Wirral trip reports

[Green Lane]

Hello again all,

Today, I finally got around to doing the third and final of my intended series of three Wirral daytrips. As I mentioned in the first post in this thread (back in June!), daytrip three would cover that part of the geographical Wirral Peninsula which is in the "Cheshire West and Chester" unitary authority area. Also, by travelling to the end of the Merseytravel lines it would include visiting both Chester and Ellesmere Port railway stations.

To recap, on this Merseytravel map, the area covered today includes the extended "rail only" Merseytravel areas G1 & G2 and also that entirely blank white area (not in Merseytravel's remit) stretching from the River Dee across to the western edge of zone G1 which contains Neston railway station on the Borderlands Line and also some disused stations on the lifted Hooton to West Kirby branch. So here goes...

Daytrip 3, Part 1 - Birkenhead to Neston railway station

The decision to do this final daytrip today only occured around 10pm last night (Friday night), when it was apparent that I had nothing else planned for today. Also, having one "All Zones Saveaway" ticket left with a 2013 expiry date and the fact that the clocks will be going back soon, and I'm busy all other Saturdays in October - meant this was an ideal day for it.

My original plan was to use the Saveaway ticket in conjunction with a standard single railway ticket either from Heswall to Neston or Neston to Heswall. I certainly don't mind paying an extra £1.40 for such a ticket on top of my £4.80 Saveaway ticket, but the problem with that plan was that I had to double back on myself (on foot that is) in order to visit the former Parkgate railway station, which is effectively in between Heswall and Neston. So that plan was not very handy. So last night, I had a change of plan and decided that for the sake of walking three extra miles or so, I could simply walk all the way from Heswall to Neston via Parkgate, meaning that I did not have to buy an extra rail ticket and also I did not have to double-back on myself either - this immediately appeared to be a far better plan. Only drawback was, I would need about an extra hour due to the extra walking. So, I completed my entire plan last night, and this morning, I was able to leave the house at 08:30.

The All Zones Saveaway ticket:-


So, my first goal was to get from Birkenhead to Heswall using the above ticket. I could have gone by rail via Bidston, but the relatively infrequent (hourly) and not very quick service coupled with the fact that I already covered Heswall railway station in daytrip 2 meant a far better option was to simply get the direct bus (every ten minutes) from the bottom of my street straight to Heswall bus station, taking approx half an hour.

Bus stop near the bottom of my street. Currently there's a huge bus stop refurb going on across Wirral, so there's just a temporary stop there at the moment:-


After waiting no more than three minutes, the 471 bus arrived (Liverpool to Heswall via Irby). I got off the bus at Heswall bus station, just a few minutes after 9am. This shows the back of the bus I had just got off:-


The "bandstand" at Heswall bus station. Not sure exactly what it's called, but it's a bit like a bandstand except it's not raised above ground level. Johnny Pye pub in the background:-


I mentioned in daytrip 2 when I was also in Heswall that I then decided not to go in to Heswall town centre at that time, well the good thng about the bus station (unlike the rail station) is that it is situated right in Heswall town centre. So a quick couple of snaps in Heswall town centre were in order. Shops on Telegraph Road:-




The quite prominent red brick Heswall Police station:-


Locally, we all know that Heswall (and in fact Birkenhead for that matter) were historically in Cheshire, but have since 1974 been in the ceremonial county of Merseyside. My goal now though was to walk out of Merseyside and into the area that is still considered in modern times to be in Cheshire. So I continued walking down the main A540 Telegraph Road. Passing the Devon Doorway pub at Gayton:-


The above pub is in fact just across the roundabout from the Glegg Arms pub which I photographed in daytrip 2. I therefore also passed the Glegg Arms pub again and Telegraph Road becomes Chester Road. This time though my walking route was completely perpendicular to that of daytrip two, as I continued walking along the road in a south-easterly direction until I finally reached the modern-day boundary between Merseyside and Cheshire. (note the "Welcome to Cheshire" sign) :-


I then turned to look back the way I had just come from to photograph this "Wirral" sign. This of course refers strictly to the "Metropolitan Borough of Wirral" administrative area in Merseyside, but we still have a few miles of the geographical peninsula to the south of us yet! :-


I then turned right into the B5135 (Boathouse Lane) which is the main road in to the coastal village of Parkgate from the north. I was then surprised to notice a Merseytravel area B2 bus stop here:-


I first thought this Merseytravel bus stop was situated on the Cheshire side of the county boundary. (I have seen such a stop before in Halebank, Widnes) However, on checking the OS map this evening, I can confirm that Boathouse Lane, a road almost entirely in Cheshire does have a section a few yards long, belonging to Merseyside within it exactly where this bus stop is, so it is in fact in the right county! I think the funny shape of the boundary at this point is due to the layout of local housing to the northwest of the Boathouse Lane connected to nearby roads in Merseyside.

I continued down the long and lonely road :-


A few twists and turns:-


And then the River Dee came in to view, with the green fields of Flintshire in the background:-


Shortly thereafter I reached the Boathouse Lane road bridge over the former Hooton to West Kirby branch line (now the "Wirral Way" walking/cycling path) and finally the first part of my journey relevant to the railways :-


View of the former trackbed (southbound). I had also taken this same shot a few years back. Someone on Wikipedia once used the earlier photo to illustrate the location of the former Parkgate railway station. However, this was incorrect, the former station was located a further two-thirds of a mile south along the track, and not visible from this bridge:-


The bridge from the side:-


The former trackbed (northbound):-


I could have joined the Wirral way here and walked down it towards the former Parkgate railway station, but for the sake of walking an extra 200 yards or so, I decided to walk the more interesting route along the coastline of the River Dee, through Parkgate itself. For those (like me) who might be interested in these things, the next bus stop along Boathouse Lane was a Cheshire West and Cheshire one. They typically look like this:-


The whole rest of my daytrip would now be within Cheshire.

The Boat House pub at the bottom of Boathouse Lane, on the coastline of the River Dee.


Next I walked along coastal road "The Parade", with the Dee marshes clearly visible on my right:-


Some general shots of Parkgate:-


St Thomas' Church:-


Mostyn Square, Parkgate. I notice since my last visit, the former stone covered bus shelter has been completely demolished. Not sure why:-


I saw this "Aintree" bus in Mostyn Sqauare, but then noticed it was a "Helms of Eastham" bus, which is a Wirral-based company:-


The Red Lion:-


View across the River Dee from Parkgate. The high-rise flats in the extreme distance are in Flint. One of them is called Bolingbroke Heights. I only know that because I went there once to photograph the former analogue TV relay on the roof:-


More Parkgate buildings including the renowned ice-cream shops:-




Mostyn House school (closed 2010):-


Planning permission was granted to convert the school into luxury apartments. Looks like work is well under way:-


Shortly thereafter, I would turn left onto Station Road, and past Neston Cricket Club:-


Next up I would return to the "rail mission" and I approached the former Parkgate railway station. The thing to know is that there were two different stations at Parkgate. I don't know when the first one opened, but it closed when the second one opened in 1886. The first station was situated to the south of Station Road and was originally a passenger terminus for what was then simply the Hooton-Parkgate branch. When the line was eventually extended northwards towards Heswall, this first station was converted into a goods station and then became effectively a set of sidings off the main Hooton-West Kirby line.
The second station (1886-1956) was built on the north side of Station Road. But this history explains why the Wirral way is disjointed at this location.

