Hello

Does anyone remember Bidston Dock in the 80s?

I used to go to Mosslands lower school in the 80s and loved watching the three cranes work as they unloaded various ships that come and went.

Sadly, the internet seems a bit thin on the ground with info about the dock and the cranes and pictures are just as scarce. I left Mosslands upper school in 87 and was really sad to discover that the dock was filled in and the cranes demolished at some point in the 90s.

Was sad also to discover Mosslands lower school had too, been demolished.

Does anyone have any info on the docks and the cranes or know of any good links to sites .

Thank you!

I remember walking past there and over the Penny Bridge with my father when I was a child. I used to hate going over the bridge because I could see the water through the slats of the footway and it scared me. There was a large floating crane there called The Mammoth, if memory serves. Dad suggested I put my foot on the edge of it and try to push it! This was, presumably, in the days before dockside Health & Safety. I should add that he was a very careful father, but with a wicked sense of humour.
If you Google Mammoth floating crane Birkenhead there are quite a few things online; here's a link to a short vid from the 60s of the Titan, similar to the Mammoth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-GtdeDO0rM

Hi Greenwood!

Thanks for taking the time to post a reply to my post.

Really enjoyed reading your post! What a memory to have. I once walked over the same bridge myself and can unspderstand how you felt, really didn't like seeing the water between the gaps in the bridge floor myself. Did you ever get close to the 3 cranes in Bidston dock?

I remember seeing a ship mounted crane also, we used to call it the Mersey Swan as it looked like a swan when it gracefully sailed along the Mersey.It must have been enormous when your Dad took you down to the dock. What a brilliant memory to have, your Dad trying to get you to push it with your foot, you never did say it your effort made a ripple in the Mersey from the movement :-)

Really enjoyed the link you posted, it's got me looking for more! Thank you!

Pictures of the Mammoth and Samson from the 1980's are HERE

The is also a video of Mammoth in the 1920's HERE

the 3 cranes at the Bidston dock where built for the purpose of unloading iron ore for the John Summers steel works at Shotton. Once the steel works closed there was no longer any need for those 3 cranes.

Thanks for the links!

Really interesting. Do you know if the crane was steam powered or was it diesel powered?

Thanks for the info Jim!

I did find a page on wiki that had some info about the dock

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidston_Dock

and a couple of pictures about the cranes but have never been able to find out any detailed info about the cranes.

Found the following on ebay from an undated issue of Meccano Magazine. Anyone know when the third crane was added to the original two?

I have some aerial photos of the iron ore berth in 1962 that I will post as soon as I can locate them.

That article was in the July 1957 issue so the third crane must have been completed in 1957.

Full Issue,

https://archive.org/details/meccano-magazine-1957-07