Photos and Drinks on the Wirral

Brocklebank Tug at the Albert Dock

The Brocklebank Tug was built in 1964 and mostly worked the Liverpool Docks. Though sometimes she could be seen as far afield as Heysham, Larne and Barrow. In 1989, she was purchased by the Merseyside Maritime Museum. In 2025, she went to the Cammell Laird shipyard for some essential restoration work on her hull.

Today’s plan was to meet Alison and John in the West Kirby Tap for some bevvies. Followed by more bevvies in the Black Toad, Hoylake. Two excellent pubs I’ve visited before. Well worth visiting, a short bus ride apart. West Kirby and Hoylake have stations; the train from the centre of Liverpool takes around half an hour. We arranged to meet around one.

I decided to set off early to get some photos of the River Mersey at Birkenhead and New Brighton.

Because my oldies bus pass is not valid on the trains in Merseyside, I had to get an all-zones saveaway for £6.80. Details can be found on the MPTE Website. This ticket can also be used on the bus.

Birkenhead Woodside

The Birkenhead Woodside ferry terminal and the surrounding area are currently being renovated. It’s going to cost just over £25 million. Hopefully it will be completed by Spring 2028. When completed, the whole area will look a lot better. At present, it’s pretty grim.

I caught the train to Birkenhead Hamilton Square and then walked down to Woodside. There is a lot of work going on, mainly on the landing stage. But you can still get down to the riverfront. Once there, I took some photos of the river, which I’ve published in my next post.

From the riverfront you can see the Pier Head, the Albert Dock and the two cathedrals across the river.

I then caught the bus to New Brighton.

New Brighton

The original idea was to walk down to the riverfront to get some photos. Unfortunately, it was bucketing it down; if I went there, I’d get soaked. So, a fast walk to the station and the train to West Kirby. Time to get wet inside.

West Kirby and New Brighton

I’d just got to the West Kirby Tap, bought a pint, and settled down to read my book when Alison and John arrived. They were a bit early. So no reading. After a few pints we caught the bus to Hoylake, to visit the Black Toad micropub. I’ve written about these pubs here.

After several pints we returned home. Alison and I caught the train to Broad Green.