This photo shows the access road to the first station, to the south of Station Road. It's now the access road to the Wirral Way (southbound):-


Next I walked a bit further along Station Road, and this small section of narrow-gauge track has been set up as a memorial to the former local railway. The former Hooton-West Kirby branch was of course standard gauge, but this memorial refers to local collieries which used narrow-gauge railways and linked up with the main railway at Parkgate:-



Near the above memorial, I briefly entered the Wirral Way (northbound) and these photos were taken in the approximate location of the former station's platforms (2nd site), although it's difficult to be exactly sure where I was in relation to the former station. I didn't do an exhaustive search, but at first glance there appears to be absolutely nothing remaining of the actual station itself:-




I then came back out on to Station Road again and took this photo which shows that the former railway bridge going across the road (near the bend in the road) has been completely removed:-


I then briefly headed back to the site of the former station (1st site), passing a pillbox. I guess this would have been in a more strategically significant position when the railway was here:-


These photos were taken on the site of the former station (1st site):-




Again, I could have stayed on the Wirral Way here and walked right into Neston, however that would have taken me a bit out of my way to visiting the modern-day Neston station on the Borderlands Line. So Instead continued along the B5135 Parkgate Road in to Neston town centre:-

Entering Neston town centre:-


Entrance to Neston Library:-


Neston Cross:-


I now approached Neston railway station. This bridge carries the Borderlands Line over Raby Road:-


I had travelled on ATW class 150 Borderlands trains during both of the first two daytrips, so this time, my aim was simply to photograph the station itself, rather than boarding a train here. General views of Neston station:-








This one shows the nearby ALDI supermarket in the background:-


Sign mentioning the bus link to Parkgate, now needed since Parkgate lost its railway station:-


Quick snap of the station sign on the way out:-


Next, I would walk back through Neston town centre and onwards towards the former Neston South railway station before rejoining the Wirral way and entering Neston cutting. I will cover that in part 2, which I will write up at the next available opportunity over the coming days!

Also a couple of extra things I wanted to mention in relation to the previous daytrip 2:-

The number 98 bus service I previously mentioned to visit the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead (from Liverpool city centre) stopped running Thursday just gone. Unfortunately it appears the operator of this commercially-operated service (Impera) went bust. Instead, the only buses now serving the art gallery are now the Arriva 492/495 from Birkenhead bus station - they don't run from Liverpool.

Also, I found myself in Moreton again a couple of weeks back. Here is a better picture of the aforementioned "water barrier" at Burton's factory:-

Again, I hope you enjoyed reading, Thanks all!

 

[Requeststop]

Another great report on your area. Thanks also for the final photo. Just as I remembered it. You also brought back a memory from really deep in the back of my brain, and that is the ice-cream parlours at Parkgate. Ice cream just as good as at home in Cornwall. I can just remember seeing the River Dee at full tide there with just a little water to be seen through the tall grass as I recall. I was told that it was very rare to see the tide at Parkgate. Thanks again.

 

[Taunton]

Thank you for a very interesting and detailed report of the lines (especially the West Kirby) which I knew for many years, although not in recent times. All the tasks in the house went undone while I read the whole lot.

A number of the West Kirby line stations were rebuilt for the 1938 electrification, these being Moreton, Meols, Manor Road (new station) and Hoylake. They were done in the 1930s Art Deco architectural style, in concrete when this was still new as an overall building material. The Southern Railway did quite a number in similar style at the time but these form an interesting, but isolated, group elsewhere.

(at Moreton) I do remember the overhead cable hauled containers of clay heading to and fro into the brick factory. Is that still there? I have tried a Google on this factory and come up with nothing.

Yes, I recall this. The small skips of clay, probably held about 1/4 ton, ran on a little railway, I would guess about 2 feet gauge, from where the excavators worked to the brickworks. They were pulled by being attached to an overhead haulage cable held up on wooden poles. It was generally running on weekdays through the 1960s-70s, towards the end of the brickworks it was eventually replaced by dump trucks. The skips could probably have been pushed by hand along the rails quite straightforwardly as well. It was located where you can see the unreclaimed land here https://maps.google.com/?ll=53.407856,-3.12678&spn=0.003793,0.010568&t=h&z=17 about 1/2 mile west of Moreton station on the seaward side of the line - the brickworks was towards Moreton and the excavations extended westwards over time.

Are all Merseyrail trains 3 coaches these days? I seem to remember 6 coaches way back when. Is the frequency of trains the same as say 5 years back? Does the "new loop" restrict the size of trains to 3 coaches?

The operation was pretty much unchanged from the 1938 electrification until the Loop opened in the late 1970s, off-peak every 20 minutes to West Kirby and New Brighton, and Rock Ferry every 10 minutes, generally 3-car. At peak hours these were all doubled (the Rock Ferry line, every 5 minutes, was the most intensive end-to-end service on BR), and the trains were all 6-car. Trains stuck very much to their "own" route all day long. One result of this was that 75% of the rolling stock was only needed in peak hours. However, there were a range of other occasions when 6-car trains were run all day. The shopping week before Christmas was one, likewise on fine summer Sundays on the West Kirby and New Brighton lines. There was actually a small supplementary display under the main train indicator on the Liverpool platforms when the next train was "3 car".

In the vicinity of West Kirby station is the "West Kirby Concourse" a combined swimming baths/leisure centre and library etc..

This, which must be one of the worst 1970s architectural monstrosities to have been inflicted on Wirral, is indeed built on the site of the old Hooton line station, and equally on the quite large goods yard that used to exist, together with the associated coal merchants offices etc, between the two stations. This lasted to the end of steam, about 1966, and a daily freight was propelled (because there were no run round facilities anywhere) by a Jinty 3F 0-6-0T several miles from Birkenhead North to West Kirby, shortly after the morning rush hour. It would then service the sidings at Hoylake, and the Cadbury factory sidings at Moreton, on the way back when at the proper end of its train.

(at West Kirby) Somewhere in the vicinity of the pedestrian crossing in the above photo, I believe there used to be a railway bridge crossing the road. I can see it on the c1970 photos of the Cheshire aerial survey. This would have carried the Hooton branch line over the main road here.

