. [citation needed] The dancer and actor Lindsay Kemp was born in the town but as a child moved to South Shields. It was described by one heritage body as "a station of truly baronial proportions and being worthy of any London terminus.". Birkenhead Woodside Station opened on 31.3.1878 as a replacement for an earlier terminus at Monks Ferry opened on 23.10.1844. Formerly a township in Bidston Parish of the Wirral Hundred, Birkenhead was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1877, and became a county borough with the passing of the Local Government Act 1888. With the curtailment of these at Rock Ferry, the station closed to passengers on 5 November 1967 and was demolished within a couple of years. The oldest is Birkenhead School. Cammell Laird 1907 F.C. [56] "Old Birkonians" (as former pupils are known) include the lawyer F.E. The half-mile tunnel access to the site is not impeded and so there is provision for future modes of transport. Routes further afield included Great Western Railway services to Chester General, Wolverhampton Low Level, Birmingham Snow Hill, Shrewsbury General and London Paddington.. [53] The Mersey Ferry at Woodside operates a passenger service to Liverpool and chartered cruising. It was obvious that large scale railways were going to be successful, and a merger of the Chester and Birkenhead Railway with the Chester and Holyhead Railway was proposed. Birkenhead (/brknhd/) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. Opened in 1878 and closed in 1967. Birkenhead has a number of maintained schools, including Birkenhead Park School (formed after the merger of Rock Ferry High School and Park High School) and the only all-boys Catholic grammar school in the area St. Anselm's College. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. [15], From 1972 there were plans to extend the Merseyrail system, which was electrified in the central area, to Chester. At the East Float and Vittoria Dock, the development would include 5,000,000 square feet (465,000m2) of new office space and 11,000,000 square feet (1,000,000m2) for new residential flats. The Mersey Railway tunnel opened in 1886, providing direct railway access to Liverpool. There are sandstone lodges at the three entrances, each with a different style of architecture, Gothic, Norman and Italianate. This was extended to run between the Liverpool Loop and Chester on 4 October 1993. The Wirral Line from Birkenhead travels south to Chester and Ellesmere Port, north to New Brighton and westwards, across the Wirral Peninsula, to West Kirby. This entailed closing terminal stations: Liverpool Central High Level, Liverpool Exchange and Birkenhead Woodside stations as well as Liverpool Riverside Station which served the diminishing liner trade. Woodside: Mar 1878: Nov 1967 : Monks Ferry . In the General Station at Chester the train reverses its direction, and with - singularly enough - a North Western tender or tank engine of the LMS (for the final stage is over joint LMS and GWR metals), completes its journey of 210 miles from Paddington to the Woodside Station at Birkenhead exactly five hours after leaving London. [2] [45], Horse-drawn buses began operating in Birkenhead in 1848, to be replaced with motor vehicles after the First World War.[46]. imported from Wikimedia project. Subsequently, the Monks Ferry branch was used exclusively for freight. [4] By the 18th century, an increase in stage coach traffic from Chester spurred the growth of the transportation of passengers and goods across the river. [69] The 1917 National Eisteddfod was notable for the award of the chair to the poet Ellis Humphrey Evans, known as Hedd Wyn. From 2022, the site will become part of a new park, which is currently being constructed. Disused Stations: Birkenhead Woodside Station A retail and leisure quarter at the former Bidston Dock site would encompass another 571,000 square feet (53,000m2) of space. Originally built by the Great Western Railway in the 1870s, Birkenhead Woodside railway station was a mainline terminus, with services direct to London Paddington. Birkenhead Woodside Station opened on 31.3.1878 as a replacement for an earlier terminus at Monks Ferry opened on 23.10.1844. The Chester and Birkenhead Railway was authorised on 12 July 1837, with capital of 250,000. Information. The ordinary public service started the next day, 23 September, with five passenger trains each way daily, three