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| Wirral Books, Video's & Links |
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Available from all good bookshops, Amazon and The History Press - Direct Sales - 01235 465577 or www.thehistorypress.co.uk
Wirrall, was a dangerous region. The inhabitants were nearly all wreckers and smugglers - they ostensibly carried on the trade of fishermen, farm labourers, and small farmers; but they were deeply saturated with the sin of covetousness, and many a fierce fire has been lighted on the Wirral shore on stormy nights to lure the good ship on the Burbo or Hoyle Banks, there to beat, strain and throb, until her timbers parted, and her planks were floating in confusion on the stormy waves. Fine times then for the Cheshire men..... James Stonehouse 1863. Published by Countywise Publishers, Wirral Smugglers, Wreckers and Pirates by Gavin Chappell is the first authoritative, illustrated, full-length account of smuggling and related activities in Wirral. Covering the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it represents the first book-length account of this important chapter in Wirral’s heritage. Not only does it describe familiar facts in great detail – Mother Redcap and her smugglers’ tavern on the Wallasey shore, the labyrinth of smugglers’ tunnels stretching from the Red Noses in New Brighton throughout Wallasey, and the wreckers who used to prey upon Liverpool-bound shipping – it also covers less well-known aspects of Wirral’s piratical past, including smuggling in Parkgate and Heswall, and the swashbuckling adventures of Captain Fortunatus Wright – the Wallasey privateer. Wirral Smugglers, Wreckers and Pirates is available in paperback at £7.99 from http://countyvise.tbpcontrol.co.uk/ (I found this site difficult- mk)and local bookshops including Waterstones, Linghams and News From Nowhere. I got my copy from the first link below. http://www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk/books/DisplayBookInfo.php?ISBN=9781906823207 http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=6845353 About the Author After researching local history for over ten years, Gavin Chappell became interested in smuggling after a visit to a smugglers’ cave in the garden of a private house in Heswall. This book is the result of his researches. He is also available to give talks, lectures and interviews on the subject. MEDIA CONTACT: Gavin Chappell. Email: gavin_chappell@hotmail.com. Phone: 07799655530.
Taking you on a journey through the streets of Wirral, Daniel K. Longman explores the peninsula’s rich heritage in this absorbing pictorial compilation. During the last century Wirral has been through many changes to both its landscape and the town itself. This collection of modern day photographs juxtaposed with forty-five archive images shows the changing faces of the peninsula over the last century. Below you can see several inquisitive youngsters along Tranmere’s Church Road in 1912, the tram lines and smart attire are a far cry from the modern day scene next to it. The Oxton Road Congregational Church was at the height of its magnificence in 1922, however a severe fire of the same year caused tremendous destruction and it fell into a terrible state of disrepair for decades. The modern photo shows how it has been returned to much of its former glory. · Accompanied by informative captions, each page captures life how it once was—and is now. · Witness the people of the past juxtaposed against their twenty-first-century descendants. · The evocative images of old are contrasted with crisp modern images taken by photographer Barney Finlayson. · Part of the brand new Then & Now series by The History Press. Daniel K. Longman has written a number of articles for Your Family Tree magazine. He is the author of Criminal Wirral, Criminal Wirral II, Criminal Liverpool, Wirral: Tragic Tales and Liverpool Then & Now. He lives in Birkenhead, and is currently attending University at John Moores Liverpool.
The effects of the war, especially on the banks of the River
Mersey, are all well documented and cover many thousands of words in many
hundreds of volumes. A new book on this subject has been published
recently (2012) by History Press. It is written by Birkenhead historian
Daniel K Longman with some excellent colour photographs by Tony Sherratt.
The title is Merseyside War Years Then & Now.
Original WW2 images of how Hitler brought the war to the very doorsteps of
Liverpool, Birkenhead and Wallasey is shown with the modern 21st
century equivalent image taken from the same location.
For that reason alone this can quickly equate the reader with what
they know now to the terrible events that unfolded around their parents
and grandparents. In the sleeve notes the book begins by relating to us
about the highly strategic importance of the Mersey to the war effort.
Beginning in Aug 1940, over 300 separate raids took place on Merseyside in
1940 alone!
4000 people were killed by German bombs.18000 Victorian homes
destroyed in Wallasey alone not to mention factories, shops, businesses,
roads, railways, services and power.
In this book 45 vistas of bomb ravaged areas with 45 modern images
alongside for comparison. An able and revealing demonstration of the
changing faces of architecture, of Britain's resilience in the face of
adversity.
