Crosby Coast

After writing about the iron men of Another Place, I thought I would share some images of the Crosby shore taken near the Serpentine. This part of the shore often has such luminous light and wonderful cloud formations over the Mersey Bar.


You can look out over the Wirral and on clear days see Snowdonia.

We will be sharing more images of our favourite spots on the Mersey and Dee coastlines in future posts such as Alt Estuary, Rock Park, the foreshore at Brombrough, Thurstaston shore, Hilbre etc.

I have been travelling in land a lot recently and I realise more than ever that I couldn't be away from the sea for too long. The reason I live where I do was based on being near the sea and the river to get the best of both experiences.

Col 21/10/06

Antony Gormley's Another Place

Art doesn't always engender public adoration but Antony Gormley's Another Place has certainly got people talking since Sefton Council decided not to back a bid to keep the piece of art on Merseyside. It is estimated that Another Place attracted 600,000 extra visitors to Crosby beach over the last 18 months and many people want the artwork to stay though the local coastguard has reservations about it's safety and other groups such as fishermen were unhappy.

Another Place consists of 100 cast-iron, life-size figures spread out along three kilometres of the foreshore, stretching almost one kilometre out in to the Mersey estuary.

The work has been exhibited at Crosby Beach on Merseyside after previously been seen in Cuxhaven in Germany, Stavanger in Norway and De Panne in Belgium. It was never intended for the installation to remain on Merseyside and was expected to be moved to New York in November 2006. However, many people want it to stay and the local and national press coverage has certainly stirred up a lot of interest.

The artwork was brought to the area by South Sefton Development Trust, an organisation set up by South Sefton Partnership to continue its regeneration work in the area.

The Another Place figures - each one weighing 650 kilos - are made from casts of the artist's own body and are shown at different stages of rising out of the sand, all of them looking out to sea, staring at the horizon in silent expectation.

I personally was enthralled by the work which could be experienced in many different ways depending on the state of the tide, the weather conditions and the time of day when you visited. I loved to see the figures emerge after a full tide as though they were being re-born. The figures have also become part of the landscape as they have rusted and been encrusted with barnacles as nature clings to them for life.

According to Antony Gormley, Another Place harnesses the ebb and flow of the tide to explore man's relationship with nature.

He explained: ''The seaside is a good place to do this. Here time is tested by tide, architecture by the elements and the prevalence of sky seems to question the earth's substance. In this work human life is tested against planetary time. This sculpture exposes to light and time the nakedness of a particular and peculiar body. It is no hero, no ideal, just the industrially reproduced body of a middle-aged man trying to remain standing and trying to breathe, facing a horizon busy with ships moving materials and manufactured things around the planet.''

The environmental impact of Another Place on the coastline and local wildlife has been judged to be minimal and also reversible.

I believe the artwork to be visionary and inspirational allowing different people to experience art in different ways depending on the time of day and weather and adds a unique dimension to the foreshore.

I believe it is very short-sighted to let them go given the work being done to enhance the coastline by Mersey Waterfront and the forthcoming Capital of Culture in Liverpool. I would think that the artwork will have attracted more people than some of the things planned in Liverpool for 2008.

If I was on Wirral Council, I would be calling up Antony Gormley and getting them booked in for the North Wirral coastline off Leasowe Bay!!!

Shipments To & From Birkenhead Docks

The above consignment notes were usually fixed to the exterior of railway wagons to denote the destination and the consignee of the wagon's loads. I recently picked this one up off Ebay because of its local connections.

As a youngster in the early 60's, I would love watching the trains pass near my house. I used to go to an advantage point on the top floor of a tenement block which was located just off Green Lane, Birkenhead. From this spot, I could overlook engine movements on Birkenhead Depot as well as catch what was coming out and going into Woodside Station. More importantly, I could watch the movements in and out of Birkenhead Docks which always threw up surprises with engines travelling from across the country hauling loads to be shipped out or taken in land to other industrial centres. The sound of 9F's, WD's and 8F's still rings in my ears though most have long gone to the big scrap yard in the sky.

The load denoted in the consigment note was from the British Steel plant in Corby and was handled by Cayzer Irvine on one of their Clan Line ships. The date is obscured but looks like 24th July 1964 and was for 135 bales of a finished steel product.