Other way round, the Hooton railway was at ground level and the main road had a hump-backed bridge over it. It was quite spectacular to come down Grange Hill on your bike, which is about 1 in 10 for half a mile, then at the bottom suddenly up again (entirely by momentum) and over the bridge and down into West Kirby centre! The bridge was removed and the road straightened out (or actually curved around) in more than one rebuilding over the years.

More comments if anyone interested.

 

[Green Lane]

To Requeststop, Thank you very much for the encouraging reply. Glad you enjoyed the write up so far! Yes, I remember now I went to Parkgate back in 2002, on one of those rare days (once or twice a year I think) when the tide was in. Back then, I was unaware that the tide ever came in at Parkgate in modern times, it was just a co-incidence that I happened to be there on that day.

I took this photo on 30th March 2002 (doesn't seem like 11 years ago to be honest!):-

To Taunton, likewise, thank you very much for the informative reply, fascinating stuff! You are completely correct about the bridge at West Kirby. Apologies to all readers for that mistake on my part, admittedly it was a few years prior to writing the post that I had observed the bridge on the 1970s aerial photographs.

On reading your post, I just checked the aerial survey again today and indeed it is quite clearly a road bridge with the road going over the former railway line and not the other way round as I had previously stated. My memory must have been playing tricks on me. That and the fact that the modern-day road is now much lower than it used to be at that point as per the alterations you mentioned.

The website where you can see this is at http://maps.cheshire.gov.uk/tithemaps/TwinMaps.aspx

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem possible to provide a direct link to the relevant part of the aerial survey, as the session data does not seem to be preserved in the URL. But, on the above site, if you click on the "Aerial 1970s" tab above the right-hand map, you can then zoom into any part of the historic county of Cheshire and the road bridge at West Kirby can quite clearly can be seen on maximum zoom. Not sure of the exact year, but based on the fact the M53 motorway is not completed on this survey it has to be the early 1970s, in the range 1970-1972.

So thanks for the correction!

EDIT: Also if you do have any more comments, please feel free to add them to the thread.

Also, I quickly re-read some of the first part of this thread and I just noticed I had posted that it is the Wirral bus & tram festival today. Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten about it this year! Was in Liverpool all morning on some errands, and too busy this afternoon to go to the bus & tram festival now - oh well, there's always next year.

I'm also really looking forward to posting the next parts of the final daytrip as soon as I get a chance, I'm hoping to write up the next bit this evening or if not, it'll likely be tomorrow. Thanks all.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Daytrip 3, Part 2 - Neston railway station to Hadlow Road, Willaston

I left Neston railway station and I'm reminded that although it was before my time, I have read that in the days when Neston had two railway stations, the modern-day Neston station was back then called "Neston North".

On leaving that station, I then proceeded southwards along Neston's High Street.

Past the town hall:-


Past the church of St Mary & St Helen:-


Onwards, and High Street becomes Bridge Street, where I passed this mini-roundabout:-


The road with the parked cars in the above photo, leading off into the distance is Station Road, the former access road to Neston South railway station on the former Hooton to West Kirby branch line. I should also mention that this station was formerly known simply as "Neston" station, but I'll stick to calling it Neston South as that's completely unambiguous!

Before I visited the former station site though, I walked a little further southwards along Bridge Street, to see the modern-day Wirral Way footbridge which crosses the road, on the site of the previous railway bridge.:-


Even the 1970s aerial survey does not show the original railway bridge at this location (just the supports), so it must have been removed within a few years after the track was lifted.

Next I returned back to Station Road:-


I then walked further along Station Road, towards the bridge carrying the Borderlands Line over the road:-


My understanding, from again looking at the 1970 aerial maps (and the original OS map) is that the Hooton-West Kirby line passed under what is now the Borderlands Line at this point. I'm not completely sure which gap it went under, although looking at the alignment of the Wirral Way here it looks likely either to be the gap in the middle of this shot, or perhaps the one to the left of it. Although the bridge deck itself has been replaced, the supporting piers are apparently the originals:-


The entire station area was redeveloped as part of a housing estate, with the modern-day Station Road becoming an ordinary residential street, with houses on one side and Stanney Fields Park on the other. (and near the top end, houses on both sides). I read that the houses were built prior to the creation of the Wirral Way footpath and so like Davenport Road in Heswall (covered in daytrip 2), this is another section of The Wirral Way where there is no dedicated footpath for a while and all walkers, cyclists and horse-riders must continue along the residential street. Although in this case, the gap is only around a quarter of a mile long. It's tricky to exactly pinpoint the former station platform, buildings, track and sidings, since the whole site has been completely obliterated. So, I'll just show a few photos in the vicinity of the former station area:-








This "Station Road" sign is on the side of some lock-up garages shown in the subsequent pic:-


From what I can ascertain, these lock-up garages are pretty close to the location of the station as marked on old OS maps:-


Well we may not have trains running along here any more, but many are happy to get by on horseback or bicycle instead:-


On walking the length of Station Road, I crossed Bushell Road, and got to the gate where the dedicated footpath starts again and the former trackbed can be re-joined:-


And walking through that gate above brings me to my absolute favourite part of the entire Wirral Way. The cutting at Neston. It's very atmospheric and due to the nature of the cutting and shade provided by the trees it always seems noticeably cooler when you walk in to it. Apart from the fact that the track has been removed (and a concrete sewer subsequently installed along one side), this place still very much has a railway feel about it. I would say to anyone, if you only have time to walk a small part of the Wirral Way, then this is the section most worth doing:-










Here, marks can be seen in the rock where the cutting was dug out:-


This bridge is no longer in use, as can be seen by the amount of vegetation on it. Google satellite view indicates it has housing on one side and a farmer's field on the other. Perhaps the encroachment of housing onto former farmland has resulted in the bridge becoming redundant:-


Some parts of the cutting have quite a bit of brickwork embedded in the rock face:-


Eventually, the cutting ends at this bridge at the eastern end, I think Lees Lane is the road carried by this one:-


Walking on eastwards, the path now looks more typical of the Wirral Way again:-


I then passed this tractor during some muck-spreading, which I appeared to be downwind of. The smell of which, I can't adequately describe in words. It might be best described as a potent mixture of highly volatile agrochemicals and effluent, or perhaps more succinctly simply as "ripe":-


Carrying on hurriedly past, the path next became an embankment, and these dismounting steps are by a footbridge which crosses Cuckoo Lane:-


Crossing the bridge over Cuckoo Lane:-


Looking down onto the unpaved Cuckoo Lane. (This lane southbound ultimately leads back towards Little Neston):-


Onwards I walked and next up is the point where the Wirral way crosses under the main road in the area, the A540 Chester High Road.


