| Notes: The first railway to reach Birkenhead was the Chester
and Birkenhead Railway who opened a temporary terminus at Grange
Lane on 23.9.1840. Four years later the line was extended to
a new terminus on the Mersey river bank called Monks
Ferry which opened on 23.10.1844. The original terminus
at Grange lane closed and a new station opened only |
 |
metres to
the east.
 |
This station was Birkenhead Town. In some early timetables
the station was shown as Birkenhead Town Grange Road. The station
was located at the end of a single track tunnel that ran to
Monks Ferry.
On 31.3.1878 a new terminus was opened at Birkenhead
Woodside which necessitated some alterations to Birkenhead
Town. It still lay at the entrance to a |
tunnel but this time
From early days the GWR operated express trains from Woodside
to London Paddington but these passed through Birkenhead Town
which was very much a local station. Services went to Chester,
North Wales, West Kirby and Warrington.
| The station was an early closure closing on 7.5.1945. The line
continued in use until the closure of Woodside in 1967 after
which the tracks were lifted. Today the site is lost amongst
a complicated array of approach roads to the Birkenhead - Liverpool
road tunnel. However behind the advertising hoarding remnants
of the ticket office with its glazed brick can still be seen. |
 |
Also visible are the tunnel mouths of the Woodside and the Monks
Ferry Tunnels although both are partly filled in.
 |
The Chester & Birkenhead Railway opened Grange Lane engine shed on 23rd September 1840. The shed which was adjacent to Birkenhead Town station had five roads, shared between the C&BR (3 roads) and the Grand Junction Railway (2 roads). It became GWR/LNWR Joint 20th November 1860, and was extended several times during a working life that ended |
with closure in 1878, when a new 16 road, joint shed opened nearby. After nationalisation it became BR 6C. After closure the building remained standing for many years having found other uses. It's date of demolition is not known.
Tickets from Michael Stewart
To see other closed stations on the Birkenhead Woodside to Chester line click on the station name: Birkenhead Woodside, Birkenhead
Monks Ferry, Tranmere,
Rock Lane, Ledsham, Mollington & Upton-by-Chester
|
town_old1.jpg)
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