In the introduction Daniel mentions the debt we owe our Armed
Forces, their sacrifices and the bravery of those who stayed at home,
little knowing if they would see sunrise the next day through the clouds
of smoke of the previous night attack. I feel that here there should also
be mention of the thousands of Merseysiders who, as civilians, braved the
might of the Atlantic, and the U boats, to bring food home via the
convoys, to our tables. Without these brave men Britain would have
starved.
The book begins with a look at the beautiful Oriel Chambers in
Liverpool's Water Street. On the corner of Covent Garden, it survived
where much perished. Along Victoria Street, over to Oxton Road Birkenhead,
back to Liverpool and then Wallasey, the images jump the Mersey at the
flick of a page. Bold Street, William Brown Street, St Luke's Church at
the top of Bold Street, Derby Pool near Wallasey Village and many more fascinating views
each with its own narration. Even the Boars Head and Victorian Vaults in
Birkenhead each get a page.
Priced at £12.99, it's a valuable addition the the shelves of
local historians and public who have an insatiable yearn to learn more of
their past, both for their benefits and their children's.
Too often I hear of a person passing away and the 'stories they
could have told' either because they did not want to talk about it, or
people today do not wish to listen. I am going to enjoy owning the volume,
I hope you will too.
Published by History Press
Published by The History Press, Along the Mersey is by Jan Dobrzynski. The Mersey’s 70-mile journey to the Irish Sea starts with the merging of the rivers Goyt and Tame at Stockport in Greater Manchester and for centuries has acted as a major waterway for commercial and leisure travel. Despite its relatively short length, the River Mersey greatly influenced the commercial development of both Manchester and Liverpool and by the end of the nineteenth century, Liverpool was the second most important port of the British Empire, second only to London, with its success founded on trade to all parts of the world.
Its ports, docks, warehouses, cargo ships and ocean liners have been immortalised by past generations of photographers for the benefit of visitors and travellers from around the world and this charming volume takes the reader through the developing conurbation of Merseyside, comprising of the port of Liverpool, Birkenhead, along the Manchester Ship Canal, right down to the former coastal resort of New Brighton at the mouth of the estuary.
What an amazing book of old images of life along the banks of the River
Mersey. Most of the images contained in this book I have never seen
before. The book begins with an introduction to the river.
Starting in Stockport from the union of the Goyt and the Tame. Flowing
into the Goyt is also the Etherow, the Mersey is not the longest river
by any means but its importance was to become world changing. Chapter
One deals with the flow of the river from source to Runcorn. Old images
of the river Goyt, the Mersey flowing through Cheadle and Heaton Mersey,
through beautiful rural settings towards Runcorn and her famous bridges.
Warrington & Runcorn docks shown with fully rigged shipping of days long
gone.
Information and images of Cammell Lairds and Woodside come next with
ferry pictures. An Amazing image of the original omnibus that took
passengers from Woodside to Moreton Bermuda Road. The ferry Lancashire
heading to Woodside and various modern images of the Mountwood and
Woodchurch. Wrapped around all these images, and more, is a very
informative text. Birkenhead pictures cover Central Station, Trams
passing the station, Hamilton Square, Flaybrick, an excellent overview
of Birkenhead docks. The hydraulic tower, the Mills, Bidston and on to
Seacombe.
Ellesmere Port to Birkenhead is covered in Chapter 3. Included in this
are pictures that I have never seen before of Port Sunlight and the Soap
Factory. A schooner moored at Ellesmere docks followed by a modern view
of a tanker heading for Stanlow. After an extensive section on Port
Sunlight itself, we pictorially move on to New Ferry and a crowed image
of the Toll Bar.
New Brighton - A
Victorian Seaside Resort http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-0306905049/The-Long-and-Winding-Road.aspx Portrait of Wirral by Kenneth
Burnley. Hale Publications http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWEHx6CpNEI&feature=related Wirral Railways http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32aJTEdvOuc&feature=related Wirral of old Pt 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAXWTe_ljxk&feature=related Wirral of old Pt 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVYSS-HkBok&feature=related Wirral of old Pt 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IFASVqSozI&feature=related Wirral of old Pt 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1TndpGsojA&feature=related - Wirral of old Part 5 Wallasey Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH59hHwDxZc&feature=youtu.be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmw8yIlVsUU&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zciRmnvQAVA&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBjpUkH1Uuw&feature=related
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