Because of the narrow underpass, there is no room for both the Wirral Way and an access road which is part of the University of Liverpool's Leahurst Campus to pass through separately. (Leahurst campus is used by the School of Veterinary Sciences). All walkers, cyclists and horse-riders must join the access road to pass under the A540, and then back off it again immediately re-joining the Wirral Way on the other side, being very careful not to trespass onto the University property:-




I continued eastwards, this is bridge used by the aforementioned Leahust Campus access road to cross over the Wirral Way:-


Damhead Lane I think:-


From Damhead Lane is another very straight stretch of the Wirral Way, about two thirds of a mile long:-


Before ending at Hadlow Road, Willaston:-




There are two villages named Willaston in Cheshire, this is the one in Cheshire West. (the other one in Cheshire East is home to the World worm-charming championships - if Wikipedia is to be believed). It's a nice place but alas I did not have time on this occasion to walk into the centre of the village itself. The former trackbed skirts the south of the village.

Across Hadlow Road, we come to a gate leading in to the preserved Hadlow Road railway station:-


After walking through the sites of the former Parkgate and Neston South station where virtually nothing remains, it's really great to see Hadlow Road completely intact:-


Even an original signal is preserved:-


and a section of the original track:-


Some general photos of the preserved station:-


waiting shelter:-


ticket office:-


Station cat (alas he is stuffed):-


The toilets are looked after and fully operational, for use by walkers of the Wirral Way:-


Luggage cart:-


This is the way out to the car park:-


The signal box has been preserved too:-




Finally I continued walking eastwards along the full length of the platform and then dropped back down onto the continuing eastbound path:-


I would next head towards Hooton to continue this day trip.

To be continued in the next part, which I will hopefully write up sometime down the week.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Daytrip 3, Part 3 - Hadlow Road to Little Sutton, via Chester

Onwards I walked, following the former trackbed eastwards:-


This is perhaps the busiest part of the Wirral Way, being close to the car park at Hadlow Road. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the warm October day as I happily said my "hellos" to about twenty people on this first short stretch alone.

It's a pretty rural part of the Wirral peninsula and to be honest it felt really good to be back out in the countryside again as all of my recent walks had been in towns and cities:-


Next up is the Heath Lane bridge:-


Where there's a secluded picnic area nearby and a few benches:-


That bridge seems to mark the point where the Wirral Way suddenly gets noticeably less busy again when walking eastwards (I think many walkers join or come off the path at Heath Lane):-


This stretch was the "home run", the last bit before approaching Hooton. As can be seen in the photo above and this photo there's now a bit of a bend to the left, as the path ultimately bends back around to the north. (Sorry this one is slightly out of focus, I was walking at quite a pace by this time and probably did not come to a complete stop!):-


At this point, I could now hear the most welcome sound of electric trains accelerating, clearly I was getting very near to Hooton station. I did cover Hooton station in daytrip 2, but for completeness, here is a photo I took as I walked on to the disused platform:-


I then took this shot through the fence shown on the right of the above photo. It shows another disused platform face and the new footbridge lift-shafts at Hooton:-


I then reached the Hooton end of the Wirral Way and walked across the road bridge on Hooton Road itself, taking this shot. In fact the very first shot with a train in it, on this entire daytrip! 508128 on a service to Liverpool Central:-


I then walked into the station and I was very pleased with the progress of the daytrip at this point. It was precisely 12:00 and I had by now done the bulk of the walking needed for this trip. I was back at a location where my "All Zones saveaway" ticket was valid (rail only here), and I knew the rest of the afternoon would be a much more leisurely affair with a mixture of short train rides and much shorter walks at a much more relaxed pace! A Chester-bound train pulled into the platform across the bridge. I could have easily made that train, but no need I was approx half an hour ahead of my estimated schedule so deliberately I let that one go. 508112 departs Hooton bound for Chester (I seem to get that unit a lot):-


I now needed to eat my packed lunch, so I went down to my favourite seat at the far north end of the platform. Due to some minor delays on the line, the next Chester train was 18 minutes away, but that really was ideal for me to eat all of my food without having to rush. Not sure if the delays were due to smoke billowing across the tracks just to the south of Bache station which I happened to see a bit later on as there must have been some fire nearby.

Anyway the next Chester train duly arrived, and I was happy to see I finally snapped one with different livery:-


It was 508111, and I travelled all the way to Chester on it:-


I took the above photo at that particular angle as there was a BTP officer standing on the platform, just out the shot to the left and I deliberately wanted to avoid photographing her.

The aforementioned delays seemed to cause funny timings on the line as no sooner had I gone into the Platform 4/Platform 7 toilet and then back out again, and another unit was standing at platform 7b. The services must have bunched up. 507025 at Chester:-


Now normally at Chester I tend to see a class 175 unit going one way or the other and perhaps a class 150 bound for the mid-Cheshire line, and sometimes even a Super Voyager. But I have to admit, on this particular visit, Chester seemed like a station in dire need of a train! Apart from the Merseyrail units on platform 7b, I did not see a single train within the station. I think that is a first for me. Some shots of the train-less station:-






OK, well there was one train there after all!


I exited the station, and the "City link" bus was there:-


Quick snap of the station frontage and then I was on my way:-


My next destination was Bache railway station, which I would walk to on foot. Of course this meant I would miss out on Chester City Centre as that is in completely the opposite direction. There's that much to see and do in Chester itself suffice it to say I could spend an entire day photographing the city and writing a massive thread on it, and I still would only scratch the surface. i.e. it's way beyond the scope of this thread. Although from a railway point of view, I will post the three following images I took during previous trips:-

Chester station on a day when some trains were there (Taken 11th August 2012):-

Roodee Viaduct (Taken on 30th March 2013):-

Site of former Blacon railway station (Taken 24th November 2012):-

Back now to images from Saturday's daytrip again and I should mention that there are two main walking routes between Chester railway station and Bache railway station to the north. Simply put, you can walk to the east of the Merseyrail line or to the west of the Merseyrail line. In the past, I had only ever walked the western route, as I'm more familiar with the main Liverpool Road. However on this occasion, I decided to walk the east route via some minor roads - which in fact might be a bit shorter. Before I crossed over the tracks though, I took this one shot of Chester station from the north-west. Still no trains were there:-


Shortly after crossing over the tracks on the Hoole Way bridge, I passed this closed down pub:-


Next, I turned left up Ermine Road:-


Where I passed under this bridge of the disused Hawarden Bridge-Mickle Trafford line:-


Passed a church, then a park and then another pub, The Bears Paw:-


Before finally coming out onto Mill Lane in the vicinity of Bache station:-




Some general shots of Bache station:-






Bache replaced a nearby station "Upton-by-Chester". Can't remember exactly in which year that occured, but I can say I well remember the pre-Bache days when Upton-by-Chester station was open.

