BIRKENHEAD BUS CORPORATION GARAGE, NEW CHESTER ROAD, 1960:
After the trams had gone, the former tram shed was taken over by the bus company. The Number 10 on the left will soon be departing for New Brighton via Liscard, whilst the bus on the right had also just done the number 10 route coming back to New Ferry from New Brighton.
There is another photo of this bus shed in the 1970s section.
The b
THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL, 1960:
Standing where the flats on New Ferry Road today (built in the early 1970s) are Andra Fall and her sister Dorne with their pet dog.
The Great Eastern was a major landmark in this part of New Ferry, and was shamefully demolished in 2010 to make way for the modern houses which stand on the site now.
Off to the right of this photo, past the houses, is the open Shorefiel
NEW FERRY SWIMMING BATHS, 1960:
The first of this decades visits to New Ferry Swimming Baths. This view is looking towards the south-west; the changing rooms are off to the right. The slide we have seen in many photos in earlier decades is still there.
This photo really shows how large the pool was compared to the indoor pool at the Oval which replaced it. In summer, in between swims, visitors
NEW FERRY BYPASS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 1960:
With the unprecedented growth in private car ownership in the 1950s seeing New Ferry become a bottleneck, and the predicted traffic growth in the 1960s, the New Ferry bypass was built to ease local traffic. This is a screengrab from some cine footage filmed by the contractors and shows New Ferry Road bridge under construction.
We are looking to the north
NEW FERRY BYPASS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 1960:
From the same cine footage, on the other side of the bridge we can see construction workers laying the sub-base of the new dual carriageway road.
The houses at Esher Close can now be seen more clearly. This shot may have been taken from the bridge itself.
NEW FERRY BYPASS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, 1960:
A shot probably taken earlier than the previous ones above, but showing the same stretch of the road with the earth movers still shifting material around in the cutting.
The bypass was built to relieve congestion in New Ferry. It went from the Bolton Road roundabout as far as Thorburn Road where there was another roundabout which let the traffic back ont
BEBINGTON STATION, 1961:
For most of the 20th Century, the station was known as 'Bebington and New Ferry' station, but at some stage in the latter half of the century, the name 'New Ferry' was sadly dropped.
Originally built with two tracks passing through when constructed in the late 1830s, before the end of the century with so many train services going through it to so many different destinations
BEBINGTON STATION, 1961:
And here is a shot looking the other way (towards the north and Birkenhead) from the other end of the platform.
We can clearly see the ramp in the centre platform which is still there today. The tracks we can see in the photo are still active, but they were the 'new' ones added in the late 19th century. The original tracks were the other ones and were in a straight lin
NEW CHESTER ROAD/GROVE STREET JUNCTION, 1962:
A 41 bus from Birkenhead reaches New Ferry and passes the junction with Grove Street where we can see the building on the corner which served as New Ferry's post office for several decades. It moved over the road when the new post office building was constructed in the early 1980s. Today, the old building on the corner is Discount Inferno II run by G
NEW FERRY ISOLATION HOSPITAL, 1963:
Originally constructed in what was then a "remote" area in 1875 to treat merchant seamen returning from foreign trips with infectious diseases, the hospital closed in the 1950s. Its high walls and railings had been built to not only keep the infectious patients in, but also the curious local population out.
The empty building proved a popular "dare" for local chi
NEW FERRY SWIMMING BATHS, 1964:
The handsome guy shown in this photo sent to us by Phil Summers in 2010 is his uncle, Roy Quinney. Roy is kneeling in what became the 'small' / 'baby' pool with his son, Colin on his shoulders. Colin was born in 1962. You can tell it's the small pool as you can just see the ramp leading into the water in the background. (What was originally one large pool seen in
NEW FERRY SWIMMING BATHS, 1964:
Another photo sent to us by Phil Summers, but he did know who the young boy watching from the side of the pool is. Maybe someone might recognise him and let us know so we can update this caption?
The wooden slide seen in this photo was at the shallow end of the pool.
EXTRACT FROM THE BEBINGTON COUNCIL LOCAL GUIDE, 1966:
This text, printed in a 1966 guide book to local services published by Bebington and New Ferry District Council (who administered the area before the days of Wirral Borough Council!), gives some good information about the New Ferry Swimming Baths.
Adult season tickets cost £1 back then. Hmmm! The average annual UK salary in 1966 was £891 (ju