping to get together info purely as a topic we can research.
hoping to get info on the first roads and streets built(maps),the workforce where they lived and the building materials.
what quarries were there first and when worked (possibly put on a map

Think the firsts roads may have been
Grange Lane
possible Whetstone Lane
1790 Embankment built across Tranmere Pool to carry Chester Road into Birkenhead
1820 Birkenhead Ferry started a steam boat service (This ferry closed in 1870)
Houses were built along Church Street, a big hotel was built at the bottom of Abbey Street and Birkenhead became, for a short time at least a holiday resort. Visitors took advantage of the fine sandy beaches and bathed in the clear water of the Mersey
1826 Hamilton Square started getting built
1801 Population: Birkenhead 110 Tranmere 353 Oxton 137 Claughton 67
1810 Population: Birkenhead 105 Tranmere 474 Oxton 128 Claughton 88
1821 Population: Birkenhead 200 Tranmere 825 Oxton 169 Claughton 119
1831 Population: Birkenhead 2,569 Tranmere 1,168 Oxton 234 Claughton 224

short history

1150 Circa Birkenhead Priory founded by Hamo Mascy
1275 & 1277 Edward I visited the Priory
1330 Edward III granted the Priors and their successors forever the right to ferry over the Mersey
1536 Circa The Priory closed
1544 Priory lands and ferry purchased by Ralph Worsley
1572 Worsley died, the lands and ferry passed to the Powell family
1643 Cavalier troops, ‘Kept a guard about Berket wood’
1644 Cavalier troops, ‘possessed themselves of Berkett in Worrall’
1713 Priory lands and ferry bought by John Cleveland, a merchant of Liverpool
1716 Cleveland died, lands and ferry passed to the Price family
1762 Six-horsed coach ran between Woodside Ferry, Parkgate and Chester
1790 Embankment built across Tranmere Pool to carry Chester Road into Birkenhead
1801 Population: Birkenhead 110 Tranmere 353 Oxton 137 Claughton 67
1810 Population: Birkenhead 105 Tranmere 474 Oxton 128 Claughton 88
1815 Small steamboat appeared in the Mersey
1817 Tranmere Ferry ran the first steam ferry boat
1820 Birkenhead Ferry started a steam boat service (This ferry closed in 1870)
Houses were built along Church Street, a big hotel was built at the bottom of Abbey Street and Birkenhead became, for a short time at least a holiday resort. Visitors took advantage of the fine sandy beaches and bathed in the clear water of the Mersey.
1820s The origins of the "modern" ferry service at Woodside began
1821 St. Mary’s Church opened
1821 Population: Birkenhead 200 Tranmere 825 Oxton 169 Claughton 119
1822 Steamboats on the Woodside Ferry Service
1824, when William Laird first took an interest in Birkenhead, it was a town in its infancy. The advent of the steam ferry had brought its residents and it was set to develop as a dormitory town for Liverpool. The parish church of St. Mary had just opened and the ferries and hotels were beginning to thrive.
1824 William Laird set up his shipyard on Wallasey Pool
1826 Hamilton Square started getting built
1826 A second shipyard, with patent slip, opened on Wallasey Pool
1829 Lairds built their first iron vessel
1831 Population: Birkenhead 2,569 Tranmere 1,168 Oxton 234 Claughton 224
1833 Act passed for appointment of ‘Commissioners for the Improvement of Birkenhead’
1833 Lairds built their first paddle steamer
1834 Woodside Royal Mail Ferry Hotel built
1838 Monks’ Ferry started (This ferry closed in 1878)
1840 William Jackson’s Works set up
1840 Birkenhead – Chester Railway opened
1841 Population: Birkenhead 8,223 Tranmere 2,554 Oxton 546 Claughton 240
1842 Woodside Ferry purchased b the Birkenhead Commissioners
1843 Spring Hill water works opened
1843 Old Hall demolished
1844 Foundation stone of Docks laid
1844 Railway Tunnel to Monks’ Ferry constructed
1845 Market opened
1847 First Docks opened
1847 Birkenhead Park opened
1851 Population: Birkenhead 24,86 Tranmere 6,519 Oxton 2,007 Claughton 714
1853-1856 Gaving Docks between Woodside and Monks Ferry constructed
1853-1856 Lairds’ yard set up on river front