Bache footbridge:-


Now, my next destination would be Capenhurst, just one stop up the line, but at a little over four miles away that's a big gap between stations by Merseyrail standards. Also, Capenhurst is I think the only station on the 3rd-rail electrified (Northern and Wirral) Merseyrail lines where some services pass through without stopping. So I needed a bit of luck here as only alternate services stop at Capenhurst during Saturday daytimes, with a half-hourly service being provided. Fortunately, the next train due was a Capenhurst stopper and so I did not have to wait very long at Bache at all. 508128 arrives at Bache:-


508128 at Capenhurst:-


General shots of Capenhurst station:-








Things I know of Capenhurst are the village itself with its historic pinfold. The nuclear reprocessing plant and Manorfield Close, an eerie street of empty houses apparently used for testing of various housing insulation methods. Not to mention the infamous "phone-tap" tower reputedly used to snoop on phone calls between the UK and Ireland, now long gone. Alas, again I would be walking the other way, away from the village itself on this occasion. I would be walking eastbound along Capenhurst Lane. Outside the station, in this direction, it's basically farmer's fields and it looks round about harvest time:-


I proceeded along the straight Capenhurst Lane, a road with some fast-travelling cars, but thankfully a pavement alongside:-


The other thing at Capenhurst is a National Grid substation with 400kV lines coming in from Connahs Quay and Queensferry power stations on Deeside.
For those who are interested in these things, the substation down-converts to 275kV for transmission to Birkenhead substation in Prenton and there also numerous 132kV distribution pylons coming out of the site. This shot appears to show a 275kV line on the left, with a 400kV line on the right (guessing due to the number of insulators on the pylons, corrections welcome!):-


I continued walking along Capenhurst Lane where I noticed a new housing development at Capenhurst Gardens:-



Finally, I reached the main A41 road, where I turned left and started walking up the road northbound, my destination was to be Little Sutton railway station on the Ellesmere Port branch. The A41 at Capenhurst (or is it Great Sutton at this point?):-


I don't know if I mentioned the A41 road before on these trip reports, but apart from the M53 motorway it is the major road running up the eastern side of the Wirral Peninsula. This stretch is the Chester-Birkenhead stretch, but traditionally in pre motorway times, it was the main London-Birkenhead road. The southern terminus is at Marble Arch. The northern terminus is Woodside bus station in Birkenhead (covered in daytrip 1).

Milepost on the A41:-


Passing St John the Evangelist, Great Sutton:-


The next milepost along:-


Some shops in Little Sutton:-


Footbridge across the Wirral Line on the A41 road:-


Olde Red Lion, Little Sutton:-


I would next turn in to Station Road, Little Sutton:-


I would then walk further down Station Road to Little Sutton railway station, which I will cover in the next and final part of the write-up, which I hope to do sometime this week.

I will be covering Little Sutton, Overpool and Ellesmere Port railway stations in that final part, Cheers!

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Daytrip 3, Part 4 - Little Sutton to Ellesmere Port

So, I walked down Station Road, Little Sutton and approached the station:-


Some general views of Little Sutton railway station:-






Station sign with bicycle shop in the background:-



Not quite sure what the "RIP" means here:-


My aim was to take the train one stop eastbound to Overpool, less than a mile away. Service frequency on the Ellesmere Port branch is half-hourly. So if the train is more than 15 minutes away then it's typically quicker to walk. Again there was an uncharacteristic slight delay on this line of about three minutes, but I didn't have to wait too long and in any case I already decided I would take the train for this leg of the journey.

508139 arrived on a Liverpool Central-bound service:-


and then a few minutes later, 508114 arrived to take me to Overpool:-


508114 departing Overpool, towards Ellesmere Port:-


The thing I always seem to remember about Overpool is the round holes in the waiting shelters:-


Anyone who has travelled on this line this year may recall the station sign in the left of this picture was rotated 90 degrees for some months. I'm glad to see it has been rotated back to the correct position!


General views of Overpool railway station:-






My next goal was to walk to Ellesmere Port town centre (to buy a drink) and then on to the railway station. Again, there are two possible routes from here. One is to walk south of the Merseyrail line (shortest route). Another possiblity is to walk to the north of the Merseyrail line (quite a bit longer). As there is a footbridge across the tracks halfway between Overpool and Ellesmere Port stations though I decided to walk the first half to the north of the tracks, cross over the footbridge and then walk the second half to the south of the tracks. My main reason for doing this is that I also wanted to look at the Manisty Wharf freight line which branches off to the north of the Merseyrail line.

Shops near Overpool railway station on Overpool Road:-


I passed through Overpool Cemetery, to get a shot of the chapel:-


After walking further along Rossmore Road East, I then turned right into Jacks Wood Avenue, where a lot of new housing has been built on what I think were former industrial sites:-


I then turned left into the footpath which leads to a pedestrian level crossing across the active Manisty Wharf coal line (I understand the line is used for coal runs to Fiddlers Ferry power station):-


For those who are interested in these things, someone has posted a video of the entire freight line on YouTube.

If you happened to watch that video, you would see the point where I crossed the single track here:-








I crossed the track and back over it again the way I came, to regain my intended walking route.

Next I continued along Jacks Wood Avenue, where I was surprised by the scale of the new housing development, it covers a pretty large area, and it looks like there are still some further areas waiting to be built on:-


Next up was the footbridge across the Merseyrail line roughly midway between Overpool and Ellesmere Port stations:-


Due to the mesh over the bridge, I would not normally be able to get a photo of the track from here, however, part of the mesh had been vandalised, leaving a hole just big enough for the lens of my compact camera to peer through, looking eastbound:-


Next I walked along Princes Road for a bit:-


before eventually making my way towards Ellesmere Port Market:-


and the Port Arcades shopping Centre:-


where the Halloween theme was out in force:-


There's also a Ferris wheel in the town centre at the moment:-


Finally made my way towards Ellesmere Port station:-


where I took this shot of 508139 from the footbridge:-


Alas, I was there at 15:42, where if memory serves me correct, I had missed the first afternoon Helsby service by a few minutes, and was too early for the next one. I could have waited around for a while for that second afternoon Helsby service, but having been out walking since 08:30, I was eager to get on the Merseyrail train that was already in. Coincidentally, it was due out at 15:42, so I just stepped on to it seconds before the doors closed and we were off.

So instead, I present two photos I took on previous trips, when the Helsby service was at the station:-

I took this photo on 11th August 2012:-

and this one on 30th June 2012:-

(note the better weather back then. )

Back again to photos from Saturday's daytrip and I happened to take the Ellesmere Port train back to Bebington station, where I again photographed 508139 departing:-


Bebington station is approximately two and a half miles short from where I live, but the 464 New Ferry to Liverpool bus stops outside the station, and as it happens that bus takes me directly home, avoiding going back through Birkenhead town centre. So, this is what I did, arriving home at sometime around 16:40, having been out for just a little over eight hours and all goals of the intended daytrip achieved!

Daytrip 3 journey stats:-
Total mileage walked on foot:- 16.1 miles
Used 2 buses for a total mileage of 10.8 miles
Used just 4 trains on this trip, for a total of 21.1 miles

Total mileage covered (all modes):- 48.0 miles

Well, that completes my survey of railways past and present on the Wirral Peninsula and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I tend to let the pictures do the talking, that's just my style and I really enjoyed doing the trips and writing them up!

