Wondering About Wirral (1)

 Wirral, Cheshire?

Historically, the Wirral was wholly in Cheshire; in the Domesday Book, its border with the rest of the county was placed at "two arrow falls from Chester city walls". However, since the Local Government Act 1972, only the southern third of the peninsula remains in Cheshire, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester. The remainder forms the Metropolita Borough of Wirral, in the county of Mereyside. An area of saltmarsh and reclaimed land adjoining the south-west of the peninsula lies in the Welsh county of Flintshire.

The coastal towns, New Brighton ...

... Hoylake ...

... and West Kirby were seaside resorts for Chester and Liverpool. The resorts, some have said, become more genteel as you travel from east to west, but the business nowadays is more for day trips from the big cities.

Lands adjoining the Mersey were heavily industrialised starting with the vast Birkenhead ship building areas.

With the decline of heavy industry, much of the former industrial area is being develooed for light industry, warehousing, housing and leisure.

Shiny light coloured warehousing marks the change to 'brown field' sites on the banks of the Mersey.

So, before we indulge in the changes that 'franchising' has brought to the Wirral, let us remind ourselves of the situation in St Helens, checking on the last few town services.

35 : Gillans Green - Town Centre - Junction station 

A cross town route.

Was Arriva.

37/37A : St Helens - Ormskirk/Southport

The 37s run way beying Rainford.

fbb cannot help sniggering at the idea of a bus for cranks to Crank, sadly not mentioned as a time point.  The X37 is just one journey.

The village is famous (?) for the intriguing Crank Caverns ...

.... but not, sadly, for a huge works producing cranks!

q

38 : Town Centre - Rainford

(see map for 37!37A/X37)

The 38A is an occasional variant.

37s and 38s were Arriva.

39 : Town Centre to Newton le Willows ...

... where it joins the 34 and 34A

But it does wiggle a lot to get there!

The 39 was in the hands of Huyton Travel ,,,

... photographed anonymously and incorrectly destined for a 39!

Which reminds fbb that as well as the expulsion of Arriva from St Helens, Huyton Travel and Hattons have lost significant amounts of work.

Somehow, it seems a bit cruel, but then losses are equally gargantuan on the Wirral peninsula, as we shall see tomorrow.

Two "out of area" routes to the Wirral are not part of Steve Rotherams's bus grab.

The 1A and its bedfellow, the X1 ...

... trundle along near the eastern shore of the Wirral, crossing the Mersey in tunnel.

You might hazard a guess that the X1 is Limited Stop ...

... it certainly has less time points!

The 22/22A is operated by Al's Coaches on behalf of Chester and West Cheshire Unitary Authority.

Al has double decks!

The routes follow the Dee Estuary (sort of) with  a very real route variation.

It is a pity that the 487 is shown in the same colour!

At least the timetable is straightforward!

But who are the winners and losers in Wirral?

Tomorrow will reveal more.

 Next Wirral blog : Friday 2nd Oct 

Lynn's Ferry (3)

 From Kings To West

There is no road access to the ferry on the Kings Lynn side, just a fascinating but well lit cobbled footpath. But if you were expecting a ticket office, a terminal building or even a shelter, you would be disappointed. There is just a flight of steps down to the river.

Even better (?); at very low tide, there is a somewhat perilous plank progression over the fluvial shores, with boards to give some pedestrian protection against a possible slimy slither.

Recently there has been a ferry-less time whist the crumbling stairway ...

... has been "improved".

Things don't look quite so solid over the water at West!

From West To Kings

There is a car park ...

... which is free. The ferry offers Park 'n' Sail!

Ferry Fares seem fair ...

... with no mention of season tickets, so it looks like being cash only. fbb is old enough to remember when you could buy things with actual money, specie, moolah, spondulicks, coinage or 'silver'!

There is a waiting room at West, with a small display showing the history of the crossing.

For those with dodgy sea legs [dodgy river legs], the alternative route between the two Lynns is by bus.

Readers my recall the arrival in the area of Norfolk Green ...

... and the subsequent withdrawal of First.

First had bought Eastern Counties ...

... and kept the prestigious Excel route (from Norwich via Lynn to Peterborough) even after giving up on the rest.

Meanwhile, Norfolk Green sold out to Stagecoach which soon abandoned the area! Lynx then provided ...

... most of Lynn's links whilst Stagecoach kept the 505 to Spalding. 

The 505 links Kings with West, every 30 min ...

... with posh buses.

So when the ferry was cancelled to rebuild those steps, travel between the two communities was still possible at every 30 min.

But it would appear that this diddy river crossing by water has a long term problem. It is not just the steps!

All relevant Councillors are keen to see the two boarding places strong and sustainable for the future, but, guess what, nobody has got enough money to pay for the required rebuild!

At least Tom admits that he has used the ferry, albeit not regularly!

What about Alexandra?

Well spoke, Alex!

Lets hope everybody does their sums and thus ensures this useful crossing continues to cross.

Back to Merseyside tomorrow.

 Next Wondrous Wirral blog : Thurs 1st Oct 

Lynn's Ferry (2)

 The River Was Moved!

In the first half of the 1800s the river at Lynn looked very different from today. It was wider, shallower and curved erratically round the norther edge of the town via mudflats and dangerous channels to reach The Wash.

The Eau Bank Cut had improved navigation on the landward side of the town (above, lower left) but further improvements were needed to give ships safer access to the rapidly growing port of Kings Lynn.

Simple !

Dig a deeper, straighter trench. 

A new, more straightforward outlet for the river into the Wash was finished in 1853 by the Norfolk Estuary Company. This major project diverted the Great Ouse away from the awkward, shallow loop that curved round King’s Lynn and its old tidal approach. It gave the port a deeper, more reliable channel running across the reclaimed land north of the town. 

The Alexandra Dock was opened in 1869, and the Bentinck Dock in 1883.

Those docks are located where the river isn't any more; it has been moved sideways.

Let's now concentrate on the road and rail bridges at South Lynn. The railway carried the line from Spalding ...

... across The Great Ouse ...

... whilst the road bridge carried what became the A17 and A47.

This bridge was rebuilt in the 60s ...

... and, below, we can see the new build and old crossings next to the railway as we look to the east.

The road running across the picture is the old A47 with a welcoming level crossing over the railway!

The railway is long gone, replaced by a new crossing for the A17 and A47.

The new road layout can be seen on the map below.

... with the track of the old bit of highway passing through 'The Elms'. Its original route via the older road bridge is adjacent to 'Motel'. The same view is shown via Google Earth below.

The older bridge is still in use and carries, for example, a bus route running every 30 min.

The Ferry from Kings Lynn to West Lynn predates the road bridge by several hundred years.

Back then, this was the only way to cross the turgid waters of the River Great Ouse for journeys from the west to North Norfolk.

Here is the ferry marked on a modern map.

But there has been a problem with the ferry.

More tomorrow!

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Snippets

It Never Happened

The channel tunnel promised so much!

It Has Happened At Last

You can get into Oxford from the west, at last - several years kate!

Is It Really Happening? 

Work on the Portishead branch from Bristol, also long awated.

Will It Ever Happen?

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 Next Lynn's Ferry blog : Weds 30 Sept