Clan Grant Mid 60's

The shot of Clan Grant above appears to have been taken in the West Float, Birkenhead Docks on the Wallasey side of the docks.

Vittoria Docks, Birkenhead Early 60's
Vittoria Docks, Birkenhead Early 60's

The above 2 shots of Vittoria Dock come from my own archives and show the dock before the construction of the new buildings in the late 60's which are still standing. The Clan Line shed can be clearly seen on both shots to the left though the ships on both photos appear to be Blue Funnel Line ships.

I often pass through the docks and I am always filled with awe to think of all the material which has passed through and all the people who took part in such a large scale operation. I used to look down from Bidston Hill as a kid, where you could get the best view of the dock's size and complexity and view all the ships, and because they looked like part of a giant model longed to replicate them back at home to play with.

Back then, Triang the toy makers used to make Minic metal ships with pieces of docks, warehouses etc and with these and cast off pieces of metal and plastic from my Dad's work, I would build my own version of Birkenhead Docks. I recall my Dad buying me a piece of blue/green plastic made by Triang to represent the sea. That piece of plastic bought on late murky afternoon in Blackburn represented for me a magical experience because our brown linoleum floor was a poor substitute for the sea and now I had something nearer to the real thing.

Wirral Fingerposts

Saughall Massey Village

A553 at Heron Road/Birkenhead Road Junction, Meols

We haven't come across too many fingerposts on the Wirral as yet. The above 2 are both being encroached upon by shrubbery!!!

For some reason, fingerposts remind me of the I-Spy books which I used to love when I was kid which you had to complete by seeing things on your travels along roadsides etc. I was surprised to discover that they are still published by Michelin.

Col 12/10/06

New Brighton Sunsets Part 2

Harrison Drive 16/9/06

Harrison Drive 16/9/06

Harrison Drive 16/9/06

New Brighton Promenade 9/9/06

New Brighton Promenade 9/9/06

New Brighton Promenade 9/9/06

Here are some of my photos of sunsets in New Brighton.

Barb 12/10/06

Cheshire Fingerposts

A534 by Coombe Dale

In a previous post, I mentioned that fingerposts are now receiving attention from the authorities in order to preserve and maintain iconic features of travel in our countryside which had been disappearing too quickly.

I have posted some examples of Cheshire fingerposts which we have come across on recent travels.

2 Shots at Fullers Moor on A534

Bunbury Village

South of Utkinton

2 Shots at Willington Corner

Hoylake Station Signal Box

Hoylake Station Signal Box Circa 1981/2

I have long had an interest in railways which began as a child and was inspired my father's love of model railways and the fact that we lived across the road from Birkenhead Steam Shed situated in Mollington Street. The sound of engines shunting is one of my earliest childhood memories combined with watching the coal lorries come and go from the coal yard which was alongside the shed. The sound of the shunting was combined with the periodic clattering of the coal from the hoppers into the tenders of the huge British Rail 9Fs which would probably be starting their run on the iron ore trains from Bidston Dock to Shotton Steel Works.

I will return to my railway memories from the 50's and 60's at a later date. While researching another topic, I came across some information on Hoylake's former signal box. In the early 80's, I had another spell of interest in railways travelling all over the country. I regret now that I didn't record too much of the local scene especially the architecture because so many parts of the Merseyrail system have been demolished since then. This is especially true of the signal boxes including Hoylake Station's signal box which was demolished in 1994 as part of the re-signalling of the Wirral Line.

The above photo was taken on a summer's day after we had alighted from a train on route to a visit to Red Rocks in Hoylake. I can recall seeing the Class 503 approaching and thought the backdrop of the signal box would add an element of interest. It was taken from the footbridge over the line.

Hoylake Station is a wonderful example of art deco railway architecture and was recently restored to it's former glory for the Open Golf Tournament this summer which the town hosted to great success. One pleasing aspects of the planning of the tournament's success was the use of the Merseyrail system to transport the spectators to and from the golf course.