These trips were by no means exhaustive however. Things I did not cover include former Warren railway station on the New Brighton line. Former Storeton & Burton Point stations on the Borderlands line were also omitted due to being a bit out of the way from the three trips I did. There's also of course the former Mollington and Ledsham stations on the Chester branch. On top of that I don't even think I covered all open stations e.g. I don't think I photographed Wallasey Village railway station for example and I'm sure there were others omitted!

Still, most of what remains was covered along with some of what had been lost, so I hope it provided at least a general overview of the railways in Wirral and some of the locations served.

A member also previously asked about me doing similar coverage of Merseyrail's Northern Line. I initially mentioned I was unlikely to do this. However, now I have completed the Wirral trips, I am investigating the possibility of doing this. I can't promise anything and it might even be next year, but I'm currently looking into planning some Northern Line trips, so I will see how it goes and if I do any such trips I will certainly post them in this forum.

Thanks again for reading, Cheers!

 

[Taunton]

Just a few random notes about past times in Wirral.

The Bidston-Wrexham line went through a range of destinations at its northern end. In steam days trains ran to Seacombe, but this branch was abandoned when the dmus came in 1960. The Seacombe line later became the long cutting that the road approach to the Wallasey Tunnel under the Mersey now uses. The diesels were run to New Brighton, an extension that got very little use apart from maybe some fine summer Sundays. At New Brighton they normally used the platform on the seaward side, with the electrics on the other side. About 1971 the diesels were diverted again, to Birkenhead North, where they reversed in the main Liverpool-bound platform, with the Liverpool electrics diverted round the opposite side of the island when there was one there - if there wasn't one then the electrics used the main platform instead.

In the late 1970s the service was cut back one station to Bidston. Initially the dmus were backed up along the Wrexham line to lay over, where they got in the way of other services, then a special centre siding was built beyond Bidston West Junction (which is actually the one to the east of the station) between the two tracks of the curve round to Wallasey.

The other operation on the Wrexham line through the 1960s-70s was the iron ore trains from Bidston Dock (actually in Birkenhead) to the Shotton steelworks. These were surprisingly frequent at times, until about 1967 they were still steam worked with 9F 2-10-0s, then changed over to two x Class 24 diesels (the older ones, without the route indicators), and after a short while with these to Class 47. Loads were about 8 or 9 of the big bogie hopper wagons specially built for the operation, plus a guard's van. Apparently they were unbraked, as was common at the time for goods wagons, so both driver and guard had a hard time on the brake during the descent from Heswall to Hawarden Bridge. The signalmen were adept in getting them out of Bidston Dock, straight across the New Brighton electric line, round to Bidston, through the station across the West Kirby electric line, and in between the Wrexham diesels onwards. Even in the evening rush hour, when both the electric routes were running every 10 minutes each way, the iron trains used to be found a path through it all, and I never recall any delay to the passenger service.

The dmus on the Wrexham line were a special order, numbered in the M50924/M51561 series, unusually with both cars powered. Originally ordered for local trains on the Great Central line from Aylesbury to Sheffield, a change of plan which kept them on old Great Central tracks reassigned them to this line, but with the steep gradients, especially the 1 in 50 or so up from Shotton into Wales, the normal driving trailer car was varied to be a second power car. This was a late change and by the time it was agreed several hundred more power cars elsewhere had been ordered, hence the number series of the two cars being widely separated instead of adjacent as was usual. Although the 12 sets were more than the service required, I hardly ever saw them anywhere else. They operated from a small sub-depot at Chester Northgate station, which although you could see the main Chester diesel depot from there across intervening railway-owned ground, was many rail miles and shunts to get from one to the other.

One of these dmu cars had a special long board above the windows in the style of long-distance trains of the 1960s, it read "The 1,000th diesel car built at Derby Works". I think it was there as long as the car was painted the initial green, but disappeared in the late 1960s when it was repainted blue.

"Heswall" station on this line was long known as Heswall Hills. It is nowhere near Heswall, you go south from there through the small area called Gayton, then east, where it is just out into the country. So although Heswall is a significantly-sized town well suited to a station, this one is not really convenient for anybody. There was, separately, an old "Heswall" station, much more convenient, on the seaward side of the town, on the old West Kirby to Hooton line. Maybe I'll manage some notes about that later, as well as actually departing from Birkenhead Woodside.

 

[Green Lane]

Thank you very much Taunton for the very interesting and detailed post. I'm always fascinated to hear the history about the Bidston-Wrexham line. I'm 40 now and my very earliest memories of travelling on the railways are in the late '70s but I was only 4-5 years old at the time.

Also, Birkenhead Woodside has always interested me, sadly completely gone before my time.

This thread grew so long and with so many photos in it I could barely find everything in it myself, but I visited the sites of both Heswall stations in daytrip 2 in this post. It was great to see that a retaining wall from the original Heswall station on the Birkenhead Railway still survives to this day (right next to someone's house!). The very same wall can be seen on original photographs from when the station was still open to passengers.

I also visited the site of the former Liscard & Poulton station on the Seacombe branch, I think it was in the first daytrip, those photos are buried way back in this thread somewhere - as you say that branch is now the main approach road for the Wallasey road tunnel.

But all I can really see in present times are remnants of former stations and lines (well, apart from preserved stations like Hadlow Road that is). It must be something else altogether to have actual memories from those days!

 

[chriskay]

...for an excellent writeup. Your post was linked by a member of wikiwirral, where I'm a moderator for the history section. I was born and raised in Birkenhead; my parents' first home was in Maybank Rd.
Although I live now in Shrewsbury, I often re-visit Merseyside. I usually drive to Hooton and buy an all-areas Saveaway ticket, which currently costs £4.90, but for that you can use the ferry too.
Since this is a rail forum, I thought I'd just mention that the old line terminating at Birkenhead Woodside was always a joint G.W.R./L.N.W.R. line.
Cheers, Chris.

 

[Green Lane]

Thanks very much Chris for the reply.

Yes, I'm pretty sure that I have exchanged forum posts with you previously as I have an account over on the WikiWirral forums (my username there is "PaulTaters"), although I haven't posted there for a long time.

I have always had a habit of choosing completely different user names for every forum/website I go on!

Glad you enjoyed the thread. As I live off Borough Road, walking down Maybank Road is one of the possible routes I take when walking to/from Green Lane station. I tend to vary my walks down to the various stations a bit to keep it interesting.

Shrewsbury is a nice place. I don't drive myself, but I do enjoy the walk down to Upton station for the Wrexham train, changing there for the train to Shrewsbury, which was the way I went last time. I am sure your Hooton journey is much quicker though.

In fact I haven't posted much on these railforums recently either, although I do pop in to check latest developments.