on Sundays. The whole project would create more than 27,000 permanent new jobs, aside from the employment required for construction and other peripheral employment. The local weekly newspaper is the Wirral Globe and the online-only news website is Birkenhead News. Birkenhead Town station was opened on 1 January 1889 by the Joint Committee of the Chester and Birkenhead Railway, administered by the Great Western Railway(GWR) and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). This fell in line with the Liverpool termini, with only Liverpool Exchange lacking tunnel access.In order to join up with the existing track of the Chester and Birkenhead Railway, the half mile-long tunnel from Woodside to alongside the existing Monks Ferry tunnel entrance, near Grange Lane, was constructed using the cut-and-cover method, with most of its length running under Chester Street.The station was cramped, with Platform 1 being 537 ft (164 m) in length, and longer coaching stock was not allowed to be stabled on the curved part of No.3 siding.The station was a grandiose building, with two semi cylindrical roofs covering much of the platforms. [65] The track gauge was to be 4ft 9in (1,448mm), in common with the Crewe line. The Pacific Road Arts Centre in Woodside opened in 1999, but in 2015 was converted to a Business Hub. It opened in 1991.[20]. Birkenhead Town railway station is a disused railway station in Birkenhead, Wirral, England. This followed a previous announcement by Alan Evans of Wirral Borough Council that the French science fiction writer Jules Verne had also set his 1874 novel The Mysterious Island in Birkenhead. Birkenhead Priory and the Mersey Ferry were established in the 12th century. [16] The submarine was sunk by British bombers in May 1945; it was salvaged in 1993 off the Danish island of Anholt. The station building was known to local rail users as "the wrong way round"; for the majority of the station's life, its original rear entrance was used as the main booking hall, and Woodside's 'front' entrance was mainly for handling parcels. Merchant vessels were also built such as RMSMauretania and RMSWindsor Castle. That was very unfortunate, as passengers arriving at the station never got to see the huge sandstone fireplaces, decorative brick work and massive timber roof trusses holding up the roof of the intended booking hall, which has been described by Marcus Binney of SAVE Britain's Heritage as \"a station of truly baronial proportions and being worthy of any London terminus\".Credits:-Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkenhead_Woodside_railway_stationDisused Stations (www.disused-stations.org.uk)Some photographs in this presentation are from www.disused-stations.org.ukFacebook: - https://www.facebook.com/TravelandTrainsAdventureTwitter: - https://twitter.com/JudithSchooling Instagram: - https://www.instagram.com/judithschooling/ #birkenhead#forgottenstation#trainstrainstrains The station was located right next to the Ferry Terminal for Liverpool so in effect it served the city even though it was located in Birkenhead. The line was built as a single line with structures made suitable for later doubling of the line. Indie band Half Man Half Biscuit hail from Birkenhead, as did boogie-rock band Engine, Paul Heaton, lead singer of the Housemartins and the Beautiful South, singer/songwriter Charlie Landsborough and Desmond Briscoe co-founder and original manager of the pioneering BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Theodora Llewelyn Davies was a British barrister and penal reform campaigner. Birkenhead Woodside Railway Station - ims.photography File : Birkenhead Woodside Station - geograph.org.uk - 1761576.jpg It had been intended that passengers disembarking from the nearby ferry terminal of the same name would use this entrance. The first known football club on the Wirral was Birkenhead F.C. Aug 19, 2018 - Jinty 47324 at Birkenhead Woodside station on 28/07/63. Birkenhead Girls High School decided to become a state-funded Academy school in 2009, increasing the availability of its education. The Wirral Waters development is planned to regenerate much of the dockland. West Kirby Station - Liverpool. Birkenhead Woodside comes to Deeside at Llangollen 1967 event Will taxis be available at either of these 2 stations? In 2010, Cammell Laird secured a 50million contract to construct the flight deck for HMSQueen Elizabeth,[24] the first of two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. Gary Finlay, the murderer of Graham McKenna, was born in Birkenhead.