Bidston Dock

Bidston Dock was a dock at Birkenhead, in England. It was situated to the west of the Great Float, between Bidston and Poulton.

Bidston Dock
The iron ore unloading cranes at Bidston Dock in 1964
Location
LocationBirkenhead, United Kingdom
Coordinates53.4107°N 3.0573°W / 53.4107; -3.0573
OS gridSJ297909
Details
OwnerPeel Holdings (site)
OpenedMarch 1933[1]
Closedc. 1997

History
The three iron ore unloading cranes in 1967, seen from Wallasey

A proposal for the construction of the dock on most of what remained of the tidal inlet of Wallasey Pool was outlined in the 1920s. Consisting of the main basin and four additional branches, only part of the main dock was eventually built.[2]

Bidston dock was opened in March 1933 and originally known as the West Float extension.[1] The dock was first used for laying up ships, such as the Ellerman Lines' City of London and City of York.[3] In 1947 the Greek liner Matrona capsized at her moorings[4] when her ballast was removed during conversion work. Having been refloated in June 1948 by seven locomotives operating on specially built tracks, she was towed to Barrow-In-Furness for scrapping.[5] In 1952 the Bibby Line vessel Somersetshire boarded crew at Bidston Dock prior to service as an emigrant ship to Australia.

The dock was significantly altered in the 1950s to allow the transportation of iron ore bound for Shotton.[6] The dock had a trio of large moveable cranes to unload the iron ore,[7] which were dismantled in the late 1990s. The northern quayside of Bidston Dock was the iron ore berth, which was operated by Rea Ltd. The southern quayside was unallocated.[8] By 1992, the dock was only being used for laying up ships, such as the Isle of Man Steam Packet vessels.[9] Some of the final traffic through the dock involved the transportation of timber.[10] Bidston Dock was subsequently closed and was landfilled by 2003.[11]

The dock was served by the Birkenhead Dock Branch railway line and an iron ore train ran regularly to the John Summers Steelworks in Shotton. Monthly shipments of iron ore arrived at Bidston Dock from 1956.[12] Due to the nature of the train, a high degree of motive power was required. Class 40s and pairs of Class 25 locomotives[13] are known to have operated on this track, during its latter days. In the steam era, the iron ore train was known to have been hauled by Class 9F locomotives.[14] The Class 9F locomotive 92203, later named as Black Prince, worked the final steam-hauled iron ore train in November 1967.[15][16][17]

The infilled site in 2007

Though the dock itself was filled, the northern quayside, on which the cranes were situated, and the railway sidings are still intact, although disused.

Future

Peel Holdings have expressed an interest to develop the site of the former dock, as part of the Wirral Waters regeneration project. This part of the project would encompass 571,000 square feet (53,000 m2) of leisure facilities and a retail park.[18]

As of 2022, a new £13 million park is being constructed which will link Rock Ferry with Bidston Dock.[19] Known as Dock Branch Park, it will provide a mile–long pedestrian and cycle corridor between the two locations, as well as providing land for 1,000 homes a new venue for Wirral Transport Museum.[20]

References
  1. Booth, Adrian (September 2000). "Rea's of Birkenhead". Railway Bylines. Vol. 5, no. 10. Irwell Press. p. 477. ISSN 1360-2098.
  2. Birkenhead Docks: Bidston Dock plan (1920s), Merseyside Views
  3. Hobson, C.A. (December 1986). "Back to Birkenhead After 50 Years". Sea Breezes. Vol. 60, no. 492. pp. 825–833. ISSN 0036-9977. OCLC 479104818.
  4. "Greek Liner Matrona Capsizes At Birkenhead Dock 1947". British Pathé. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  5. "Ship Descriptions 'A' - ABA / GLENAPP / MATRONA 1918". The Ships List. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  6. McCarron & Jarvis 1992, p. 10
  7. Booth, Adrian (September 2000). "Rea's of Birkenhead". Railway Bylines. Vol. 5, no. 10. Irwell Press. p. 479. ISSN 1360-2098.
  8. Collard 2001, p. 111
  9. McCarron & Jarvis 1992, p. 11
  10. "Wallasey Pool". Wyre Heal. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  11. Birkenhead Docks (photo18), Merseyside Views, retrieved 12 October 2007
  12. Booth, Adrian (September 2000). "Rea's of Birkenhead". Railway Bylines. Vol. 5, no. 10. Irwell Press. p. 480. ISSN 1360-2098.
  13. Mitchell & Smith 2013, fig. 101
  14. Mitchell & Smith 2013, fig. 103
  15. "The Famous Black Prince". oldsteamers.com. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  16. "Memories of Bank Hall, Birkenhead & Beyond, Part Two, as recalled by Mal Pratt, Birkenhead 1966 - 1968". derbysulzers.com. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  17. "Black Prince Steam Locomotive". The Olden Days - A Trip Down Memory Lane. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  18. Peel unveil plans for £4.5 billion 'Wirral Waters' scheme (pdf), Peel Waters, 5 September 2006, retrieved 3 July 2009
  19. Manning, Craig (16 May 2022). "Work starts on new park forming part of Birkenhead's regeneration". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  20. "Wirral Green Corridor". www.wirral.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2022.

Sources
  • Collard, Ian (2001). Mersey Ports, Liverpool and Birkenhead. Tempus Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-0-752421-10-0.
  • McCarron, Ken; Jarvis, Adrian (1992). Give a Dock a Good Name?. Birkenhead: Merseyside Port Folios. ISBN 9780951612941. OCLC 27770301.
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2013). Wrexham to New Brighton. West Sussex: Middleton Press. ISBN 9781908174475. OCLC 859543196.

Further reading
  • Laidlaw, Ian W.F. (April 1966). "Iron Ore to Shotwick: Steam workings across the Wirral Peninsula, from Bidston to the shores of the Dee". Railway Magazine. Vol. 112, no. 780. pp. 192–194.
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