1854 Great Western Railway opened through route from Birkenhead to London
1858 Birkenhead Docks transferred to Mersey Docks and Harbour Board
1858 Lairds built their first steel ship
1860 Street Tramway started
1861 Birkenhead with Claughton, Oxton, Tranmere and Rock Ferry became a Parliamentary Borough
1861 Population: Birkenhead 35,929 Tranmere 9,918 Oxton 2,670 Claughton 1,584
1863 General Hospital opened
1864 Public Library in Hamilton Street opened
1864 Flaybrick Cemetery officially opened 30 May 1864 and named Birkenhead Cemetery
1866 Birkenhead – Hoylake Railway opened
1866 Alfred Dock opened
1871 Population: Birkenhead 42,997 Tranmere 16,143 Oxton 2,610 Claughton 2,437
1877 Charter of Incorporation granted, Birkenhead became a County Borough
1877 Wallasey Dock opened
1878 Railway extended to Woodside
1881 Population: 84,006
1881 Thurstaton Common acquired by the Corporation
1883 Children’s Hospital opened
1885 Mersey park opened
1886 Mersey Railway Tunnel completed (electrified 1903)
1887 Town Hall opened (serious fire occurred 1901, Dome and Tower rebuilt)
1891 Population: 99,857
1893 School Board appointed
1896 Electricity Generating Station opened
1900 Livingstone Street Baths opened
1901 Population: 110,915
1901 Electric Tram Service commenced
1902 Education Committee took the place of the School Board
1903 Hamilton Square Gardens acquired by the Corporation
1907 G.P.O. Argyle Street opened
1909 Vittoria Dock constructed
1911 Population: 130,794
1913 Tranmere Infirmary opened
1918 Birkenhead Parliamentary constituency divided into two divisions
1919 First Motor Bus service commenced
1921 Population: 147,577
1921 Alwen Water Scheme completed (commenced 1911)
1922 New Ferry cross-river service closed
1925 Works on the Mersey Tunnel commenced
1927 Arrowe Park purchased by the Corporation
1928 Borough boundaries extended to include Thingwall, Landican, Prenton and part of Bidston
1928 Williamson Art Gallery and Museum opened
1931 Population: 147,946
1933 Borough boundaries extended to take in Noctorum, Woodchurch and parts of Arrowe, Bidston and Upton
1933 Byrne avenue Baths opened
1933 Bidston Docks opened for traffic
1934 Queensway opened
1934 Central Library opened
1937 Last electric tram route closed
1938 s.s. Mauritania launched
1939 Rock Ferry cross-river service closed
1945 Hamilton square illuminated ad immense crowds in the square for Victory celebrations
1947 Number of houses 34,020 (estimated)
1948 Population: 132,000 (approx.)
1948 Area: 8,958 acres

A good potted history ! Well done Derek.

a copy and paste job from different sources
apologies for not putting sources.

I would really like to find out who paid for the streets to be built and where the labour force to build roads, docks, houses and worked the quarries lived also feeding them.
All these must have been massive undertakings.
The only quarries I can think of are Storeton andby the monkey steps Tranmere

The Mechanics Magazine, 1847:
Gentlemen,—Yesterday farther trials in blasting with the patent gun-cotton were made at the Flaybrick Quarry, Birkenhead. This quarry is now being actively worked, getting stone for the Birkenhead Docks in busy progress; the stone is a freestone.
Mr. Brown, the resident engineer to the works, together with several gentlemen, accompanied me to the quarry to witness the experiments; the results of which, I am pleased to state, fully satisfied all of them, that the use of gun cotton for quarrying purposes was eminently superior to that of gunpowder; in every instance the gun-cotton relieved from the bed large masses of stone of a size best adapted for those works, or any of similar magnitude; many of the blocks weighed from four to seven tons. The few trials made in this quarry proved most satisfactorily to all present, that the amount of saving to the contractors from there being no waste or spoil would be very considerable.
I am, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant,
JOHN F. WHEELER. Liverpool, May 7, 1847.