[92]. Use of these cottages continued until Chester General Station opened in 1848 . This fell in line with the Liverpool termini, with only Liverpool Exchange lacking tunnel access. Known as Dock Branch Park, it will link Rock Ferry with Bidston Dock, providing a route for pedestrians and cyclists.[4]. Today most of the lines that led up to Woodside are as busy as ever but they are connected into the former Mersey Railway as part of the Merseyrail network. 7029 Birkenhead Woodside tunnel 5 March 1967 - Flickr In the arts, Birkenhead has produced several actors and performers including Kim Woodburn, Lionel Gamlin, Roger Abbott, Glenda Jackson,[85] Anew McMaster, Lewis Collins, Megs Jenkins, Taron Egerton, Patricia Routledge,[citation needed] Paul O'Grady (also known as Lily Savage),[86] soprano Valerie Masterson and baritone George Baker. Birkenhead Woodside was a railway station at Woodside, in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Answer 1 of 5: I am travelling from Bilbao to Santander airport via the Feve train. [3] At the 2011 census, it had a population of 88,818. Smith (Lord Birkenhead); Andreas Whittam Smith (chairman of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and founder of The Independent newspaper); mountaineer Andrew Irvine; Philip Toosey (hero at the Bridge on the River Kwai); and Tony Hall (former Director-General of the BBC). The building houses a cafeteria and a bookings office for the Mersey Ferries. Birkenhead is indirectly referenced by "the Birken'ead drill" in Rudyard Kipling's poem "Soldier an' Sailor Too": To take your chance in the thick of a rush, with firing all about, / Is nothing so bad when you've cover to 'and, an' leave an' likin' to shout; / But to stand an' be still to the Birken'ead drill is a damn tough bullet to chew, / An' they done it, the Jollies 'Er Majesty's Jollies soldier an' sailor too!, as it refers to heroism by Royal Marines during the sinking of HMS Birkenhead, itself named after the town in which it was built. Joseph 374 LIVERPOOL STATIONS Steam Trains Uk Liverpool Docks Steam Railway British Rail Steam Engine LIVERPOOL STATIONS More like this Old Train Station Semaphore Railway Diesel Locomotive Steam Trains Uk Steam Railway Stoke On Trent Steam Locomotive Disused Stations Contents 1 History 1.1 Background 1.2 Opening 1.3 Services 1.4 Demise 2 References 2.1 Sources 3 Further reading 4 External links History Background After three days of rioting, police were brought in from elsewhere to help quell the rioters. [72], The Theatre Royal, opened on 31 October 1864, was in Argyle Street and had a capacity of 1,850. This was less than the line had cost to construct, and other events drew the disparity to the attention of shareholders, so that the deal was suddenly rejected on 30 March 1845. and several board members resigned. Junctions 1 and 3 of the M53 motorway facilitate access to the national motorway network. Birkenhead Woodside Station and surrounding area. Birkenhead Woodside railway station. Shipbuilding and ship repair has featured prominently in the local economy since the 19th century. It remained virtually unaltered until it was extensively refurbished from 1985 in the existing style, with many of the original timbers being replaced.[2]. [88], It has also produced poets and authors such as A.S.J. Today most of the lines that led up to Woodside are as busy as ever but they are connected into the former Mersey Railway as part of the Merseyrail network. This had been established opposite the entrance to the station, after the demolition of much property in the vicinity. Woodside railway station closed in 1967, improvements to the Merseyrail network following the construction of the Liverpool Loop a decade later, the opening of the more centrally located Birkenhead bus station in the late 1990s and the diversion of several bus services to terminate in Liverpool instead, were all contributing factors. [63] Birkenhead is served by Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (through its Arrowe Park Hospital, St Catherine's Health Centre and Clatterbridge Hospital sites) and Wirral Primary Care Trust. But following the infamous Beeching Report [a government plan to increase efficiency across the railways in Great Britain] in 1963, it was recommended that Woodside Station should be closed. Birkenhead Town Station, located just to the left of the Birkenhead Tunnel, was the first stop on the line before heading to Rock Ferry then direct to London. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 88,818.[1]. The local service from Chester to Birkenhead was cut back to Rock Ferry where there was a convenient interchange with the former Mersey Railway that ran through to Liverpool Central. That was achieved in 1837. [77], Also in the town are the Birkenhead North End and Victoria Cycling Clubs. Elvis Costello moved to Birkenhead in 1971 with his mother,[90] who was from Liverpool, although Elvis Costello's father was himself from Birkenhead. George Stephenson was the engineer. Former Birkenhead Woodside Railway Station in Birkenhead, United Its sponsor was the Girls' Day School Trust, but is now publicly funded. Birkenhead has one of the highest mortality rates among men over 65 in the UK. Note the cavernous curve on the right that is the roof of the long-gone railway station that made this spot a major commuting hub. Birkenhead had the first street tramway in Britain. Built in about 1834 to replace an earlier establishment of the same name, the hotel was a busy coaching house and originally had stabling for 100 horses. At the same time, the last steam service from the station took place, in the withdrawal of through services to Birmingham.[9]. which was founded in 1879 by Robert E. Lythgoe, a former Druids F.C. The Beeching Report, in 1963, recommended the closure of three of Merseyside's mainline terminal stations: Liverpool Exchange, Liverpool Central High Level and Birkenhead Woodside. This was very unfortunate, as passengers arriving at the station never got to see the huge sandstone fireplaces, decorative brick work and massive timber roof trusses holding up the roof of the intended booking hall. F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, a leading Conservative politician of the early 20th century, was born in the town, as were Liberal Democrat politician Malcolm Bruce, Labour politician Stephen Ladyman, the prominent occultist Alex Sanders, and Tony Hall, Baron Hall of Birkenhead, the Director-General of the BBC. Tessimond, Adrian Henri and Michael Z. Williamson. Wirral's lost and forgotten railway stations and what - inkl You can order a copy here. All car . The borough included the parish of Birkenhead St. Mary and the townships of Bidston, Claughton with Grange, Oxton, Tranmere and part of Bebington, later known as Rock Ferry. [87] Opera director Graham Vick was born in Birkenhead. Chester-Birkenhead line - Wikiwand Its alumnae include the actress Patricia Routledge. [14], Birkenhead was struck by an F0/T1 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. [11], A wooden construction on brick foundations, the 1864 booking hall is a listed building. North Western Railway). The Little Theatre was established in 1958 from a converted former Presbyterian church. Daily Belfast services are run by Stena Line, using their RoPax ferries MSStena Edda and MSStena Embla from 2020 to 2021,[52] which replaced MSStena Lagan and MSStena Mersey. However, as with many other stations and rail routes in the UK Dr Richard Beeching, found the need for the terminus superfluous, as most of the routes served could also be taken from Liverpool Lime Street station, on the other side of the River Mersey. The World War I poet Wilfred Owen, though born in Oswestry, lived in Birkenhead from the age of 4 and was educated at the Birkenhead Institute High School (now demolished). [3][4] The demolition of Woodside railway station in Birkenhead. Birkenhead (origins see above) lies on the Wirral, opposite side of the River Mersey to Liverpool and next to Wallasey. Woodside Railway Station - Hidden Wirral Myths & Legends Birkenhead Woodside was a railway station at Woodside, in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire. There are also two lakes and an ornate 'Swiss Bridge'. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. [66], Despite being in England, Birkenhead (known as Penbedw, in Welsh) hosted Wales' National Eisteddfod in 1917[67] as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1879. These rights reverted to the Crown in 1536,[3] Find out more. The Woodside station opened in 1878, partly due to concerns over inadequate provision for passengers at Birkenhead Monks Ferry Station. It also recommend the closure of the Liverpool Exchange to Southport electric commuter route and of all routes in to Central High Level station. We've made some exciting updates - Try it now! The Chester and Birkenhead Railway had assumed friendly relations with the Chester and Crewe Railway (C&CR), and it depended on the C&CR for access to the railway network. George Stephenson was the engineer.