Established | 1995 |
---|---|
Location | Taylor Street, Birkenhead, Merseyside. CH41 1BG United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 53°23′46″N3°01′09″W / 53.3961°N 3.0192°W Coordinates: 53°23′46″N3°01′09″W / 53.3961°N 3.0192°W |
Type | Transport museum |
Collection size | Trams, buses, other vehicles, static displays, model railway |
Website | Wirral Transport Museum Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society |
Wirral Transport Museum is a museum situated approximately 0.5 miles (800 m) from the Mersey Ferry service at Woodside, Birkenhead, England.
A vintage tram service links the museum and the ferry at certain times. Admission into the museum is free with a broad selection of vintage and classic vehicles, including trams, buses, cars, motorcycles, mopeds, bikes, and a fire engine. It also includes views of ongoing projects in the museum's workshops, a 26 feet long model railway layout, a reconstructed 1930s garage scene and various other transport-related static exhibits.
The museum was established in 1995 as the tram shed for the Wirral Tramway. In 2009, as part of its Strategic Asset Review, owners Wirral Borough Council planned to dispose of the museum, transferring it to a Community Development Trust. It recommended that "... the specialist role of the Transport Museum be protected as far as possible." [1] By 2014, the council was in discussions to hand over management of the museum to a volunteer organisation. [2] The museum volunteers and its staff look forward to developing the museum further.
In 2011, the museum welcomed comedian Ken Dodd, who took a ride on one of the trams for a BBC documentary. [3]
Owenership of the museum was transferred in March 2023 from Wirral Council to Big Heritage, a non-profit company that also runs the Western Approaches Museum and two visitor attractions in Chester. [4] The council revealed that it cost £85,000 a year to run the museum, which attracts around 6,000 visitors per year. Big Heritage were granted a 25-year lease and hope to increase visitor numbers to 40,000 a year.
The tramway collection was set up in collaboration with volunteers from Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society. [5] The Wirral Tramway commenced service in April 1995 with the Hong Kong-built, 1948-style units. Operated under contract by Blackpool Tramways for Wirral Borough Council, who took overall control in 2005.
Hong Kong tramcar 69, which bears the name of George Francis Train & Phileas Fogg , received a new 'Prenton style' livery in 2005. Hong Kong tramcar 70, named Thomas Brassey after the well known 19th century railroad builder, has been painted in a fictional 'Birkenhead Blue' livery (which was only ever carried by the town's bus fleet after 1934).
Liverpool 245, a Baby Grand owned by National Museums Liverpool but kept at Birkenhead since 2006, was restored to operational use by the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society. [6] This was funded with the help of a £50,000 lottery heritage fund grant in 2010, with completion of the restoration in 2014. [7]
Other operational trams of the fleet include Birkenhead 20, Wallasey 78, Liverpool 762 and Lisbon 730. [8] Meanwhile, horse-drawn tram Liverpool 43 is on display within the museum. [9]
The Technical Custodian held a National / Standard (2) Operator Licence. On his retirement in January 2014 the entitlement for the museum to use vehicles on a hire and reward basis ceased.
Numerous static or semi-static exhibits are on display at the museum. These include an example model of one of the cranes at the former Bidston Dock, model buses, model trams and a model of the former Mersey ferry SS Thurstaston. [20] [21] A 26 feet (7.9 m) long OO gauge model railway layout, a reconstructed 1930s garage scene and a shop scene are also present. [22]
Several vintage cars, [23] including an Austin 1800 dating to 1970, [24] an Austin 7, [25] a Morris Minor Traveller, [26] a Triumph Dolomite 1300 [27] and a 1946 Wolseley 14-series police car [28] [29] are on display.
Also on display are various vintage motorcycles, [30] including a BSA Bantam, [31] a Douglas, [32] a 1956 BSA C10L, [33] a 1938 Norton 16H [34] and a 1964 Honda CB92. [35] Meanwhile, mopeds on display include a Yamaha QT50 [36] and a 1967 Honda P50. [37]
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 the city of Liverpool. Merseyside, which was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, takes its name from the River Mersey and sits within the historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.
Birkenhead is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 88,818.
Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles.
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive, responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. Merseytravel was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive. From 1 April 2014, with the creation of the Liverpool City Region, Merseytravel expanded its area of operation from the metropolitan county of Merseyside to also include the Borough of Halton.
The Wirral Railway was a railway network in the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula, England. Its route was from Birkenhead Park in the east of the Wirral to West Kirby in the west. A branch off this line at Bidston went north to Secombe and New Brighton. It was incorporated in 1863 as the Hoylake Railway, running from Hoylake to Birkenhead Docks. After changes of name and of ownership, it was purchased by the Wirral Railway Company Limited in 1884. The network was extended to West Kirby, New Brighton, and Seacombe, and to Birkenhead Park station where it joined the Mersey Railway, enabling through trains through the Mersey Railway Tunnel to Liverpool. In the 1923 grouping the Wirral company became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, which electrified the line in 1938, allowing passenger services to be integrated with the Liverpool urban system. Most of the Wirral Railway network is still in use today as part of the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail commuter rail network.
Wallasey is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. At the 2011 Census, the population was 60,284.
The Wirral Peninsula, known locally as The Wirral, is an area in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about 15 miles (24 km) long and 7 miles (11 km) wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west, the River Mersey to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north.
Bidston railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Bidston, Merseyside, England. The station is situated at the junction of the West Kirby branch of the Wirral line, which is part of the Merseyrail network, and serves as the northern terminal for the Borderlands line from Wrexham Central, operated by Transport for Wales.
Woodside is a small riverside locality in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England, situated almost opposite Liverpool Pier Head across the River Mersey.
Blackpool Transport Services Ltd. is a bus and tram operator running within the boroughs of Blackpool and Fylde and into the surrounding area, including Fleetwood, Lytham St Annes, Poulton-le-Fylde, Cleveleys and now Preston with the introduction of the 74 and 75, which were previously operated by Preston Bus. It is owned by Blackpool Borough Council.
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 2011 Census, the population was 14,298.
Birkenhead Transport was a bus operator in Birkenhead. It commenced operating on 12 July 1919 with a service from Rock Ferry to Birkenhead Park station, this service was extended to Moreton in the August of that year. The buses supplemented an earlier tram service.
Maidstone Corporation Transport was the operator of trams, trolleybuses and motorbuses in Maidstone, Kent from 1904 to 1974. The operations of Maidstone Corporation passed to Maidstone Borough Council Transport in reorganisation of local government in 1974, expanding the Borough boundaries.
Glenvale Transport (GTL) was a bus company that operated services in Liverpool between July 2001 and July 2005.
Wirral Tramway is a heritage tramway opened in 1995 by the Wirral Borough Council and Hamilton Quarter partnership and was operated by Blackpool Transport Services until 2005 when the council took over the licence to run the tramway.
Liverpool Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Liverpool between 1898 and 1957.
Dundee and District Tramways operated a tramway service in Dundee between 1877 and 1899.
The Wirral Street Car is a proposed tramway from Bidston Dock to Woodside Ferry Terminal to provide transport links for the Wirral Waters development. The line will use pre-existing rolling stock as well as incorporating both the disused Birkenhead Dock Branch and the Wirral Tramway that already operates as a heritage service from the Wirral Transport Museum to Woodside Ferry Terminal.
Spa Road Works at Inchicore was the major constructor of trams and buses for Ireland during its years of operation from 1882 to 1977.