IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Hamilton Street, BIRKENHEAD, CH41 6DJ

This was built in the 1830's. Originally, the slipway went from just below the hotel to the River Mersey. For more info, see http://www.bri2e.co.uk/places/woodside/intro.htm There is a plan to redevelop this area.

Following a fire in August 2008 The Woodside Hotel is being demolished. This view is across Bridge Street with a high wall reducing the view. The roof and chimneys of an early property is all that still stands of the hotel. In the distance, and across the River Mersey, it is possible to see from the left, the Post Office Tower, the Albert Dock complex, and the Metropolitan Cathedral. On the right, between the hotel chimney and the tree, the tower of the Anglican Cathedral can be seen.

Built 1886 to pump water from the Mersey Railway's tunnel. It has lost its chimney. Grade II listed. It was part of Wirral Museum for some years, but this no longer appears to be the case. Still inside is Image

This is the pumping station that drains the railway tunnel under the River Mersey. The job is now done by large electric pumps but was originally done by steam and this shows the surviving non-rotative grasshopper beam pumping engine. This monstrous machine was built in 1886 by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co Ltd of Kilmarnock and is a unique survivor of the type. The cylinders are arranged as a true Woolf compound with only three Cornish drop valves at each end and no receiver. The high pressure is 36" x 10' 6" and the low pressure is 55" x 13'. The pump rods are hung from the beam beyond the cylinders and descend straight down the shaft for about 200' and the pump stroke was 15' There is a balance beam to offset some of the pump rod weight and this is below the floor and parallels the main grasshopper beam. The engine stopped in 1926-9 but was on standby until 1959. It is now preserved but there is currently no public access. There are plans to re-open it as a museum in 2024. This visit was by the courtesy of Network Rail who were most helpful.

This is the pumping station that drains the railway tunnel under the River Mersey. The job is now done by large electric pumps but was originally done by steam and this shows the surviving non-rotative grasshopper beam pumping engine. This monstrous machine was built in 1884 by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co Ltd of Kilmarnock and is a unique survivor of the type. The cylinders are arranged as a true Woolf compound with only three Cornish drop valves at each end and no receiver. The high pressure is 36" x 10' 6" and the low pressure is 55" x 13'. The pump rods are hung from the beam beyond the cylinders and descend straight down the shaft for about 200' and the pump stroke was 15' There is a balance beam to offset some of the pump rod weight and this is below the floor and parallels the main grasshopper beam. The engine stopped in 1926-9 but was on standby until 1959. It is now preserved but there is currently no public access. There are plans to re-open it as a museum in 2024. This visit was by the courtesy of Network Rail who were most helpful. This view shows the top of the cylinders with the twin plate beam, support brackets for the parallel motion radius rods and the three massive rods hanging from the end of the beam. The central one descends to the bottom of the shaft to the pump. The two outer ones connect to the balance beam.

This is the pumping station that drains the railway tunnel under the River Mersey. The job is now done by large electric pumps but was originally done by steam and this shows the surviving non-rotative grasshopper beam pumping engine. This monstrous machine was built in 1886 by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co Ltd of Kilmarnock and is a unique survivor of the type. The cylinders are arranged as a true Woolf compound with only three Cornish drop valves at each end and no receiver. The high pressure is 36" x 10' 6" and the low pressure is 55" x 13'. The pump rods are hung from the beam beyond the cylinders and descend straight down the shaft for about 200' and the pump stroke was 15' There is a balance beam to offset some of the pump rod weight and this is below the floor and parallels the main grasshopper beam. The engine stopped in 1926-9 but was on standby until 1959. It is now preserved but there is currently no public access. There are plans to re-open it as a museum in 2024. This visit was by the courtesy of Network Rail who were most helpful. This view is of the 2 arbor valve gear that is operated by the plug rod descending from the beam above. When valves operated by the top arbor are open the pistons move up and when valves operated by the lower arbor are open the pistons move down. The valves were open for the whole stroke so even though the engine is a compound the efficiency cannot have been great.

This is the pumping station that drains the railway tunnel under the River Mersey. The job is now done by large electric pumps but was originally done by steam and this shows the surviving non-rotative grasshopper beam pumping engine. This monstrous machine was built in 1886 by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co Ltd of Kilmarnock and is a unique survivor of the type. The cylinders are arranged as a true Woolf compound with only three Cornish drop valves at each end and no receiver. The high pressure is 36" x 10' 6" and the low pressure is 55" x 13'. The pump rods are hung from the beam beyond the cylinders and descend straight down the shaft for about 200' and the pump stroke was 15' There is a balance beam to offset some of the pump rod weight and this is below the floor and parallels the main grasshopper beam. The engine stopped in 1926-9 but was on standby until 1959. It is now preserved but there is currently no public access. There are plans to re-open it as a museum in 2024. This visit was by the courtesy of Network Rail who were most helpful. This view shows the top valve chest with its three drop valves. The valves from furthest to closest have the following tasks:- The one furthest away admits steam above the high pressure piston to push it down. The middle one transfers steam from the top of the high pressure to the bottom of the low pressure when the pistons are rising. The one closest to the camera is the exhaust from the bottom of the low pressure when the piston are descending. Therefore, the nearest and furthest valves are linked together and open at the same time when the pistons are descending. The middle valve is in antiphase and opens when the pistons are rising. I spent ages working this out in 1979 when I had a relatively unhurried visit.

A heritage tramway operates in Birkenhead, linking the bus and ferry terminal at Woodside with the Wirral Transport Museum. On the date that this image was taken, trams were not operating.

Built in the 1870's to pump water out of the Mersey railway tunnel. The pumps were driven originally by steam beam engines. Electric pumps subsequently replaced the beam engines. One of the original pumps, the 'Giant Grasshopper', remains on display. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shore_Road_Pumping_Station