The first Hoylake Station was originally part of the the Seacombe, Hoylake & Deeside Railway (SHD) which was a late provider of proper signalling - Hoylake box opened in 1889. The Board of Trade were not impressed when they inspected the new work either, finding the level crossing hand-worked and not interlocked, with the signal box at the other end of the station controlling the good yard. They suggested the box be moved nearer the level crossing but this advice was ignored.

However, when the line was doubled from the Birkenhead direction in 1895, they found the situation unaltered. At their first inspection (on 5th November) they demanded the gates be interlocked with the box. They returned on the 19th to check the newly completed arrangements and then stipulated once again that the box must be moved. It was only then that the box was moved to the position seen here, next to the level crossing.

The box was of standard Railway Signal Company design, although the lower row of windows normally provided on that design did not appear on any boxes in this area. Hoylake box did not remain in the SHD's ownership for long - passing to the Wirral Railway in 1891.

Inside the box was a standard Railway Signal Company lever frame of twenty-one levers (the original frame had just thirteen), and as can be seen nearly all were operational. The red and yellow lever (with white band) controls an Intermediate Block Home signal at Meols which was provided after the box there was abolished.

At the far end of the frame is the gate wheel, whilst visible on the block shelf is one of the two London & North Western type block instruments. It is likely these were installed during London, Midland and Scottish Railway ownership, replacing one-wire, two position instruments previously in use.

I was fortunate during the early 80's to firstly live next to a driver who took me on several cab rides around the Wirral Line and then I moved next door to the signal box man for New Brighton who let me into the box on several occasions.

Ships In Birkenhead Docks Circa 1980's

Semeli in East Float
Saudi Ambassador Duke Street Wharf

Luka Botic Cavendish Wharf

As promised, the above selection of B/W photos from my Dad's collection represent only a small part of the photos he snapped during the late 70's and early 80's in Birkenhead Docks. The best ones are amongst a collection of 35mm coloured slides.

I will post up more as I get chance. I would love to publish all the slides because there are some wonderful pictures in the collection of a time when Birkenhead Docks was still very busy.

I have been unable to discover very little information on the above 3 vessels:

The Semeli was Greek owned but sailed under the Belize and St. Vincent & Grenadines flags. I found a record of her colliding with a Bulgarian vessel in the Bosphorus and sinking in 1999 but I also read that she had accident at a later date and was in dry dock in Ferrol!!! She usualy carried grain and maize which would mean that she was probably off-loading that cargo in the photograph in the East Float Mills.

I couldn't discover anything about the Saudi Ambassador.

The Luka Botic was a multi-purpose freighter which was in the 80's a Yugoslavian vessel named after the Romantic 19th Century Yugoslavian poet and registered in Split.

New Brighton Sunsets

New Brighton Postcard Circa 1905

Often when you read about New Brighton in old guide books there is usually mention of the wonderful sunsets viewed from the town which is reflected by many turn of the 19th Century postcards.

My wife prompted me to post up some of our photos of this year's sunsets which once again prove that the North Wirral is the place for spectacular sunsets.

Harrison Drive 16th September 2006

New Brighton Promenade 29th September 2006

New Brighton Promenade 10th July 2006

New Brighton Promenade 10th July 2006

Harrison Drive 9th September 2006

Pride In Our Promenades Exhibition

New Brighton Tower Circa 1905

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Promenade between Seacombe and New Brighton on the Wirral is about to receive a revamp as part of the Pride In Our Promenades Initiative. Wirral Libraries are currently hold an exhibition at Earlston Library on the history of the promenade based on a booklet by local historian Barry P. Humphreys and Elaine Hilton from the New Brighton Community Partnership.

The exhibition features 16 fascinating enlarged old postcards to illustrate the 4 mile walk from Seacombe to New Brighton with commentaries from Barry P. Humphreys.

I have dug into my own postcard collection to give a flavour of the exhibition.

Promenade near Vale Park, New Brighton circa 1907

You can pick up copies of the leaflet which has reproductions of 16 coloured poscards from Wallasey Library for £1.

Stewart Bale

Riverside Station Circa 1945

The evocative images from the Stewart Bale archive are amongst my favourite photographs of Liverpool.