Thanks nightwalker
Wonder if that was the Rec ground which if you walked up Tollemache rd from St James church would be on the left where there is a playground and a relatively new estate built
So Flaybrick quarry maybe started 1847 or earlier - or did they take most of the rock from the actual cemetary part leaving just soil for when the cemetary was created
Earlier quarries?

Apparently when they were digging the foundations for that new estate they foung underground tunnels/earthworks.
Anyone shed any light or just a rumour?

Nice work Derek! thanks

Don't know about the quarries but much of Victorian Birkenhead & Wallasey was covered in Clay Pits and Brick Fields.

In 1833,a act of parliment came into force for regulating the police force and at the same time establishing a market within the township or chapelry of birkenhead.

by 1843 the population increased to over 11,000,which meant an increase of costables,which reached 16 constables,1 inspector,1 superintendent,they were also resposible for fire management,the fire engine was kept at Mr Gough's stables at the woodside hotel

Maybe worth a read again

https://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/forums...graphical_Dictionary_of_.html#Post295105

Thanks Bert
Another worth a read again in which mentioned 1815 - 1860s tramway from Flaybrick quarry to Wallasey Pool
flaybrick

what's bugging me is
1821 Population: Birkenhead 200 Tranmere 825 Oxton 169 Claughton 119
but how did they manage to build
various streets
1821 St. Mary’s Church opened
1824 William Laird set up his shipyard on Wallasey Pool
1826 Hamilton Square started getting built
1826 A second shipyard, with patent slip, opened on Wallasey Pool
1829 Lairds built their first iron vessel
1831 Population: Birkenhead 2,569 Tranmere 1,168 Oxton 234 Claughton 224
Would there have been journeymen stonemasons and quarrymen who travelled round the country working wherever they were needed?
Also as regards the earlier population counts would that have been just landowners and gentry only, not counting servants and various labourers who worked for them?

Here's an interesting article written by a visitor to Birkenhead in 1845 which amongst other things touches on quarries and the labour force:

