Wirral Routes Tour Report - Saturday 9 April 2022

by Paul Clayton.

This tour has started the year off on a more optimistic note. As I alight from the train at Chester the weather looked set for a good day out.

I am looking forward to my first trip on a Bristol L5G with classic 35-seat ECW bus bodywork. KG147, which ended its CMS days as SLG147, duly arrives outside the Town Crier, having come down City Road, driven by its owner Nigel Massey. The seating moquette compares well to today’s modern vehicles.

Chester is now back to normal, after the sewerage works which have caused havoc over the last couple of years. We are leaving on former CMS route C22 from Chester - Meols, via West Kirby. Tony Moyes comments it has been one hundred years since the route commenced operation.

It is sad to see the site of the former Rink depot, now apartments with no trace of its past. We carry on down the A540 Parkgate Road, past the University of Chester and are soon out into the countryside. At Two Mills we think of the routes that used to cross here, mainly the F8 – F11 group of services, on their way into North Wales, all but gone. The only trace being the 5A, operated by Arriva Cymru, from Mold to Ellesmere Port, however this does not cross our path here.

We soon turn left down a lane to Puddington, a journey I first did on First Crosville Dart 40121, former PMT IDC960, on Saturday 14 September 2002, the journey was well patronised. Back to today, we make the awkward turn into Burton, an expensive area to live! We pass the end of the road down to the former Burton Point Station, then, the stunning view of North Wales comes into sight. As we pass Ness Gardens Arriva Pulsar 3029 is waiting to make its return to Liverpool on the 487.

At Neston Cross we turn left down to Parkgate, passing the point where the Hooton to West Kirby railway line used to cross the road. The line is now part of the Wirral Way, a cycle and walking path. Parkgate has changed little road wise over the years, still as challenging and congested as ever. We stop at the far end outside the Boat House pub, for our first photo stop with the stunning North Wales backdrop.

Onward into Heswall, we pick up member Geoff Smith, and head off on the old Heswall – Banks Road local service, F25, a steep route with a sharp bend past the Dee View public house, then down to the Banks Road terminus, past some very expensive houses! Another photo opportunity at the terminus. An A2B Solo appears on the extended service to Irby, now the 175. We leave behind the Solo and stop on the way up the hill for another photo stop, again with a North Wales backdrop. On up the hill we turn into Thurstaston Road, served by current route 174, again A2B. We re-join the A540, and, the C22, out into the countryside, through Thurstaston, passing the Cottage Loaf and local park. On downhill and over Caldy Crossroads, back uphill passing the Mariners Beacon and downhill into West Kirby. We stop in Orrysdale Road, outside the leisure centre, for a comfort stop. I take refreshment in the Dee Hotel, recently refurbished at a cost of £215,000. Back on KG147 we turn at the turning circle, the bridge outside the old CMS depot is still closed, it will reopen to one-way traffic on 29 April. I well remember hosts of Bristol REs and VRs among others, allocated here.

We now follow service 105/F27 Meols – West Kirby – Birkenhead, which began on 17 May 1922 as a West Kirby local service, then on 28 May 1924 it became West Kirby – Singleton Avenue, Birkenhead and from 1 October 1950, it was extended to Woodside. On 20 May 1974 it was re-routed away from Arrowbrook Lane to serve Greasby, then from 1 April 1979 it was replaced by services 80/80A.

After passing Arrowe Park Hospital we turn right at the splendid Park Gates and briefly join service F23, Birkenhead – Barnston – Heswall, later service 75. It was originally operated by Pye of Heswall, passing to CMS on 22 January 1924 and terminated at Singleton Avenue, with just a few journeys to Woodside for season ticket holders, before being extended entirely to Woodside by 1 October 1930. It was less frequent than the route through Pensby. As the 75 it was withdrawn at deregulation and partly covered by tendered service 181, operated by A2B, again using Solos.

We make the tight left turn onto Storeton Lane, in Barnston, we are now on the F24 Heswall – Storeton – Birkenhead service. It originally terminated at Rock Ferry, but by 1 October 1930 it was extended down to Woodside. We follow the route taken in 1984, as after deregulation it was operated by a number of operators and was re-cast as service 73 Poulton Lancelyn – Heswall, operated by Eazibus. We carry on through Storeton Brickfields, passing Private Drive, once served by the F40, as Tony points out to us, then over the railway, at what was once Storeton Station and sidings. I well remember iron ore trains passing through from Bidston Dock to John Summers Steel Works at Shotton, my father fired some of the trains, among them 9F 2-10-0s 92045 – 92047 and 8F 48218 and 48253.