Stewart Bale Ltd. were commercial photographers operating out of Liverpool from 1911 to the early 1980s and specialising in architectural and technical photography. The name of the firm derives from its founder’s surname, Herbert Stewart Bale (1859 - 1929), a printer who immigrated to England from Australia in the early 1900s and established an advertising agency, initially in Seacombe in 1899 and then in Liverpool.

A high standard of photographic illustrative work was required by the business but the difficulty in finding photographers to meet this standard eventually led them to fulfil this role themselves, beginning with the introduction of Edward Stewart Bale (1889 - 1944), Herbert’s son, into the firm as a photographer.

The range of subject areas are great but are particularly well represented in shipping (including major shipping and shipbuilding companies), dock activity; industry and construction (including the Queensway Mersey tunnel); architecture (including construction of Liverpool’s Anglican and Metropolitan cathedrals); transport, social history and World War II (including bomb damage). Further, the geographical range of commissions was extensive within the North West of England and beyond.

We are fortunate that Liverpool Museums have a large archive of the company's work some of which has been published by the Bluecoat Press in "A Liverpool Album" in 1997.

Liverpool Lime Street Station 2006

I was inspired by the classic Stewart Bale shot of Riverside Station to recently take the above photo of Lime Street Station but I am way short of the mark being unable to capture the shadows of the 1945 photo!

Liverpool Museums recently ran a competition challenging people to capture images of Merseyside based on Stewart Bale originals. You can see the results here. If you visit the on-line exhibition you will see the work of Pete Carr who produces outstanding digital images of Liverpool and other subjects. Pete Carr's work was new to me and the Flickr site also contains many interesting images of Merseyside from other photographers as well.

Stewart Bales's former home (dark door) at 158 Rake Lane Liscard

I was re-reading one of Noel E Smith's books recently and discovered that one of the Bales lived at 158 Rake Lane Liscard for a number of years but I am not sure whether it was the father or the son? It is house that I have passed thousands of times over the years and never realised the connection!

Richard Wane

Unloading The Catch

I came across the artist Richard Wane while reading a book by the local history writer Noel E. Smith who has written several informative books about Wallasey and New Brighton. Richard Wane was born in 1852 and died in 1904 at his home in Egremont, Wirral. He specialised in landscape, coastal and genre painting and studied at the Manchester Academy. He was living in Manchester in 1881, Conway 1883, Deganwy 1887, Dulwich 1890 before moving to Egremont in 1895.

100 Victoria Road New Brighton

During his time on Merseyside. he had at least 2 studios; one above the original Post Office at 100 Victoria Road, New Brighton; and another in North John Street which he shared with the Manx painter E. C. Qualye. Two of Wane's children also became painters, Ethel and Harold.

Wane was at one time President of the Liver Sketching Club

Approaching The Storm

Unloading The Catch In A Calm Bay

He exhibited at Royal Hibernian Academy 1902, Royal Scottish Academy 1902, New Water Colour Society 1903, Royal Institute Of Painters 1903, Royal Cambrian Academy 1904, Royal Society Of British Arts 1907, Royal Institute Of Oil Painters 1908. Hew as also a member of the Royal Society Of British Artists. He had retrospective exhibitions at the Royal Academy Of Arts in 1920 and Manchester Art Gallery in 1932.

To date, I have not been able to find any paintings which feature Mersyside by Wane. However, during the course of researching him I fell upon a host of fine artists who lived on the Wirral who specialised in marine art. I will be featuring these local artists in future posts.

Colin 24/9/06

Gorsey Lane Hightown

Gorsey Lane Hightown

Last bank holiday, we escaped the traffic by meandering down Gorsey Lane hoping then to drive into Sandy Lane and eventually reach Hightown. However, the lane eventually petered out even though the OS Map would lead you to believe otherwise. It was though the local populace had let the trees and bushes grow over the lane to prevent any interlopers discovering their quiet backwater, around the fields of Moss Farm, which lies about half a mile from Hightown.

We eventually had to turn round and the above photo was taken as we drove back towards the main road. We later found the other side of Sandy Lane by Hightown Cricket Club and discovered that it was just as difficult to navigate out of Hightown as well.

We had originally set out to visit the mouth of the River Alt after being prompted by feedback from a visitor to our blog. We will be posting our photos and discoveries about the Alt in a later post.

Colin 3/9/06