THE NEW CITY.
IN the county of Cheshire, on the western shore of the river Mersey, and directly opposite to Liverpool, there stood in the year l8l8 the little village of Birkenhead, consisting of but three houses besides the Priory and a few small cottages, and remarkable for nothing except its bleak situation and barren soil, where pasturage could scarcely be found for a few sickly sheep, and nothing would flourish but the weeds that spring from the salt marsh and the rotten bog. But the spirit of enterprise was kindling in that fameless spot. Regular ferries were established to the opposite and more prosperous shore; the unfruitful soil was drained and tilled, and its natural treasures, in the shape of inexhaustible quarries, laid open to the eye of day. Here then was matter for human skill and human industry to work upon, and wondrously has that work progressed. In the census of l83l the population of this "little village" was 3,400; in l841 it had increased to 8,200; a railway had been opened to Chester; several large iron war steamers launched from its ship yards; gas and water-works established, and a thorough "go-a-head" spirit diffused among its inhabitants; and so far they have gone a-head with a vengeance. A number of talented and enterprizing gentlemen have been appointed Commissioners for the management of the town, and under their superintendence Birkenhead is fast rising to importance and notoriety.
It has been called "The New City," and assuredly it bids fair to be the noblest city in the world. Its population is now estimated at 30,000, having more than trebled itself in the last four years; so that if it continued to progress in the same ratio, it would in fifteen years rival the great metropolis itself. But this enormous nite of increase cannot be expected to last long.
As no one person can possibly be acquainted with all the wonders in this marvellous age, some account of the present state of this extraordinary town may porhaps be interesting to those whose minds are too fully occupied with affairs nearer home, to seek for information upon more remote subjects, unless it be placed involuntarily before them.
The area of Birkenhead as described by Act of Parliament, not including the numerous villages in the vicinity, is 1388 acres, or nearly two square miles; and almost the whole of this large space is already laid out in magnificent squares, (one of which, now completed in the Edinburgh style, covers over 6 acres) and streets from 300 to 2,000 yards in length, proportionately wide, and thoroughly drained. Nearly 200 acres have been appropriated to a public park, which is tastefully designed by the celebrated Mr. Paxton, and now almost finished; combining the beauties of water, grass, lawns, gravel walks, gigantic rock-work, artificial hills, trees, flowers, and shrubs of all kinds, and various ornamental buildings: and a lovely spot it is, or rather will be, for it is yet in its infancy, and age alone can soften down asperities, hide defects, and give their full deep richness to the young plantations.
A natural pool or inlet from the river Mersey, at the northern extremity of the town, has been taken advantage of for the construction of an enormous dock for shipping, of which the inner basin, when complete, will present an area of l50 acres of water, 19 feet deep; which far exceeds the area of all the Liverpool docks together. This noble sheet of water is to be entirely surrounded by stone quays, yards, and warehouses: and the outer basin, comprising 37 acres, will be enclosed by one uniform quay 100 yards wide. The probable cost of completing this mighty work has been estimated at a million pounds. There are now nearly two thousand workmen employed upon it, and doubtless in a few years the tide of commerce will roll into its ample gulf.
The supply of building materials in Birkenhead is perfectly exhaustless. Standing upon one of the clay beds of the new red sandstone formation, brickyards have sprung up around it in every direction; while the sandstone itself, lying just below the clay, rises on the western side of the town into a range of low hills, where it is extensively quarried; and the stone for the dock-works is being excavated in such a manner as to leave winding roads in the solid rock up the ascent, with a view to the formation of a public cemetery. Besides these vast and costly works, the town contains a new covered market, a noble structure, l50 yards long and 50 wide, roofed with wrought iron, and having two highly ornamental fountains down the centre; a town-hall, which is about to be abandoned for a larger building in course of erection: two handsome stone churches, and five dissenting chapels. Houses are being built as fast as workmen can be found to build them; and there are but a few here and there unoccupied; in many cases indeed they are let before the roofs are put on or the windows glazed. Joiners, Painters, Plumbers, Builders, and Artisans of almost every kind, here find constant employment in vast numbers: and if there is distress among this class of the population in other parts of the kingdom, let them come here rather than go to the expense and trouble of emigrating to America or New Zealand.
Such is Birkenhead towards the close of the year l845. A growing wonder to the neighbourhood, a prodigy even in the eyes of its own inhabitants, a place whose fame is fast spreading north, east, south, and west, and whose future greatness can only be prevented by some unforeseen and mighty obstacle. Five-and-twenty years ago it was a barren marsh:—behold the natural magic of enterprise and active industry!
"Nil mortalibus arduum est."
H. Birkenhead, 1st November, l845.

Derekdwc

My family came from Cheltenham in about 1845, all were tradesmen from tailors to carpenters to bakers, if you look at the Census from 1841 onwards you will find people in digs and living around Birkenhead from all over the place.

I was looking at on old map on the t'internet awhile back and the area from the park ,Claughton rd, Bentinck st, Conway street was named as the "Clay Fields".

Excellent work, Derek.Interesting to see that the population actually fell between 1931 and 1948.Maybe the war could have accounted for this or any change in town/district boundaries.

Much earlier, derek. Article from an old Wirral Journal by Roger Jermy which is interesting also for its references to old farms and owners:

"At various times both the Birkenhead & Chester Railway and the Storeton Tramway have been suggested as the first lines of rail in the Wirral peninsula. Documentary evidence shows however that these lines, opened in 1840 and 1838 respectively, were laid at least twenty years after the construction of a small line linking quarries on the side of Flaybrick Hill, Birkenhead, with the south-west side of Wallasey Pool.