[3][4][5]. Rock Lane, Ledsham, Mollington & Upton-by-Chester, Birkenhead Joint (Great Western Railway and London Continue along Argyle Street South (past Birkenhead Central Station, Mersey Railway) and turn left into Mollington Street. Wirral Line. [30], On 31 January 2018, Marks & Spencer announced the closure of their store, in the town centre of Birkenhead, happening in April.[31][32]. [1] This entrance, covered in a porte-cochere to allow travelling gentry to avoid inclement weather, faced the graving dock on the south side of the station. The architect was Herbert Rowse and the engineers, Sir Basil Mott and J.A. Other services went to Chester, North Wales, West Kirby and Warrington. Other colleges include the Birkenhead Sixth Form College, in the Claughton area of the town, formerly the site of Corpus Christi Catholic High School. The Official Opening of the line in September 1840 saw the locomotive "The Wirral" leave Grange Lane Station Birkenhead, on the 50-minute journey to Chester, where cottages had been pressed into services as a station. Watch. Answer 1 of 3: The distance from the ferry terminal to the bus station appears to be walkable for two old folks with luggage but there appear to be several major roads to cross. Statements. This market hall was built by Fox, Henderson & Co, who later built The Crystal Palace. Deemed structurally unsafe, the remains of Woodside Hotel were demolished without planning permission in October 2008. View towards buffer-stops, when this station was the principal main-line station in Birkenhead and the terminus (jointly owned by the GWR and LMSR before Nationalisation) of the main line from Chester, Birmingham and London (Paddington). [61] The Jewish Birkenhead Synagogue existed from 1890 and closed prior to 2006.[62]. A directors' inspection train ran over the line on 10 September 1840 and the official opening took place on 22 September 1840. Birkenhead Woodside was a railway station at Woodside, in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire. Freddie Marks from Rod, Jane and Freddy was born in Birkenhead, as was John Gorman of The Scaffold. Along with a few others I had to back up into the tunnel a bit to get a clear shot of BR "Castle' class no.7029 'Clun Castle' departing Birkenhead Woodside station (see adjacent slide). [33] This theatre was closed in 1919 and demolished in the 1930s. [9] Instead, the company was taken over by the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway in 1847. Birkenhead - Bus Times Liverpool Exchange railway station - Wikiwand Birkenhead is situated within the television regions of BBC North West and ITV's Granada Television. Birkenhead Woodside; opened 31 March 1878; closed 5 November 1967; Birkenhead; original terminus at Grange Lane; opened 23 September 1840; closed 23 October 1844; Monks Ferry; on spur off original line; opened 23 October 1844; closed 31 March 1878; Birkenhead Town; opened 1 January 1889; closed 7 May 1945; Lime Kiln Lane; opened 30 May 1846; renamed Tranmere 1853; closed October 1857; Rock Lane; opened 30 May 1846; closed 1 November 1862; Sutton; opened 23 September 1840; renamed Ledsham 1863; closed 20 July 1959; Mollington; opened late 1840; closed 7 March 1960; Upton-by-Chester; opened 17 July 1939; closed 9 January 1984; Chester; original terminus of Chester and Birkenhead Railway; opened 23 September 1840; closed 1 August 1848; This page was last edited on 27 June 2023, at 16:03. During winter months, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company operates a service from Birkenhead to Douglas using MSBen-my-Chree. Railways reached Birkenhead in 1840, when the Chester and Birkenhead Railway began services. The terminal building is located behind the bus station. There followed another period of major rebuilding, which included land reclamation up to the end of the pier. The passenger bridge and landing stage, which featured in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire,[12] were also replaced at the same time. 418. The station was accessed