Twelve Quays is a ferry terminal and business park which is located between

East 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 docks, East Float and West Float, both part of the Birkenhead Docks complex. The docks ...

and the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; Historic counties of England, historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the R ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Twelve Quays separates

Woodside Woodside may refer to: Places and buildings Australia *Woodside, South Australia, a town *Woodside, Victoria, a town Canada *Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King *Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighborho ...

from Seacombe.

History

Twelve Quays is named from the quaysides which served the adjoining

Morpeth Dock Morpeth Dock is a dock at Birkenhead, Wirral Peninsula, England. The dock is situated between the River Mersey and Egerton Dock. History Built between 1844 and 1847, it is named after Lord Morpeth, the 7th Earl of Carlisle, who was the Fir ...

, Egerton Dock,

Alfred Dock Alfred Dock is a dock at Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The dock covers an area of and provides access to the Great Float from the River Mersey. History In 1856, J. B. Hartley produced plans for alternative river access to the Great Flo ...

Wallasey Dock The Wallasey Dock, was a dock at Birkenhead, Wirral Peninsula, England. The dock was accessed via East Float to the west, until Wallasey Dock was filled at the turn of the millennium. History Construction began in 1874 and the dock opened in ...

and East Float, as well as quaysides on the River Mersey. Wallasey Dock was infilled in 2001, to expand the land area of the site. The area was an

artificial island An artificial island is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means. Artificial islands may vary in size from small islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar of a building or structure to those tha ...

, until the infilling of the Morpeth Dock entrance. Twelve Quays includes the former Wallasey Dock Impounding Station, and the Central Hydraulic Tower. Several bridges connect Twelve Quays to Birkenhead and Seacombe, two of these being along Tower Road and one at the entrance to Egerton Dock. Another of the bridges along Tower Road was removed, when the East Float entrance to Egerton Dock was infilled.

Ferry terminal

The ferry terminal was opened in Summer 2002 at a cost of £25m. It is used for transporting passengers and freight between

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...

and

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

, in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

, and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. Owned by Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, the terminal replaced facilities at Brocklebank and Canada docks at

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

& reduces voyage times between Liverpool and Ireland by 90 minutes. Twelve Quays has a floating landing stage in the river that can take two ro-ro ferries at the same time. The terminal provides vehicle parking space on the site of the former

Bus link to Hamilton Square railway station

A courtesy bus operates from the terminal to a stop outside Birkenhead Hamilton Square railway station (and vice versa) in connection with

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...

ferry sailings to and from Belfast. Through ticketing is available.

References

External links

* * * {{Birkenhead docks Birkenhead docks Transport in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral Maritime Transport in Merseyside