The exact date of opening of the line appears not to have been recorded. Clues are provided by inspection of early nineteenth century maps of Wirral. Farey's 1808 map ( included in Holland's treatise 'A General View of the Agriculture of Cheshire') does not indicate the line but it is identified by the single word 'Railway' on Greenwood's Map of the County Palatine of Chester dated 1819. It is first shown in greater detail on Lawton's Map of Birkenhead dated 1824. This was surveyed by William Lawton in May 1823. Lawton was the Land Agent for the owner of the Birkenhead Estate, Mr Francis Richard Price, who lived in Overton-on-Dee. It was this same Lawton who was to promote the career of Thomas Brassey by placing him in charge of his Birkenhead office around this time.

Lawton's map indicates that the Tramway commenced in a quarry on the 23 acre Flaybrick Hill Common. This was rented from Price by one Joseph Nichols of Bridge End Farm. This farm consisted of low-lying marshy land close to where the Wallasey Pool joined the River Mersey and included fields known as 'Seven acres marsh' and Slutchy field'! The Flaybrick Quarry was thus over a mile away from most of Nichols' land. From the Quarry the line is shown as heading in a north-easterly direction for some 1250 yards and terminating at Wallasey Pool. Close to the Quarry the line ran adjacent to the small 2 acre croft of Daniel Smith and then descended through the quaintly named fields of another of Price's tenants, Thomas Davies: 'Rye grass field', 'Moss Hay', 'Moss meadow', 'Gill field meadow', 'Moss' and `Between Cop and River'. The lower sections of the line were clearly low-lying and wet! Indeed Greenwood's map marks the area im¬mediately to the north-west of the line as being a saltmarsh! These details allow the inference that the line must have been of relatively lightweight construction; it is a shame that details of gauge and track type have not been recorded. Presumably the word 'Cop' appearing in the final field name is a reference to a flood bank, being derived from the old-English word 'Copp' or 'Cop' meaning a hillock or mound.

At the lower terminus of the line there would appear to have been some sort of small yard with a fan of trackways, possibly indicating the location of a storage area. This yard reached some way below the point reached by spring tides and close to the point at which there was 'permanent water'.

As J E Allison suggests in his book 'Sidelights on Tranmere' the line's owner, Nichols, presumably operated the Quarries to supplement the income from his poor farming land. Bearing in mind the state of the local roads at the time the combination of tramway plus river barge must have been a reasonable solution to the problem of stone transport. The Quarries were located about 100 feet higher than the edge of Wallasey Pool which would have produced an average gradient on the line of about 1 in 35. Thus gravity could have been used for the movement of loaded vehicles but horses would presumably have been necessary to return the ‘empties' back to the Quarry.

The stone from the Quarries was a comparatively soft Upper Bunter sandstone, though lying close to the harder Keuper beds which were quarried at Storeton and elsewhere. It did not make top class building stone and Hewitt(in his 'Rise of Industry in Wirra'l) refers to It being used '... for the construction of the walls of Birkenhead Docks behind the granite facing...' i.e. as infill material. In view of the land drainage, raising of land levels and rapid development of both Birkenhead and Liverpool at this time it no doubt found uses on both sides of the Mersey.

The line appears, once again marked 'Railway', on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Maps of 1840 but is marked 'Old Railway' on J M Rendel's Plan of the Floating Dock and other works connected therewith proposed to be made at Wallasey Pool, Birkenhead. This plan, dated 1843, indicates the projected lines of roads and other works associated with the development of the south side of what is now the West Float and involves the Tramway land. It is tempting to assume that the line ceased operations around this time; it is not identified on later maps. Certainly the cessation of dock construction in Birkenhead between 1847 and 1857 would have reduced the local demand for low quality 'infill' stone, and the quarries at Storeton, with ready access to both the River Mersey and (from 1847) the developing national rail network, were able to satisfy building needs at the time. The fate of its rails and wagons is not recorded.

