Bidston Dock was a

dock The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engl ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was situated to the west of the

Great Float The Great Float is a body of water on the Wirral Peninsula, England, formed from the natural tidal inlet, the Wallasey Pool. It is split into two large Dock (maritime), docks, East Float and West Float, both part of the Birkenhead Docks complex ...

, between

Bidston Bidston is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. Administratively, it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of th ...

and Poulton.

History

A proposal for the construction of the dock on most of what remained of the tidal inlet of

Wallasey Pool Wallasey Pool was a natural tidal inlet of water that separated the towns of Wallasey and Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Originally flowing directly into the River Mersey, it was converted into the sophisticated Birkenhead Dock syst ...

was outlined in the 1920s. Consisting of the main basin and four additional branches, only part of the main dock was eventually built. Bidston dock was opened in March 1933 and originally known as the West Float extension. The dock was first used for laying up ships, such as the

Ellerman Lines Ellerman Lines was a UK cargo and passenger shipping company that operated from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. It was founded in the late 19th century, and continued to expand by acquiring smaller shipping lines u ...

' ''

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

'' and ''

City of York The City of York, officially simply "York", is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. ...

''. In 1947 the Greek liner ''Matrona'
capsized
at her moorings 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 Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

for scrapping. In 1952 the

Bibby Line Bibby Line is a UK company concerned with shipping and marine operations. Its parent company, Bibby Line Group Limited, can be traced back to John Bibby who founded the company in 1807. The company along with the group is based in Liverpool. ...

vessel ''Somersetshire'' boarded crew at Bidston Dock prior to service as an emigrant ship to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The dock was significantly altered in the 1950s to allow the transportation of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

bound for Shotton. The dock had a trio of large moveable cranes to unload the iron ore, 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. By 1992, the dock was only being used for laying up ships, such as the

Isle of Man Steam Packet The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Limited (abbreviated to IoMSPCo or, locally, The Steam Packet ()) is the oldest continuously operating passenger shipping company in the world, having been founded in 1830. The company provides freight, p ...

vessels. Some of the final traffic through the dock involved the transportation of timber. Bidston Dock was subsequently closed and was landfilled by 2003. The dock was served by the

Birkenhead Dock Branch Birkenhead Dock Branch is a disused railway line running from the South junction of Rock Ferry, to the site of the former Bidston Dock on the Wirral Peninsula, England. The branch is approximately in length. Although called a branch, the li ...

railway line and an iron ore train ran regularly to the John Summers

Steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

in Shotton. Monthly shipments of iron ore arrived at Bidston Dock from 1956. Due to the nature of the train, a high degree of motive power was required. Class 40s and pairs of Class 25

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s 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. The Class 9F locomotive 92203, later named as ''Black Prince'', worked the final steam-hauled iron ore train in November 1967. 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 Wirral Waters is a large scale £4.5bn development currently being built by the Peel Group for Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. It is the sister programme of the Liverpool Waters project. Since 2012 the two projects have enjoyed ...

regeneration project. This part of the project would encompass of leisure facilities and a retail park. As of 2022, a new £13 million park is being constructed which will link

Rock Ferry Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the ...

with Bidston Dock. 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 Wirral Transport Museum is a museum situated approximately from the Mersey Ferry service at Woodside, Merseyside, Woodside, Birkenhead, England. A tram line links the museum to the ferry terminal at Woodside, Merseyside, Woodside. The museum ...

History

Future

References

Sources

Further reading

External links