Are we there yet? School trip on the Liverpool Overhead Railway remembered

Dorothy is one of the stars of the Liverpool Overhead Railway gallery. Her story of a school trip on the railway ends with her being given a mystery fruit (which turned out to be a pineapple) by a docker on the return journey. The story is based on one told to me when I did a talk many years ago and I adapted it to use in the gallery.

Now we have more evidence of the fun and excitement of a school trip on the iconic overhead railway! A few weeks ago we were contacted by a lady whose friend was a teacher in Liverpool in 1949 and had taken her class on a trip on the LOR. She still had her plan for the day and some reviews of the trip written by her pupils. They have been very kindly donated to the museum and hand-delivered (by her friend Jan) all the way from Derbyshire.

Miss Ireland was a student teacher and recorded arrangements for the trip including the cost of 6 ½ d per child, plus 3d bus fare. Crossville put on an extra bus to take the 45 children from their school, Forefield Lane in Crosby, to Seaforth Sands Station on the LOR. Here the children were met by a guide who explained all the sights to them as they travelled along to Gladstone Dock Station were they got off the train.

On their tour of the dock they marvelled at all the products they were shown; crates of pineapples and coconuts, rubber, hides, hemp and huge teak logs, and were delighted to hear about the baby elephants, mongoose and snakes that had arrived the previous week! Read more…

Stormy day in Liverpool as Carters remembered

Joe Magee at the Carter’s event in 2018

The rain poured and the wind blew – storm Hannah had arrived with a mighty roar. However this didn’t put off around 60 people who came to our ‘Remembering the Liverpool Carters’ event on Saturday 27 April at the Museum of Liverpool.

We started with a tribute to one of our Retired Carters Group, Joe Magee. Joe passed away on Good Friday and will be sadly missed by us all at the Museum. He was a lovely man, full of great tales about the carting days and his love for the working horses.

Joe started work straight from school at 15 and worked for James Addy who did all the Higson’s Brewery work. He then drove off Carter’s Corner (where you picked up casual work) and was 17 when he first drove a team. Read more…

Tramcar 245 wins again!

Liverpool Tramcar 245, restored by a partnership between National Museums Liverpool, Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society (MTPS) and Wirral Borough Council over a six year period, was launched back into service on 12 September 2015.

Following on from winning Tram of the Year for 2015 it has now been voted the Heritage Railway Association ‘Carriage and Wagon Award for self propelled vehicles.’

The award was presented by railway enthusiast and record producer Pete Waterman at a ceremony in Birmingham on 9 February. Rob Jones from MTPS proudly collected the award on behalf of the partners in the restoration project.  Read more…

Remembering the Liverpool carters

Monument to the working horse decorated with paper flowers

Every year at the Museum of Liverpool we hold an afternoon of events and activities to celebrate the work of the Liverpool carters and their horses, linked to the traditional carters’ May Day celebrations. Our 2018 event took place under a lovely blue sky. Our talks on ‘Animals in the First World War’ and ‘Liverpool Parades and Shows’ were well attended and everyone enjoyed making colourful paper flowers for our memorial ceremony.

Frank Short has supported the event every year with his display of magnificent model carts. With a family background in carting Frank has always been fascinated by both horses and carts and spends many, many hours on his models. This year he has expanded into modelling clay figures to accompany the carts – with impressive results. Read more…

Remembering the Liverpool Carters

Anthony, the great-grandson of Liverpool carter, Cornelius Hart contemplates the May Day decorations he helped to make.

On Saturday 6^th May 2017 we held our annual ‘Remembering the Liverpool Carters’ event at Museum of Liverpool. We were overwhelmed by the number of visitors who turned up to listen to talks and join in with our flower-making activities. Read more…

Bequest saves an original Liverpool Overhead Railway signal

Liverpool Overhead Railway approaching James Street Station. Accession number MOL.2008.97.13

This month we are marking the 60th anniversary of the day that Liverpool Overhead Railway closed, on 30 December 1956. I will be giving a free talk about the iconic railway and the impact it had on the city at 2pm on Thursday 15 December 2016.

You can see highlights from our collection in a new online feature: Liverpool Overhead Railway – the end of the line. I’m also very pleased to bring you news of a new restoration project.

Hidden underground for nearly sixty years, an original wall-mounted signal was one of the few remaining parts of the Liverpool Overhead Railway. It had been in position in the tunnel leading to Dingle Station since the southern extension to the railway opened in 1896 and was part of its innovative signalling system.  Read more…

And the winner is… Tramcar 245!

Keith Carmichael, Ron Martin and Rob Jones from MTPS and Sharon Brown from the Museum of Liverpool celebrate winning Tram of the Year

Hurrah! The Museum of Liverpool’s Tramcar 245 has been voted ‘Tram of the Year (Traditional)’ by the British Trams Online website.

We know its not the Oscars but this award, voted for by the public, is great recognition for the work done by the members of the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society (MTPS) on our wonderful tram.

The project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, ran for six years and the majority of work was done by a group of dedicated volunteers from MTPS with support from the Museum of Liverpool and Wirral Borough Council.

Tramcar 245 received 41% of the vote, beating trams from Blackpool, Bury and London. Many thanks to everyone who took the time to vote, your support is much appreciated.  Read more…

Vote for Tramcar 245 as Tram of the Year!

The restored Tramcar 245 at Birkenhead Heritage Tramway

The restoration of Tramcar 245 has been recognised by British Trams Online and our wonderful tram is in the running for their award of Best Tram (Traditional) for 2015. But it needs your votes to win.

Please vote for Tramcar 245. Voting closes mid-January 2016.

Read more…

Things turn up in the strangest places…

Silver plated clock dedicated to William Neale, Station Master at Riverside Station. Accession number MOL.2015.77

Riverside Station was a bustling station on the Liverpool waterfront between 1895 and 1971, built to transfer passengers from transatlantic liners onto trains bound for London and the South.

An article in The Liverpool Review on 1 February 1896 stated that:

“there is probably no passenger terminus in the kingdom so conveniently placed in relation to the sea, and the passenger traffic from port to port, as the Liverpool Riverside Station.”

We have several objects relating to the station in our collection including a signal box, station sign, drawings and tickets. We were recently offered this clock connected to the station, with a fascinating story behind it.  Read more…

Tramcar 245 is launched!

Tramcar 245 looking fantastic after restoration

As Curator of the Transport Collection at the Museum of Liverpool I work with a fantastic collection of vehicles, and over the years I have worked with some very special groups of people associated with these vehicles.

I first met members of the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society (MTPS) about 18 years ago. Sitting on a restored tram at the Wirral Transport Museum they told me all about their work. I was really impressed by their skills and their enthusiasm for the work they did. When a request to restore Tramcar 245 came through from them a short while later I thought the tram couldn’t be in better hands.

Tramcar 245 has a special place in Liverpool’s transport story. Read more…