via a half mile tunnel from the south which curved to the east into the station. At the same time, the last steam service from the station took place, in the withdrawal of through services to Birmingham. Chester can still be reached from Woodside as Hamilton Square. Birkenhead Woodside railway station was opened on 31 March 1878 to replace the increasingly inadequate passenger facilities provided at Birkenhead Monks Ferry station. Answer 1 of 3: The distance from the ferry terminal to the bus station appears to be walkable for two old folks with luggage but there appear to be several major roads to cross. Birkenhead and Tranmere electoral ward had a population of 15,879 in 2011.[20]. In the morning a staff and contractors' train made the round trip from Birkenhead to Chester; there were no passing places and no electric telegraph, so the official party of honoured guests had to wait at Birkenhead with no knowledge of whether the other train was returning on time. Classical composer William Lewarne Harris (1919-2013) was born in Birkenhead. Later in its life, it was also used as a cinema. player. The docks extension opened on 5 April 1847. Merseytravel Timetables | Journey Planner & Maps The Monks Ferry branch (and the ferry itself) were closed on the next day, but the branch was later reopened to serve private sidings on it.[12][4]. Birkenhead's Woodside station is one of the town's great "lost" railway stations. On 27 June 2007, the Merseytravel transit authority announced that it had acquired the German submarineU-534 to display at the Woodside Ferry Terminal. The name Birkenhead probably means "headland overgrown with birch", from the Old English bircen meaning birch tree,[3] of which many once grew on the headland which jutted into the river at Woodside. 1 Travel Disruption. PDF Volume 7 Number 3 September 2017 - .NET Framework Mill Park - St Anselm's College (via Birkenhead 6th Form College) Find out more. [29] Michael Marks, of Marks & Spencer, opened one of his first seven 'Penny Bazaar' stalls here during the 1880s. The name is not derived from the Birket, a stream which enters the Mersey between Birkenhead and Seacombe. In the first year the company did not do well financially; this was partly due to very large interest payments on loans and ferry terminal rental, and disappointing income. The half mile line was known as the Birkenhead New Line; it was mostly in tunnel and deep cutting. In the gardens is a stone plinth and a plaque commemorating Norman Tunna, Birkenhead resident and George Cross recipient. Due to weather conditions, this service temporarily replaces the route that normally operates from the Liverpool landing stage using fast craft. It had been intended that passengers disembarking from the nearby ferry terminal of the same name would use this entrance. [17] Beginning on 10 March 2008, the sections were transported by floating crane over a number of days. Tickets from Michael Stewart, Additional source: Wikipedia, To see other closed stations on the Birkenhead Woodside to Chester line click on the station name:Birkenhead Monks Ferry, Birkenhead Town, Tranmere, Birkenhead's dock system is part of the Port of Liverpool, operated by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company under the ownership of The Peel Group. Bolstered by migration from rural Cheshire, southern Ireland and Wales, the town's population had grown from 110 in 1801 to 110,912 one hundred years later and stood at 142,501 by 1951. Station Name: UPTON-BY-CHESTER - Disused Stations Unfortunately, the ferry companies were slow at co-operating and when the tram terminus opened in front of the ferry terminal in the early 1900s, the decision was made to keep the small 'back' entrance a permanent fixture. But that offered no protection when its services were ended in 1967, and by the following year it was demolished. As part of the Wirral Waters development, a street car service has been proposed, to be called Wirral Street Car. Religion in Birkenhead dates back to 1150 when Hamon de Masci founded Birkenhead Priory for the Benedictine order. Daniel Poole, a recipient of the Distinguished Conduct Medal during World War I was born in the town.[91]. Unfortunately, the ferry companies were slow at co-operating and when the tram terminus opened in front of the ferry terminal in the early 1900s, the decision was made to keep the small 'back' entrance a permanent fixture.