Over the M53 motorway to Little Storeton Lane, very picturesque, where we have another photo-stop. We carry on via Lever Causeway and on into Birkenhead via Borough Road. We take our lunch break for an hour, either alighting at Conway Park or Woodside, where KG147 was parked. Woodside is very quiet now, with very few services terminating or passing through, as most activity is through Conway Street Bus Station. Woodside once hosted seventeen CMS departures an hour, plus, its express services. Its decline is the talking point as we leave, even the bus lay-over area and staff rest room have gone.

We leave on the C1 route, through an area that has seen recent investment with new housing, passing Rock Ferry depot, which has shrunk in size over recent times, Tony points out its allocation once stood at ninety vehicles in CMS days, today it barely has sixty. I remember DVG526, SNG351, ELL499 and 23 and ERL264 being among my favourites. Some of these appeared on the F11, by 1984 reduced to a two-hourly service.

We continue into New Ferry, where up until 1973 there was a Birkenhead Corporation depot, part of the site now being a Post Office. Turning left into New Ferry Road immediately on our right was the original Crosville depot, which later became New Ferry Market, and is now offices. Tony mentions the Great Eastern Hotel just along the road, but this has sadly been demolished and replaced by housing. We turn into Shorefields, the terminus now used by Arriva and have a further photo stop, again with beautiful views across the Mersey.

Leaving here, we are to follow the F40, New Ferry – Heswall service, started in May 1921, with the intention of feeding the ferry across the Mersey from here, unfortunately this ceased in January 1922. We carry on through Bebington and turn right at Spital Cross Roads, now following the F42 to Heswall via Brimstage. At Melite Cottage we turn and travel along Talbot Avenue then to Manor Road. We pass Thornton Manor, which has been under repair following fire damage to the roof. Again, we stop in the pleasant afternoon sunshine for a photo stop. Then into Thornton Hough, down Smithy Hill, in the old days service 85 used St Georges Way, then left onto the B5136 and Thornton Common Road down to the roundabout at the rugby ground at Clatterbridge. Again, memories comeback for me of services 85 and 186 and travelling in the family Cortina Mk II around here. Turning we follow the B5151 and route C20 Clatterbridge Hospital – Chester, through open countryside on a sometimes-winding road to the junction of Neston Road in Willaston. Crosville served the village over the years with the C23, C24 and F59 but the Chester – West Kirby corridor is now served by Al's on service 22.

Through Willaston we now take up the old F15 Burton – Birkenhead service, which started in October 1930 and had ceased by 7 December 1980. Pausing at Hooton Station to drop off Geoff Smith, we continue to Hooton Crossroads and join the A41, New Chester Road to Ellesmere Port's new bus station. We take a thirty-minute tea break here, it being very quiet for such a big bus station!!

Back on board KG147 we head out of town on the F51, one of the many services to “Oil Works”. The earliest services started in December 1923, greatly augmented post-war, and, referred to as Stanlow since 28 September 1947. The F51 was extended to Shell's Thornton Offices, via Oil Sites Road, in 1953. We now pass the former Associated Octel plant, were my father used to work, it dealt with the lead that is added to petrol. A lot has changed here, some from security aspects following 9/11. There are no longer any heavy oil trains to such places as Leeds, having been replaced by a pipeline.

Tony adds that the notorious level crossing in the middle of Ellesmere Port was replaced by a bridge many years ago, a similar scenario occurring at Llandudno Junction. Today, the advent of Cheshire Oaks shopping complex has greatly changed the road layout.

Our final route is the C6, as we start Helsby Hill is clearly visible over the Stanlow Refinery. One final photo stop on a canal bridge, then on through Stoak and Wervin, past the back of Chester Zoo and Bache into Chester. Dropping off in Victoria Road, at the back of the former CMS depot and finally the railway station.

Our thanks go to Nigel Massey for providing KG147 and to Tony Moyes for coming all the way from Aberystwyth to provide an expert commentary. Plus, a thanks to Bill Barlow and Clive Myers for their part in providing us with an excellent day out. I hope to see you all on our return to Aberystwyth on Saturday 11 June.