Birkenhead Monk's Ferry Station
In 1837 the Chester and Birkenhead Railway was authorised to build a line between Brook Street in Chester and Grange Lane in Birkenhead. The line opened in 1840. The C&BR then sought closer access to the ferry service to Liverpool, and in 1842 they obtained an act to build a single-track line from Grange Lane to Monk's Ferry, most of which was in a 1/4 mile long tunnel. The riverside terminus at Monk's Ferry opened in 1844.[1]
It was the main Birkenhead passenger and freight rail terminus until the opening of Birkenhead Woodside Station in 1878. After this date, Monk's Ferry concentrated on goods and coal traffic. The internal rail system of Cammell, Laird and Co was connected here.[2] The The 1908/1911 25" O.S. map here shows the track running due south from a turntable in the station, passing through a tunnel to enter the shipyard. A short distance west of the station, the lines entered a tunnel. There was an air shaft just before the line passed under Ivy Street.
See the Disused Stations website for more information, including aerial photographs and maps. This site includes a detailed plan of the station and immediate area, which shows that in addition to the branch to Cammell's yard, there was a branch from the station to Clover's Graving Docks (to the north) via a similar small turntable. There was also a large turntable at the eastern end of the station.
Birkenhead Monks Ferry railway station closed for freight traffic in 1961, although the station and tracks survived until 1967.
The 1908/1911 25" O.S. map shows the terminal station located between Clover's Graving Dock and the shipyard of Cammell, Laird and Co. A lane, Monk's Ferry Brow, ran alongside the station down to Monk's Ferry Jetty.
The jetty survives, but houses have been built on the station site. The parapet of the bridge which took Church Street over the railway survives.