Recently I have been taking some local photos for Flickr & Wikimedia Commons, a selection of my latest ones are viewable via the below link. Mainly Merseyside-related and surrounding areas. Not many rail-related ones recently though. I've also had three daytrips to Stoke-on-Trent this year so far, photographing the various Potteries towns. I have to say that has been really interesting. But generally I have been getting the best possible weekend use out of my annual Merseytravel zone B1/C1 Trio ticket, which I need for work anyway:-
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ind...ListFiles&limit=500&user=Rept0n1x&ilshowall=1

Cheers!

 

[chriskay]

I recognise the name, Paul. I'm in awe of your walking abilities; I walk as little as possible, but I am 77 and have breathing difficulty.
Cheers, Chris.

 

[FQ]

Brilliant trip report. I think I will do one when I am up at my grandparents next (should be July time). They live in Penyffordd so it should be easy to work one out leaving on the 07:47 to Bidston and back on the 18:46 to Penyffordd. I will do all the zones in one and I will clear all the Network including a Northern Rail 150 and a TPE 185 if I stick to the timings I have. New Brighton looks lovely and it will be really fun to spend a day or so there but alas I have planned to do that last and off one train onto the next. My dad wanted me to ask you this; did you get a ticket check on any of the journey? He has done a trip like the one I am going to do and he only got checked on the approach to Southport from Moorfields. Thanks and again excellent report.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Also with the Save away ticket can you pay for it and get the ticket on a train from Penyffordd to Bidston as I will do an all save away and I want to buy the ticket on the train. Thanks.

 

[Green Lane]

I recognise the name, Paul. I'm in awe of your walking abilities; I walk as little as possible, but I am 77 and have breating difficulty.
Cheers, Chris.

Thanks Chris, yes I feel fortunate to currently be in good health, and just a few miles walking has been helpful for doing trip reports and photography etc.. Although I have always enjoyed walking, I only took it up as a serious hobby when I was 35 (and getting a bit out of shape!) and I then started to total up my mileage. Now six years later at 41, I am shortly coming up to 10,000 miles walked in total which I will hopefully achieve by this time next month.

Having said that though, it is amazing that I typically only walk from 10 to 15 miles on each walk, and rarely over 20 miles (my absolute record is 32 miles in a day). But to make up for it, I do walk quite regularly.

In comparison, I have been following a thread on another forum where yesterday on the longest day of the year a guy has just successfully walked a 64 mile route from London to Brighton, but it did take him 21 hours! Furthermore I know of joggers who have jogged 100,000 miles (ten times what I have walked so far, or 4 times around the circumference of the Earth). There's also a club in New Zealand where people walk over 100 miles in a day in controlled conditions (in trainers on a running track).

So in the great scheme of things, my walks are probably considered relatively short distance. Well that and the fact that I tend to combine the walking with casual photography and a bit of exploration too nowadays - rather than just walking for the sake of it. Still, my ambition as it stands is to keep on walking until 25,000 miles (or equivalent to once around the equator) - all being well I should do this by sometime in my early 50s! Cheers

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Brilliant trip report. I think I will do one when I am up at my grandparents next (should be July time). They live in Penyffordd so it should be easy to work one out leaving on the 07:47 to Bidston and back on the 18:46 to Penyffordd. I will do all the zones in one and I will clear all the Network including a Northern Rail 150 and a TPE 185 if I stick to the timings I have. New Brighton looks lovely and it will be really fun to spend a day or so there but alas I have planned to do that last and off one train onto the next. My dad wanted me to ask you this; did you get a ticket check on any of the journey? He has done a trip like the one I am going to do and he only got checked on the approach to Southport from Moorfields. Thanks and again excellent report.

Thanks fishquinn, I did a bit of a hike through Penyffordd last year as I was exploring places around and about the Bidston-Wrexham line. I took a few photos of the village - nice place!

Yes, New Brighton (Merseyside) has improved in recent years thanks to the redevelopment. Funnily enough I also did a walk around New Brighton in Flintshire, on a walk from Buckley station.

I'll reply back in a few moments and answer your remaining questions. Cheers!

Also with the Save away ticket can you pay for it and get the ticket on a train from Penyffordd to Bidston as I will do an all save away and I want to buy the ticket on the train. Thanks.

 

[Techniquest]

I don't know how I've missed this thread before, but just read the first post and loved it. Very informative and interesting, and now I really want to re-visit Liverpool! Feels like a while since I was last up there now, a lot of 507s and 508s to get as well as several stations still to visit and plenty of DMU bashing opportunities. Hmm, maybe I'll be back there a week tomorrow...

Tea time for me here, first proper meal of the day so I'll return to this later on. If the rest is as enjoyable as the first post, I'll definitely be looking forward to it

 

[Green Lane]

I don't know how I've missed this thread before, but just read the first post and loved it. Very informative and interesting, and now I really want to re-visit Liverpool! Feels like a while since I was last up there now, a lot of 507s and 508s to get as well as several stations still to visit and plenty of DMU bashing opportunities. Hmm, maybe I'll be back there a week tomorrow...

Tea time for me here, first proper meal of the day so I'll return to this later on. If the rest is as enjoyable as the first post, I'll definitely be looking forward to it

Thanks Techniquest, yes it seems a long time ago for me now since I wrote up these trip reports. It was three separate daytrips to cover the peninsula, pretty much the shortest possible daytrips that can be done from where I live. I certainly enjoyed writing them. One thing that is apparent to me now though is the amount of things I did not cover. e.g. I recently walked along a disused spur between Port Sunlight and what is now Bromborough Industrial Estate (now converted into a footpath/cyclepath), and past the now non-existent Magazine village which I did not do in the original report. So I'm still finding out about more local railway history even now. Anyway, thanks for reading. Cheers!

My dad wanted me to ask you this; did you get a ticket check on any of the journey? He has done a trip like the one I am going to do and he only got checked on the approach to Southport from Moorfields.

As it was last year when I did the above write-up, my memory is a bit hazy now concerning those particular trips. However, I have travelled by rail around the Merseyside area a lot recently and I have found the following:-

On Merseyrail electric trains you often can ride around all day on a Saveaway and your ticket may never get checked at all. However there are random spot checks at times e.g. it might just happen that an inspector will ask to see your ticket at 9am on a Sunday morning. Also at stations e.g. on exiting and entering Birkenhead Central and Birkenhead Park there is usually no-one there, but sometimes at say 5pm on a Thursday there will suddenly be a large number of various officers present checking everyone's tickets.

Also Chester, Hamilton Square, Southport, Liverpool South Parkway, and the four central Liverpool stations all have ticket barriers. So if entering/exiting at any of those then your ticket will be checked.

However if just riding around on the Wirral/Northern line trains and not actually leaving the stations then I can say that ticket checks are generally infrequent and erratic and on the balance of probabilities you will generally not be checked, however frequent travellers will be aware that checks do indeed occur at unpredictable times.