Today few traces of the enterprise exist. The Quarries remain of course, but in a new guise, having been opened as Flaybrick Cemetery in 1864. The route of the tramway may well have established the line of the lower part of Tollemache Road but it then disappears beneath St James' Church (opened in 1858). Its continuation crossed the line of the present day electrified railway close to Birkenhead North Station before heading for the waterside on an alignment close to the present Wharf Road. No remains are visible along this length."



From another source it appears that he quarry was closed in 1831 when siltation had made access to the head of the Pool impossible, but it was reopened by the then owner James Tomkinson in 1844 when he was selected as the contractor for the construction of the Birkenhead Docks. Jermyn is wrong when he indicates that the Quarry is now the cemetery - only as small part was used. There is an excellent wiki topic by diggingdeeper which shows progressive maps of the area at: https://www.wikiwirral.co.uk/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/333128/Flaybrick_Hill_1815_2008.html

Excellent contribution Mr.Nightwalker!

You might be interested to know that a few months after Roger Jermy's original article in 'The Wirral Journal' of Spring 1984, there was a letter submitted to the journal by Cliff Thornton (the then curator of the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum) stating that evidence from the minutes of Birkenhead's Road & Improvement Committee indicated that the tramway was still in use until at least 1866.

If you've got the full set of Wirral Journals, see the Autumn edition for 1984.

...recommend derek should go look through those minute books. The Birkenhead Improvement Commissioners will have everything written down about why & when the various roads were built, etc.

Excellent reports nightwalker, thank you



Hoping to go to the Archives next week - will the above docs be there?


Another query I'm asking is
Where did folks 1821 to later get their water to drink from until they built a proper means of supply
Streams, rivers or lots of wells sunk all over?

good topic guys

come on in, pull up a chair and enlighten us DD

SOME 1843 Streets - noticed no roads
Abbey street
Adelphi street
Albion street
Argyle street
Back Chester street
Brandon terrace
Bridge street
Brook street
Camden street
Canning street
Cathcart street
Chapel street
Chester street
Chester street South
Church street
Claughton firs
Claughton road
Cleveland street
Clifton Park
Conduit street.
Duncan street
George street
German terrace
Grange lane
Grange lane
Grange street
Hamilton square
Hamilton street
Hemlingford terrace
Holt Hill
Ivy street
Leicester terrace
Limekiln lane, Rock lane
Lord street
Lower Ivy street
Market street
Mersey terrace,
Moore terrace, Grange lane

Neptune street
Old Grange lane
Oliver street
Parkfield
Park street
Park view, Park street
Portland place, Bridgestreet
Price street
Priory street
Queen street
REDCROSS STREET,
Rosebrae
Russell street
Sandford street
Somerville street
Sydney street
Tarleton street.
Thomas street
Waterloo place
Watson street
Wellington terrace
Westminster buildings
Wood street

Birkenhead, The Background.

Great stuff, bert. Plenty of interest in there.

And in response to derek's earlier question, yes, the minute books for the Birkenhead Improvements Committee should be at the Wirral Archives. Don't expect to be able to read it all in just one visit though!

some street maps 1824, 1835,1844 and present day goolemap
Hopefully someone can supply a more legible 1844 as I can't work out which way it should be, looks a bit like cleveland st running towards Birkenhead Pool?
Anyone got a 1934 BENNETON map covering a larger area I could have copy of please ( if yea pm me}

source



old wirral - quarries

Tranmere's rocky foundation is made from Triassic sandstone, which in the township is relatively free from
pebbles. It has been extensively quarried although now all of them are completely sealed and built over.

There were once seven quarries in the township, two in the village, one in Quarry Bank just off Whetstone
Lane, and four abutting the northern half of Old Chester Road. There main advantage, and one which persisted for many centuries, was the fact that the sandstone is both sponge and filter, holding an abundant supply of pure water readily accessible by the sinking of shallow wells.