As for the Bidston-Wrexham line - my ticket has always been checked (or sold to me) on every single journey. However, it is not unknown that the guard can be somewhat delayed with complicated ticket purchases or relatively large numbers of people boarding (which does on occasion happen on that line nowadays), so it can sometimes be a few stops before he/she gets around to checking your ticket.

Also trains going out of Lime Street mainline station, I find I very frequently get my ticket checked. Going back into Lime Street, I find the ticket checks less frequent, but not uncommon. e.g. everyone's tickets were checked between Liverpool South Parkway and Lime Street on a midweek lunchtime London Midland service I was on the other day.

Also with the Save away ticket can you pay for it and get the ticket on a train from Penyffordd to Bidston as I will do an all save away and I want to buy the ticket on the train. Thanks.

Living in Merseyside, I have only bought the old-style scratch-off tickets from the various Merseytravel travel centres (or occasionally the ones on standard rail ticket stock from a Merseyrail station). So I am unsure if you can buy the Merseyside PTE tickets on the train. I do know though that there are many forum members on here far more knowledgeable than me on ticketing matters who can answer you question. Personally I suspect you can buy them from the guard on trains outside the Merseytravel area, but I don't have any first-hand experience of doing so. Hopefully someone can answer you question definitively. Cheers!

 

[fowler9]

Hey Green Lane, thanks for a fascinating series of trip reports. I have lived in south Liverpool for most of my 39 years and am sad to say I have barely scratched the surface of exploring the Wirral even though it is not exactly far away. I have covered all of the current routes (Including some of the walking ones) but have never really taken in most of what I was seeing. Very much appreciated, I will try and have a closer look over the coming months.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Fishguinn-You can buy the saveaway on the train. Ask for an "All zones Mtrav Saveaway" and they will issue one. I have done it many time before onboard without a problem.

Please do note, however, that the Saveaway is not valid to Penyfford and you would need a return to Upton as well as the Saveaway. All tickets can be purchased in one transaction and the saveaway simply comes out in the format of a one-day rail ranger.

If you want, I will be happy to join you on this trip as I am in the Merseyside area but it's up to you. Anything else, don't hesitate to ask and we will be happy to help.

 

[FQ]

Fishguinn-You can buy the saveaway on the train. Ask for an "All zones Mtrav Saveaway" and they will issue one. I have done it many time before onboard without a problem.

Please do note, however, that the Saveaway is not valid to Penyfford and you would need a return to Upton as well as the Saveaway. All tickets can be purchased in one transaction and the saveaway simply comes out in the format of a one-day rail ranger.

If you want, I will be happy to join you on this trip as I am in the Merseyside area but it's up to you. Anything else, don't hesitate to ask and we will be happy to help.

Hi ATWalex, Thanks for the offer and would you be available on a weekday in July (when I will be up there)? Here are the timings I was planning to use if you could meet me somewhere? I have decided to try and get in as many 507s and 508s for both sight and haulage and I have also tried to get in the whole of the Mersey Rail network. I also wanted a little spotting time at Chester and a Northern Rail 150 and a Transpennine Express 185 in. I don't know the date yet; I will private message you for the details. Where would a good meeting point for you be? Thanks, Quinn.


07:47 Pen-y-ffordd-Bidston 08:30 (ATW)
08:40 Bidston-West Kirby 08:57 (MR)
09:06 West Kirby-Birkenhead Hamilton Square 09:31 (MR)
09:36 Birkenhead Hamilton Square-Liverpool James Street 09:39 (MR)
09:44 Liverpool James Street-Liverpool Central 09:50 (MR)
09:59 Liverpool Central-Hunts Cross 10:17 (MR)
10:30 Hunts Cross-Liverpool South Parkway 10:36 (NR)
10:47 Liverpool South Parkway-Liverpool Lime Street 10:59 (TPE)
Walk to Liverpool Central.
11:20 Liverpool Central-Liverpool James Street 11:22 (MR)
11:24 Liverpool James Street-Ellesmere Port 12:00 (MR)
12:12 Ellesmere Port-Hooton 12:21 (MR)
12:27 Hooton-Chester 12:41 (MR)
13:01 Chester-Moorfields 13:41 (MR)
13:52 Moorfields-Kirkby 14:08 (MR)
14:13 Kirkby-Sandhills 14:25 (MR)
14:30 Sandhills-Southport 15:08 (MR)
15:28 Southport-Sandhills 16:06 (MR)
16:18 Sandhills-Ormskirk 16:44 (MR)
16:50 Ormskirk-Liverpool Central 17:20 (MR)
17:30 Liverpool Central-Liverpool James Street 17:32 (MR)
17:37 Liverpool James Street-New Brighton 17:58 (MR)
18:08 New Brighton-Conway Park 18:24 (MR)
18:32 Conway Park-Bidston 18:40 (MR)
18:46 Bidston-Pen-y-ffordd 19:22 (ATW)

 

[Green Lane]

Hey Green Lane, thanks for a fascinating series of trip reports. I have lived in south Liverpool for most of my 39 years and am sad to say I have barely scratched the surface of exploring the Wirral even though it is not exactly far away. I have covered all of the current routes (Including some of the walking ones) but have never really taken in most of what I was seeing. Very much appreciated, I will try and have a closer look over the coming months.

Thank you fowler9 for the reply, I am glad that more people have had a chance to read this thread from last year, thanks to it popping up again due to Chriskay's reply.

I hope you enjoy your future trips on the Wirral.

I have certainly enjoyed doing my walks and photography in various areas of Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens too over the last few years thanks to my season ticket (and sometimes using Saveaways too).

@ATWalex101 thank you for answering fishquinn's Saveaway question and I hope you all enjoy your future trips on Merseyside. Cheers!

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Hi Green Lane. Now I have had chance to see your photos, I realize you have taken multiple photos from locations each about 0.05 miles away from my house! You will definitely have seen my house on your travels, but I am not revealing where on here!

 

[Green Lane]

Hi Green Lane. Now I have had chance to see your photos, I realize you have taken multiple photos from locations each about 0.05 miles away from my house! You will definitely have seen my house on your travels, but I am not revealing where on here!

Ah the large stately home I passed which makes Buckingham Palace look like a garden shed, I'm sure that'll be the one!

But seriously, I don't blame you - I am the same, I don't mind telling people the general locality of where I live on public forums but I wouldn't want to post my exact address.

 

[fowler9]

Ah the large stately home I passed which makes Buckingham Palace look like a garden shed, I'm sure that'll be the one!

But seriously, I don't blame you - I am the same, I don't mind telling people the general locality of where I live on public forums but I wouldn't want to post my exact address.

Ha ha. I totally agree. There is probably hardly anyone on this forum who has traveled much and not been past the bottom of my garden, certainly if they have ever been to Liverpool.