As a quarrying centre Hinderton or Lower Tranmere, had real advantages. In the 1840's there were four quarries nearby, and at least one had by that time been worked to a depth of over 50 feet and a vast amount of stone removed. The Bunter sandstone here is hard and almost free from pebbles andthe location of the quarries on a slope must have reduced the chance of flooded workings. Stone had always been costly to move about, especially by road and rail so that Hinderton quarries, conveniently close to a ferry had a great advantage over quarries situated further inland, Given reasonably good river transport they could have supplied better than any other workings on Merseyside, facing or interior rubble for early dock walls, the stone for ferry slipways and house building. Thomas Brassey, the constructor of
New Chester Road, paid rates for Tranmere quarries in the 1830's. The quarries were sealed up in the 20th century and now lie buried beneath urban developments.

Just re-read berts' post 507712 - first couple paragraphs and
wondered whether the stream/river we think of as being
'The Happy Valley' or 'Rubicon' may have originally been called
'Birken' or 'Birket' running into Berken Pool
(Birkenhead Pool/Tranmere Pool)

There is a great site HERE about Wirral streams etc. It has some rare pictures of the entrance to the great culvert.

I have always thought the Birket started at Tranmere Pool (Lairds basin) and headed up towards Wallasey pool and beyond, reading recently it passed the Castle Hotel and on towards Central Station, The map below perhaps shows some of it.

If 'red' marks the spot, isn't that a bit too far away from either Tranmere Pool or Birkenhead Central? This bit of Thomas Taylor's map shows Bidston Marsh and is near to Wallasey Village.

Great map though! Just a shame the original survey didn't include more of the Birkenhead area.

The map posted looks as if it's from a .pdf (adobe acrobat) file
Anyone know what the name of the file is and how to get hold of it please

I strongly suspect that many people called any river or stream around Birkenhead as The Birkett which adds a lot of confusion.

Isn't the birket in moreton pasture rd?

we discussed this here

on an earlier map the Birket was called the Main Fender

Any chance of posting the map or putting a link to it

also have a 1924 map which I hope someone can tell me where I can get a clearer pic from - don't know where I got it from
Internet?
Archives?
Reference Library?

That plan appears to be from the book "1947 Plan by Reilly & Aslan", although yours is coloured. There are several others in that book, showing the town at various ages. In the book, they are all black & white. Here they are; they should stand a bit of enlargement.

thanks chris
these will be added to my growing list of various maps which I have collected from various excellent posts on wikiwirral which you and others have posted.
A big thank you to all who have done that

some quarry pics

also some HERE
says Storeton quarries open in roman times

These early photos give the best indication I've ever seen of the scale of the operaton, before vegetation covered the abandoned workings.
Which book is this?

Not sure
In bhead reference library asked for anything about quarries and they found a book about fossils and footprints found in Northwest? quarries.

The book is called 'The Tracks of Triassic Vertebrates' (Fossil Evidence from North-West England) by Geoffrey Tresise. Not cheap though if you intend buying it. Think the original hardback edition costs about £65.

You might get a cheaper copy on Amazon or ebay.

Thanks, the library is the best bet!

Too right!

However, if you did decide to buy a copy, I'd recommend checking out the Liverpool Museum Book Store first. They sometimes sell these kind of hefty educational books at much more reasonable prices. Follow the links on the Museum's website to see if they've any in store.

Nope, scrap that last suggestion, I've just looked.

It's not on the museum's online book list, but there are copies on Amazon selling for nearer £25.

Great idea, derek, to collect all the maps together. Don't know whether you've got this one, Lawton's Survey of 1824. Not a lot of detail but what is shown is interesting, particularly William Laird's first land purchase.

You know your way round wiki better than most - do you know whether there's been a topic about the proposed Wirral Canal in the 1820s? It's a subject I've been doing some research on but I don't want to reinvent the wheel!

Please post any info you have on the proposed canal nightwalker
Have tried to find the map which had it on
ps
Uptonic is one of main persons on the history section - especially the good work he's put into the index